Banging the drum with baby good for development

Sharing music in the home with young children has lasting educational and developmental benefits, according to new research led by the University of Queensland.

Shared music in the home is a passion of mine and one I research, as well as practice with my own child AND advocate through my business model.

Boppin’ Babies is one of the few programs where parents actively participate in ALL of the community groups, even the pre-prep and kindy groups.

Why do I care so much? Because I believe it helps parents and children grow together in healthy, happy ways, AND because I believe it benefits children both in the short and long term. Our latest research also supports this belief.

When I am not Boppin’ I am researching at the University of Queensland. My PhD sits within a large Australian Research Council grant Being and becoming musical: towards a cultural ecological model of early musical development.

This study aims to provide a comprehensive account of how Australian families use music in their parenting practices and make recommendations for policy and practice in childcare and early learning and development in and through family.

As part of this research we recently published an article on the benefits of shared music in the home. This was compared to shared book reading and we found that music has many lasting developmental benefits for children, particularly in social, emotional and cognitive development.

Dr Kate Williams, the lead author recently wrote an excellent blog on this article explaining why she thinks music supports child development, and what parents can take from the research. I encourage you all to have a read.

This article was awarded a Music Trust Award for Research in to the Benefits of Music Education. I am Boppin’ Babies offers the highest standards in music early learning experiences for families.

Here’s how Brisbane’s Northside Chronicle covered the story.