The Music Advantage
Download The Music Advantage PDF/ePub or read online books in Mobi eBooks. Click Download or Read Online button to get The Music Advantage book now. This website allows unlimited access to, at the time of writing, more than 1.5 million titles, including hundreds of thousands of titles in various foreign languages.
The Music Advantage
An expert in cognitive development and music education reveals the remarkable and surprising benefits that playing--or even appreciating--music offers to children. The latest cognitive research has revealed something extraordinary: learning music and listening to music can grow and repair our brains at any age. Here, Dr. Anita Collins explains how music has the potential to positively benefit almost all aspects of a child's development, whether it's through formal education or mindful appreciation; simply clapping in time can assist a young child who is struggling with reading. It turns out that playing music is the cognitive equivalent of a full-body workout. Dr. Collins lays out the groundbreaking research that shows how playing an instrument can improve language abilities, social skills, concentration, impulse control, emotional development, working memory, and planning and strategy competence, from infancy through adolescence. She also provides real-life stories to show the difference that music learning can make, as well as practical strategies for parents and educators to encourage a love of music in their kids.
The Music Advantage
Brain research has revealed something extraordinary: learning music and listening to music can grow and repair our brains at any age. Simply clapping in time can assist a young child who is struggling with reading. Learning an instrument can help children of all ages dramatically improve their ability to focus on school work, enhance their memory and improve behaviour. Playing in an orchestra develops children's social skills. Learning music can give every child an advantage, whether they are not coping at school or are doing well already. Dr Anita Collins has visited the labs of leading neuromusical researchers around the world and trialled their techniques herself. With real examples from home and school along with practical strategies,The Music Advantage shows how parents and teachers can support children's development with music from birth to the teenage years. 'Dr Collins' exuberance and infectious enthusiasm shine through as she persuasively argues for the importance of music in every child's education.' - Professor Alan Harvey, author of Music, Evolution and the Harmony of Souls 'Dr Anita Collins' insights highlight the irreplaceable role music plays in the full education of a child.' - Benjamin Northey, Principal Conductor in Residence of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Human Advantage
Why our human brains are awesome, and how we left our cousins, the great apes, behind: a tale of neurons and calories, and cooking. Humans are awesome. Our brains are gigantic, seven times larger than they should be for the size of our bodies. The human brain uses 25% of all the energy the body requires each day. And it became enormous in a very short amount of time in evolution, allowing us to leave our cousins, the great apes, behind. So the human brain is special, right? Wrong, according to Suzana Herculano-Houzel. Humans have developed cognitive abilities that outstrip those of all other animals, but not because we are evolutionary outliers. The human brain was not singled out to become amazing in its own exclusive way, and it never stopped being a primate brain. If we are not an exception to the rules of evolution, then what is the source of the human advantage? Herculano-Houzel shows that it is not the size of our brain that matters but the fact that we have more neurons in the cerebral cortex than any other animal, thanks to our ancestors' invention, some 1.5 million years ago, of a more efficient way to obtain calories: cooking. Because we are primates, ingesting more calories in less time made possible the rapid acquisition of a huge number of neurons in the still fairly small cerebral cortex—the part of the brain responsible for finding patterns, reasoning, developing technology, and passing it on through culture. Herculano-Houzel shows us how she came to these conclusions—making “brain soup” to determine the number of neurons in the brain, for example, and bringing animal brains in a suitcase through customs. The Human Advantage is an engaging and original look at how we became remarkable without ever being special.