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By Michelle Rindels
Staff Writer
Forget the stereotype of squirmy 9-year-olds.
As soon as teacher Melissa Fowlkes cued up the symphonic strains of an Aaron Copland composition, 26 fourth graders lay down motionless on the floor, eyes closed, to breathe in the music.
It's a daily ritual for the Hennessy Elementary School students, who are part of a Music in the Mountains initiative to expose children to the beauty and benefits of classical music for a few minutes each day.
“So many people think classical music is a hoity-toity, snooty thing,” said Music in the Mountains Education Coordinator Mark Vance. “But the kids love the music.”
At least one study has credited classical music with increased intelligence. A 1993 study by Fran Rauscher suggested a “Mozart effect,” in which spatial reasoning abilities increased after listening to a Mozart piano sonata. Those findings have been debated since they were first published in the journal Nature.
But the cultural benefits stand.
“Music is part of our culture. It's who we are and what defines us,” Vance said.
At a time when music education is increasingly vulnerable to budget cuts, the Brummitt-Taylor Music Listening Program — often shortened to “BT” — offers teachers a quick — and free — way to bring it back.
“The first thing to go is music and sports,” Vance said. “To ignore any of these is a huge injustice.”
Music in the Mountains' education committee started the program about seven years ago by purchasing about 200 kits of classical music CDs and lesson plans. Teachers are free to pick up the kits and use them in class any way they like.
Today, about 175 kits are in local schools, and area musicians are hoping to place the dozen or so that remain into the hands of teachers.
For Fowlkes, who acknowledged she isn't an expert in music, the lessons that start with each day's five-minute listening session continue throughout the day. History and geography lessons spin off the passages they read in class.
The students like the therapy of the tunes. They say it calms them after lunch recess, soothing away the excitement of the playground and blacktop and preparing them for class time ahead.
“It helps you calm down and makes you better at math and reading,” said fourth grader Cameron Edwards.
Some have developed an extra-curricular taste for classical music. A few said they are taking music lessons, while others switch their radio dials to symphonic sounds.
“It's really nice,” said student Xanthe Coovert. “When I go to sleep, I ask my mom to put it on.”
Fowlkes, who has been using the curriculum since it first arrived in Nevada County, is convinced it makes her students better learners and engages a different part of the brain.
“They're learning how to listen, with all the instruments coming in and out,” she said.
As the violins and cellos swell, one fourth grader lifts her arms into the air and conducts an imaginary symphony. Her classmates' faces are serene as they listen to the end of the song.
“This is unusual,” Fowlkes said.
To contact Staff Writer Michelle Rindels, e-mail mrindels@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4247.
Staff Writer
Forget the stereotype of squirmy 9-year-olds.
As soon as teacher Melissa Fowlkes cued up the symphonic strains of an Aaron Copland composition, 26 fourth graders lay down motionless on the floor, eyes closed, to breathe in the music.
It's a daily ritual for the Hennessy Elementary School students, who are part of a Music in the Mountains initiative to expose children to the beauty and benefits of classical music for a few minutes each day.
“So many people think classical music is a hoity-toity, snooty thing,” said Music in the Mountains Education Coordinator Mark Vance. “But the kids love the music.”
At least one study has credited classical music with increased intelligence. A 1993 study by Fran Rauscher suggested a “Mozart effect,” in which spatial reasoning abilities increased after listening to a Mozart piano sonata. Those findings have been debated since they were first published in the journal Nature.
But the cultural benefits stand.
“Music is part of our culture. It's who we are and what defines us,” Vance said.
At a time when music education is increasingly vulnerable to budget cuts, the Brummitt-Taylor Music Listening Program — often shortened to “BT” — offers teachers a quick — and free — way to bring it back.
“The first thing to go is music and sports,” Vance said. “To ignore any of these is a huge injustice.”
Music in the Mountains' education committee started the program about seven years ago by purchasing about 200 kits of classical music CDs and lesson plans. Teachers are free to pick up the kits and use them in class any way they like.
Today, about 175 kits are in local schools, and area musicians are hoping to place the dozen or so that remain into the hands of teachers.
For Fowlkes, who acknowledged she isn't an expert in music, the lessons that start with each day's five-minute listening session continue throughout the day. History and geography lessons spin off the passages they read in class.
The students like the therapy of the tunes. They say it calms them after lunch recess, soothing away the excitement of the playground and blacktop and preparing them for class time ahead.
“It helps you calm down and makes you better at math and reading,” said fourth grader Cameron Edwards.
Some have developed an extra-curricular taste for classical music. A few said they are taking music lessons, while others switch their radio dials to symphonic sounds.
“It's really nice,” said student Xanthe Coovert. “When I go to sleep, I ask my mom to put it on.”
Fowlkes, who has been using the curriculum since it first arrived in Nevada County, is convinced it makes her students better learners and engages a different part of the brain.
“They're learning how to listen, with all the instruments coming in and out,” she said.
As the violins and cellos swell, one fourth grader lifts her arms into the air and conducts an imaginary symphony. Her classmates' faces are serene as they listen to the end of the song.
“This is unusual,” Fowlkes said.
To contact Staff Writer Michelle Rindels, e-mail mrindels@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4247.
