Harmony Project

[BeHea1thy]

This is an article from the PTSD Journal about a program/project called Harmony and emphasizes the powerful effect of music on development of coping skills, communication skills and the processing skills. IMO, this is a good way to make the case for music lessons in childhood.

http://www.ptsdjournal.com/peace-of-mind/project-harmony/

A couple excerpts:

Martin's theory is pretty basic. As kids develop musical proficiency, their ability to read, listen and remember improves, establashing a stronger foundation to learn.

"The auditory-working memory is where learning happens because that's where you make the connection and put everything together,"  said Martin. "That's where you build context. School-age children who play music have twice the auditory memory as those who do not. Musicians have to retain sounds in their minds when tuning their instruments."

In addition to better auditory skills, Northwestern Neurobiology and Physiology professor Dr. Nina Krause reports that tests show Harmony Project students hear better in noisy environments than students not in the program. Other testing shows that higher rhythmic ability, clapping along to the beat of a sound, is linked to reading ability. Combined, these music-related skills are able to rewire the brains of children to focus and work better.