Auditory roots of literacy skills

Here is a great article to take along to your next staff meeting or use as a discussion point with other teachers in your school, particularly if it is a primary or elementary school. It is a good description of the current thinking and research into the way our ears are at the root of our speech.

That might sound a little strange, but by studying the impact of musical training on brain development, we are learning more about how the way children process speech sounds has implications for the development of spoken language and reading. You might notice there is no mention of music in this article but the two independent research teams, led by Nina Kraus and Silvia Bonacina, both use music concepts and learning extensively to understand how the auditory processing network develops.

Here is our favourite quote from the article, “Auditory development is an important factor in literacy development. Early and meaningful engagement with sound prepares children to learn to read”.

Bring on the early childhood music learning!