Edited Excerpt from Music and…Reading
For children, all the work they put into learning to decipher the code that makes up written words finally pays off when they have the “aha” moment that the squiggly lines on their bedroom door spell their name. The whole point of bothering to learn to read, of course, is to understand the meaning of written words, which reading experts call comprehension.
Researchers have found that children who participate in music instruction are more likely to score higher on tests of reading comprehension. A meta-analysis of 25 studies, some involving more than 500,000 students, found a strong and reliable association between music instruction and reading comprehension test scores. Children with music experience do better at understanding written words for many reasons, including music’s proven impact on:
How it works in ABC Music & Me
Imagine an early childhood educator sitting on the floor, a circle of small children around her. She’s reading a book aloud—or better yet, singing a musical story. The layers of learning going on in this scenario are staggering. The children around her are coming to understand how print works (in English: left-to-right on a page, front-to-back in a book, etc.). They are absorbing brand-new vocabulary (in context) from the song or story, building comprehension and plot-prediction skills—and if the song is rhyming, predicting rhyme scheme as well. They’re recognizing the value of expressiveness as the teacher’s face moves to boost the meaning of the story and her voice rises and falls in pitch and volume. The children are, quite simply, learning that language— whether written (read as symbols) or spoken (heard as sound)—has meaning and value . . . the most basic understanding that can be tied by research to reading success.
To experience for yourself how ABC Music & Me uses music to teach early literacy and language, email us at
For children, all the work they put into learning to decipher the code that makes up written words finally pays off when they have the “aha” moment that the squiggly lines on their bedroom door spell their name. The whole point of bothering to learn to read, of course, is to understand the meaning of written words, which reading experts call comprehension.
Researchers have found that children who participate in music instruction are more likely to score higher on tests of reading comprehension. A meta-analysis of 25 studies, some involving more than 500,000 students, found a strong and reliable association between music instruction and reading comprehension test scores. Children with music experience do better at understanding written words for many reasons, including music’s proven impact on:
How it works in ABC Music & Me
Imagine an early childhood educator sitting on the floor, a circle of small children around her. She’s reading a book aloud—or better yet, singing a musical story. The layers of learning going on in this scenario are staggering. The children around her are coming to understand how print works (in English: left-to-right on a page, front-to-back in a book, etc.). They are absorbing brand-new vocabulary (in context) from the song or story, building comprehension and plot-prediction skills—and if the song is rhyming, predicting rhyme scheme as well. They’re recognizing the value of expressiveness as the teacher’s face moves to boost the meaning of the story and her voice rises and falls in pitch and volume. The children are, quite simply, learning that language— whether written (read as symbols) or spoken (heard as sound)—has meaning and value . . . the most basic understanding that can be tied by research to reading success.
To experience for yourself how ABC Music & Me uses music to teach early literacy and language, email us at
