The effect of music on the reading readiness skills of kindergarten children

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of music, paired with a beginning reading phonics program, on the reading readiness of pre-school and kindergarten children. The reading readiness skills were: alphabet letter recognition, phonic representation of the letter, letter recognition of the phonic sound, same-different auditory discrimination, auditory initial letter identification, auditory initial phonic identification, and visual identification of the letter following phonic presentation and name of the letter presentation. There were 23 subjects in this study who ranged in age from four years and one month to six years and one month. There were two experimental conditions: music and non-music. All four groups of subjects received the two conditions each paired with four letters. The order of letter group and music presentations were different for each group. Two Man Whitney U Test of Differences were computed on post-test scores to determine if there was an order effect for music versus non-music presentation or for letter group presentation. Results showed that there was no significant difference in presentation orders (P > .05) A Mann Whitney U Test of Differences was computed to determine if there was a significant difference between post-test scores of taught and untaught letters. Results showed a significant difference with taught letters having significantly higher post-test scores (p < .05). Percentages of overall post-test scores were computed by individual task areas. The highest percentage scores were seen on the alphabet recognition, same-different auditory discrimination, and on those areas not requiring the added step of identification of the letter from the phonic sound. Two t-tests were computed on the pre- and post-test scores of the music condition and on the pre- and post-test scores of the non-music condition to determine if there was a significant difference. Results showed that there was a significant difference with improvements on the post-test scores for both conditions (p < .05). A t-test was computed comparing the gain scores of the music and non-music conditions. Results showed that there was no significant difference between treatments (p > .05) Music therapy could provide a contribution to reading readiness programs. Participation in readiness and early reading programs could open new avenues for the music therapy profession. Although results were not statistically significant in this study, reports from teachers and parents indicate that this type of music program increases attention and participation while enhancing the child's interest, motivation and enjoyment.

Keyword(s): Reading-phonics-program, reading-readiness, pre-school, kindergarten.

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