child development

[PsychToday] #BecauseofArtsEd: Arts Education and Me

September 14, 2016
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It will come as no surprise to those who follow my blog posts that I am a big proponent of arts education. I’ve blogged about the reported benefits of including arts in education, have provided ideas of engaging young kids in music, and have highlighted the intrinsic benefits of being trained as a musician.

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[PsychToday] Don’t Stop the Music Learning

February 6, 2016
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I had the pleasure last week of serving on a panel following a screening of the BBC documentary Don’t Stop the Music. The film chronicled the journey of professional pianist James Rhodes as he worked to collect enough instruments for one school to begin an orchestra program. The project has grown—according to the website, James […]

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[PsychToday] 3 Musical Ways to Influence a Child’s Emotions

October 22, 2015
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When people ask me what I do, and I say I’m a music therapist, I generally get one of three responses: The Curious Question: “Music therapy…what’s that?” The Personal Connection: “You’re a music therapist?! Oh my goodness, my (mom/dad/grandmother/friend/child) had a music therapist and it was fantastic!” The Emotional Association: “Oh I love music therapy! […]

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[PsychToday] 5 Intrinsic Perks of Music

September 17, 2014
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There is mounting evidence that music training benefits skills and areas that are non-musical in nature. Musicians tend to score higher on verbal and math tests. There are differences in the motor and sensory processing areas of a musician’s brain. Musicians also have greater aural acuity, meaning they can more accurately process pitch. Plus the […]

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[PsychToday] Can Moving Together Rhythmically Combat Toddler Selfishness?

July 2, 2014
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Take a moment and think of all the ways we interact rhythmically with children. We rock. We bounce. We dance. We walk. It seems the developmental benefits of this intuitive, simple play may extend farther then we thought. New Research: Motor Synchrony and Prosocial Development Researchers at McMaster University conducted a series of studies to […]

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Mommy Mondays: The Kids Are Okay

February 10, 2014
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I think the kids are doing okay. After six months apart from Daddy, a major move in the middle of the school year, and transitions to new schools, new teachers, and new friends in a new (and big) city where the majority of people speak a new (to them) language…the kids seem to be handling […]

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Mommy Mondays: Teaching Complexity to a Concrete Mind

September 23, 2013
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My 6-almost-7 year old son views the world in very concrete ways. For example, to him events in the world are either fair or not fair. If his sister is snuggling with me, then he should get to snuggle with me for the exact same amount of time . . . or it won’t be […]

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[PsychToday] 43 Easy Ways to Engage Young Kids in Music

August 2, 2013
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Evidence is mounting that encouraging your child’s involvement in music is good for his or her development. Research indicates that music training helps make children better at language, math, and science. And as any parent will tell you, children are naturally musical. They create sounds out of found objects (e.g. pots and pans), sing themselves […]

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Mommy Mondays: Pondering the Yins and Yangs of Parental Imaginings

March 13, 2013
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It’s only Wednesday and I have already experienced extremes in the continuum of emotions related to being a parent. On Monday, I had a lovely conversation with a fellow music therapist who recently watched her 20-something daughter perform in a professionally-produced play. This was the yang—the excitement and wonder of envisioning the possibilities for my […]

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