Good Music, Brighter Children: Simple and Practical Ideas to Help Transform Your Child's Life Through the Power of Music [Paperback]

Sharlene Habermeyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 1999

Did you know that music has the power to increase your child's intelligence? Recent scientific studies at some of the most respected universities in the world indicate that children introduced to classical music at a young age read earlier and perform better on achievement tests. Inside, respected educator Sharlene Habermeyer gives you a simple, step-by-step program that any parent can follow. You'll discover how introducing children to good music can:


• Accelerate language development
• Improve math and science skills
• Enhance physical education
• Strengthen memory and reading retention
• Benefit children with learning disabilities
• And more!


"This book outlines why music is important to learning, and provides parents with excellent suggestions for launching and sustaining a musical influence in the lives of their children."
—James S. Catterall, professor of education and co-director of Imagination Project at UCLA


"A great resource for both parents and teachers. Anyone interested in music or the overall well-being of children will not be able to put this book down."
—Lisha Papert Lercari, director of Music and the Brain

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

You've probably heard all the fuss about how classical music can aid a child's developmental growth. Now here's a book that actually puts the educational research into practice, by showing how classical music can become a continual part of your child's learning experiences. Good Music, Brighter Children skates over the more controversial research and suggests easy methods to increase musical experiences. Mainly through statistics and anecdotes, the author gives a multitude of reasons why classical music can help brain development and achievement levels in nearly every field of study. More importantly, the book supplies numerous ways of creating interest in music beyond costly lessons and concerts. Children can learn the stories behind operas, for example, or study the history of instruments and the emotional content of the music. The author, Sharlene Habermeyer, includes activities designed to fully involve the students. You'll find yourself actually making reproductions of instruments, reading books detailing the lives of composers, and maybe even writing a libretto or two! For parents new to the realm of classical music, there's an enormous resource list of classical pieces broken down by age appropriateness, composer, and subject matter. The author encourages families to financially support their local classical musicians, and she offers plenty of tips for encouraging the governmental support through grassroots letter writing. Her suggestions could actually lead to a great civics project for homeschoolers. While not likely to win over skeptics, this is an excellent practical manual for incorporating classical music into everyday family life. --Jill Lightner

Review

Discover How Music Can Improve Your Child's Mind

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Prima Lifestyles (August 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076152150X
• ISBN-13: 978-0761521501
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,384,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Five Star Guide on How We Can Improve Education, March 15, 2000

By 

Shirley McDonald, teacher (Rolling Hills Estates, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good Music, Brighter Children: Simple and Practical Ideas to Help Transform Your Child's Life Through the Power of Music (Paperback)

Parents, teachers, school administrators and board members, state and federal legislators, and the community at large, MUST read this book if we, as a nation, are to find the answers to the questions, Why aren't our students learning?; and How do we prepare them to meet the intellectual and creative workplace challenges of the new millennium? Ms. Habermeyer's work clearly and convincingly answers these questions. Through her exhaustive research of scientific studies connecting music and learning, and of successful schools where music and art are an integrated part of the curricula, she provides us with the methods and the motivation to revive and revitalize, not only schools that fall short of academic excellence, but all schools. Unlike books that inspire but do not deliver the "how-to", GOOD MUSIC, BRIGHTER CHILDREN, will not disappoint you. Parents and teachers will find the extensive resource section, alone, and invaluable guide for enriching children's lives and education through music.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have for all parents, educators, musicians & CEOs, October 28, 1999

By 

Andrea Warren (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good Music, Brighter Children: Simple and Practical Ideas to Help Transform Your Child's Life Through the Power of Music (Paperback)

This book is a wealth of information. The author cites the latest research in brain development and music education. She also includes anecdotes from the lives of famous and not-so-famous musicians. All sources are cited. Each chapter has an average of 20 endnotes. There is good, practical advice for parents & teachers alike as well as for advocates of any area of the arts. It covers both the importance of music for babies & young children as well as how the lack of study in the arts is adversely affecting creativity in the business world. Specific recommendations for music, books, videos, internet sites are also given.

I was surprised at the wealth of powerful information in this book (257 pages text + 44 pages of resources, 15 pages of endnotes, and a 20 page index). If every school board member were to read this book, music and art in the schools would never be threatened by budget constraints.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music Education for the 21st Century!, March 2, 2000

By 

Richard Huber (Ventura, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Good Music, Brighter Children: Simple and Practical Ideas to Help Transform Your Child's Life Through the Power of Music (Paperback)

The author has done her homework and delivers a practical guide, clearly written in a very readable and enjoyable style. Thankfully free of academic cant or pyschobabble, "Good Music, Brighter Children" has page after page of facts and solutions that real parents with real children can use. The scholarship is impeccable, the bibliography exhaustive; Ms. Habermeyer has quite simply created a gold standard reference work in the warp-speed expanding field of learning dynamics.