Florida Charter Schools

Florida Intercultural Academy
K-8 (Hollywood Campus)
1704 Buchanan Street
Hollywood, FL 33020

Phone: 954-924-8006
Fax: 954-924-8044

Florida Intercultural Academy
K-8 West (Davie Campus)
3367 North University Drive
Davie, FL 33024

Phone: 954-362-3415
Fax: 954-640-9678

Music Department
Ms. Julieta Nycz

 

Academic Effect of Music on Children

Some studies have found that music instruction can also affect certain mathematical abilities. Researchers compared the proportional reasoning scores of several groups of children (ages 7 to 9 years), including one group who received computer-generated spatial-temporal training alone and another group who received the same spatial-temporal training coupled with piano keyboard instruction (Graziano, Peterson, & Shaw, 1999).

The proportional reasoning of the children was then tested. Although both groups scored higher than a control group, the group that included piano training scored significantly higher than the group that did not.

A more recent study found that at-risk children who received two years of individual keyboard instruction scored higher on a standardized arithmetic test than children in control groups, including a group that received computer instruction to rule out a possible Hawthorn effect (Rauscher & LeMieux, 2003).

Children who received singing instruction also scored higher than controls.

Children who received instruction on rhythm instruments performed best on a mathematical reasoning task.