How Music Improves a Child's Life by Lauren Conklin

Why do we pour so much time, money, stress, and effort into educating our children? Why do we sacrifice so much of our lives to give them the best possible schooling? Many people would answer, “so they'll make good grades,” or “so they can get into a good college and have a good career,” which is certainly true. But why is it so important for them to make good grades and go to a good school? These things are not an end unto themselves, but rather a means for our children to become what we really want them to be: well-rounded, self-confident, intelligent, curious, driven, creative, successful, and, ultimately, happy.

Unfortunately, there is no curriculum entitled Workbook to Create Confident, Intelligent, Self-Motivated and Successful Children. Instead, we have to decide as parents what steps to take to give our children the best chance at success. One often overlooked area of education that is unexpectedly important is music education. Last year, I wrote an article called Why Music Matters that is full of facts and statistics on how music education positively affects academics and learning ability. Today, I'd like to discuss how music can build children not only into better learners but better people.

Social and Emotional Intelligence
Research shows that students who participate in an orchestra during school score significantly higher on the ACT/SAT than their non-musical peers. But for me, the biggest impact of time spent in orchestra was the social and emotional development it forced me to make. To play in orchestra, you must work as a team—you must communicate with your section to ensure that you play as a cohesive unit at all times. All the violins must ensure that their bows are moving in the same direction; all the flautists must be sure

Why Music Matters by Lauren Conklin

What do Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Woodrow Wilson, and Henry Ford all have in common? Besides being highly successful innovators and leaders, these men shared a passion for the violin. All of them were avid students of music in their spare time.
 

I believe, and current research tends to support, that their training as violinists helped to shape the characteristics that made these men extraordinary. Einstein himself claimed that his academic brilliance was directly influenced by his music education. Whenever he was