Musical Beat

by Ros Bayley, Educational Consultant, Trainer and Storyteller

• The ability to feel and express beat has always been the foundation for early success in movement activities and children who lack beat awareness usually display movement difficulties.
• A steady beat underlies our ability to pick up the pattern of language and this is really important because unless children can do this effectively, they cannot learn to read and write the language.
• Recent research indicates that a child with a good mastery of steady beat is much more likely to do well at school than a child who lack this basic coordination.
• Make sure that your child hears nursery rhymes and songs with a strong sense of beat and encourage the child to pat their knees as they listen.
• Play some lively music with a strong beat - all children have a natural sense of rhythm and will usually begin to move automatically when lively music is played.

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