A swarm of toddlers and preschoolers filled the Southwest Regional Library’s meeting room on a recent Thursday, eager to move and groove with a reading break in between.
They sang “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” and “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” alongside their parents and caregivers. They used egg-shaped, multicolored salt shakers to dance while identifying body parts such as their stomach, nose and elbow. They sat crisscross applesauce and listened intently as they heard the story of Parker the T. Rex while the book “Parker’s Place” was read to them.
This was a typical day at the Music and Movement class provided at various branches of the Fort Worth Public Library system, which incorporates music and early literacy to children up 5. The class is one example of many where music and dance are used as tools to help children learn the world around them during their most critical years of child development.
Research shows that music can help improve children’s vocabulary and promote phonological awareness, a foundational skill that helps children recognize and manipulate spoken parts of sentences and words. The National Association for the Education of Young Children encourages parents to use music as a tool to help children develop skills in math, reading and social studies through repeating patterns, creating rhymes and exposing them to music from around the world…