• Early musical training helps develop brain areas involved in language and reasoning.
• Students of the arts learn to think creatively and to solve problems by imagining various solutions.
• Through music study, students learn the value of sustained effort to achieve excellence and the concrete rewards of hard work.
• Music study enhances teamwork skills and discipline through ensemble playing.
• Music provides children with a means of self-expression.
• Music performance teaches young people to conquer fear and to take risks.
• Early musical training helps develop brain areas involved in language and reasoning.
  

The Research

Giving piano lessons to preschoolers significantly increases their ability to perform the types of reasoning required for excellence in science and math. (Research from the University of California and the University of Wisconsin)

Music lessons in childhood actually enlarge the brain. ..the younger the musicians were when they started musical training, the bigger this area of the brain appears to be. (Researchers at the University of Munster in Germany)

Music lessons appear to strengthen the links between brain neurons and build new neural bridges needed for good spatial reasoning. The study done compared 19 preschoolers who took lessons and 14 classmates who weren’t enrolled in a music program. After eight months there was a 46% boost in spatial IQ’s for the young musicians and a 6% boost for the children not taught music. (USA Today)

Increased intelligence is helped by a child playing a musical instrument based on the fact that approximately 80-90% of the brain’s motor-control capabilities is devoted to the hands, mouth, and throat. By developing highly refined control in those areas, a child is stimulating almost the entire brain, thereby increasing its total capabilities. (Research by Wendell Harrison)

Most parents don’t realize how much more their children will get from piano lessons that just learning to play the piano. Surveys by educators, government, and the music industry show that students develop social and academic strengths as their piano training progresses. They’ve also found that those who study music show more leadership skills, poise, vigor and self-confidence that those who don’t. Through the study of music, a child gains more self-esteem and more control over the intellectual, emotional and physical aspects of life. These traits remain with the child for life. (from “THE HIDDEN BENIEFITS OF PIANO PLAYING”)

Music participants received more academic honors and awards than non-music students. ( from the National Education Longitudinal Study)

Students with coursework or experience in music performance score an overall average of 88 points higher on the SAT than students with no course work. (studies by the College Examination Board)

Our Philosophy at KMP

A parent is a child's best partner - music is a relationship.

All children should be given the gift of opportunity to learn music.

Instead of homework, we call it "homeplay" because there's a slight negative connotation with the word work. The homeplay gets children ready for school.

Music increases brain function and builds pathways between the right and left side of the brain. Keyboard is the best instrument for using both the right and left sides.

Our playground atmosphere gives a party approach to learning - with treats and rewards, we build skill that will increase self-confidence and discipline. As well, our non-threatening atmosphere allows a parent unfamiliar and perhaps intimidated by music, to learn alongside their child.

Social interaction within the class provides relationship in a society that is becoming increasingly isolated and technology and gadget-oriented.