The Power of Music in Your Child’s Early Years
This 45 minute lecture will touch upon the latest findings on music and neuroscience in early childhood development. Since the development of FMRI machines, neuroscience researchers have been able to look at how the brain is shaped and changed by both music listening and playing. During this talk, Annie Bird who is a neurologic music therapist will explain not only what is going on in the brain when your child engages in musical activities, but also provide examples of what sort of activities are provided in an early music group class for children ages 3-5. This talk will include the following topics of discussion:
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Review of recent scientific studies on music and the developing brain
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How music can support non musical areas of development (motor skills/ social skills/ attention and executive functioning skills)
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Demonstration of activities provided in an early music class
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Question and Answer time (last ten minutes)
About Annie Bird:
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A dedicated and dynamic music therapist, Annie holds a Masters of Music, applied Music and Health from the University of Toronto and is a Neurologic Music Therapy® affiliate. With over four years experience as a music therapist and eight years as a music educator, Annie uses music as a vehicle to support various levels of development such as sensory processing, attention, executive functioning, communication and social skills. In particular, Annie has a passion for using music and movement to support sensory and emotional processing in children with ASD. When she is not working with children around the GTA she is also a professional singer and holds a Bachelors Degree in Voice Performance from the University of Western Ontario and an Advanced Certificate in Voice Performance from the University of Toronto.