I always find it important to continually reinforce the benefits of piano lessons to the clients at my teaching studio. Here’s a little something you might want to share with your piano parents…
Piano lessons and their effect on children’s mathematical development has been well documented. In numerous studies, children participating in piano lessons have demonstrated marked improvement in spatial awareness and problem solving skills. What is less documented, however, is the beneficial effects that piano lessons can have on children’s reading abilities.
As any educator will tell you, children with strong comprehension skills are always very fluent and expressive readers. Children who read word-by-word however, are often more focused on decoding, and pay less attention to the actual story. Piano lessons may be able to help struggling readers overcome their fluency roadblock. Children who attend regular piano lessons are constantly training their brains to work and think rhythmically. By continually exploring and experimenting with rhythm, children are developing a skill that will automatically transfer to, and improve their reading abilities and comprehension skills.
