I never imagined I would have a son with a learning disability when I got pregnant. Timothy was born with dyslexia, and my world crashed down on me the day I was told this by the doctors. He was a beautiful child, but I was authorized with the job of teaching a lost child. When a child suffers from dyslexia, he has a learning disorder that affects the processing of language. But the earlier the detection, the better as then the child will have an opportunity to succeed.
I took help from books and went through several brochures to learn ways of teaching my child spoken language. I came across a study in a magazine that had been completed at the Stanford University in 2005. The name of the article was “Musical Training Helps Language Processing, Studies Show” which analyzed how incorporating music while learning could aid in increasing language skills in children suffering from dyslexia. The study proved how mastering any musical instrument improved the ability to process fragments of the spoken language.
I had previously read about music increasing the IQ level in a person, but this study showing a correlation between mastering any musical instrument and learning the spoken language for children with dyslexia was very helpful! I decided to make music a means of teaching Timothy and improve his learning abilities.
I began using popular children song’s as basis for learning mathematics and grammar rules. I taught him how to break a word into syllables by clapping or tapping for each syllable with a song. Timothy hummed “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” while he completed his homework and reminded himself of the facts and rules to follow. He also learnt spelling words and history facts by putting the information into music. By incorporating music into everyday learning, I helped Timothy improve at school performance and increased his reading and writing skills. He is now performing well at school and enjoys learning new things every day!