Oklahoma State University

CDL

The Gift of Music
Over the past four years, the Trans Siberian Orchestra has donated concert proceeds totaling more than $45,000 to the Cleo L. Craig Foundation Child Development Laboratory in the College of Human Sciences. 

These funds have been used to purchase new, music related materials and equipment used during music therapy sessions. Funds are also used to assist with the costs of providing music therapy to all students twice a week.

Margret Napier, Child Development Laboratory Classroom Teacher, said a music therapist visits her classroom on Tuesdays and Thursdays to spend 30 minutes teaching children to work with their peers. During therapy sessions, students greet each other, take turns dancing and working with musical instruments, and practice their listening skills.

"The music activities have helped the children work better with one another and to verbally communicate with their peers and teachers more confidently," Napier said.

She noted the students are eager to participate in the music therapy sessions because they enjoy working with the musical instruments, and they respond positively to the music therapist’s instructions and games.

The students’ positive responses during music therapy sessions have prompted Child Development Laboratory staff to reinforce their everyday routine in and out of the classroom with music techniques.

According to Dianna Ross, Child Development Laboratory director, music is used each day throughout the school to assist in the learning and interacting activities of students.

"Children tend to respond more to music than regular communication, especially children who live with delays or disabilities," she said. "Therefore, teachers use singing or music to give instructions, clues or even transitions throughout the day in the classrooms."

Napier noted that the use of music helps encourage the children to follow routines such as cleaning-up the classroom and getting ready to go outside for play time. The repetitive nature of the songs emphasizes the task at hand better than simply verbally stating the request.

"The idea is to create an effective manner of communicating our desire for the children to complete a routine task without a lot of frustration on the part of any individual," Napier said. "The children respond best to our requests to perform a routine task when we sing a reminder."

Music therapy helps to enrich the learning process for students. It helps students more easily learn and process new information while also helping develop strong relationships with others in the classroom.

"Music therapy increases the opportunities for all the children to learn new academic concepts and to build a strong community within their classroom, which enhances their socialization skills," Ross said.

Dr. Sue Williams, Human Development and Family Science department head said the continued support of Trans-Siberian Orchestra not only helps the children in the Child Development Laboratory, but also enhances the education of early childhood education majors who are preparing to be classroom educators.

"It is important for students preparing for the classroom to see the best practices for facilitating learning. Music therapy is a unique tool and they are seeing firsthand how powerful it can be for all children," Williams said. "We are extremely grateful for these gifts form the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and the opportunities they provide for all our students."