Stimulating the Development of Rhythmic Abilities in Preschool Children in Montessori Kindergartens with Music-Movement Activities: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

This article examines the effects of Montessori music-movement activities on the development of the rhythmic abilities of 59 children from Montessori preschools, aged between 3 and 6 years. Children were deployed into two experimental groups (EG 1 (n = 20) & EG 2 (n = 22)) and a control group (CG) (n = 17). Our intervention consisted of introducing 15 to 20 min of unstructured movement time, either accompanied by a piano (EG 1) or recording (EG 2), three times a week for four months, whereas the control group carried on the usual Montessori program. We used a quasi-experimental nonequivalent groups design with pretest–posttest. Three tests for measuring rhythmic abilities were used: auditory discrimination of the rhythmic patterns, imitation of spoken rhythmic phrases, and determining the synchronization of movement with the rhythm of the music. The interventions had a positive effect on the development of the rhythmic abilities of children included in the study. The most significant effect was noticed in EG 1, while no effect of non-activity was detected in the control group.

Pendekatan Euritmik Dalcroze sebagai Proses Pengembangan Kemampuan Gerak Dasar Anak Usia Dini

“…Anak-anak hingga usia 6 tahun berada dalam masa sensitif untuk bergerak. Hal ini tercermin dari keinginan anak untuk menggerakkan dan mengekspresikan perasaannya dengan seluruh tubuh (Laure & Habe, 2023). Melalui pendekatan Euritmik Dalcroze, bukan hanya kemampuan musikalitas anak yang dapat berkembang, tetapi kemampuan fisik motorik dan kemampuan sosialnya juga.…”

Influence of rhythmic-movement activity intervention on hot executive function of 5- to 6-year-old children

“…Rhythmic-movement activities are generally defined as a type of activity that combines musical rhythm with physical movement (Miendlarzewska and Trost, 2014;Williams and Berthelsen, 2019;Hu et al, 2020;Laure and Habe, 2023). In China's childhood education, rhythmic-movement activities usually exist as a kind of music teaching curriculum.…”

“…The process of rhythmic-movement activities typically includes warm-up; introduction; music appreciation; movement expression; music performance; and relaxation etc. (Matthews et al, 2016;Kim and Lee, 2023;Laure and Habe, 2023;Williams et al, 2023). A study designed a rhythm and movement intervention program to explore the effect of rhythm and movement intervention on improving the self-regulation skills of 3-4 year old children, which included the following steps: (i) warm-up involving body percussion; (ii) becoming familiar involving an adaptation of a familiar early childhood song; (iii) moving to the beat involving large grossmotor movements; (iv) playing to the beat involving simple rhythm sticks or castanets; (v) dancing to the beat involving slightly more complex gross motor movement patterns to activity three of the session and often involving visual motor skills and coordination such as mirroring the shape of rhythm sticks on the floor with bodies; and (vi) calming, which includes a series of movements and then stillness accompanied by relaxation music to support physiological entrainment to a calmer state, targeting embodied emotional regulation.…”

“…Three tests for measuring rhythmic abilities were used: auditory discrimination of the rhythmic patterns, imitation of spoken rhythmic phrases, and determining the synchronization of movement with the rhythm of the music. It turned out that, Montessori music movement has a positive effect on the development of children's rhythmic ability (Laure and Habe, 2023). Korean researchers developed an interpersonal relationship based music activity program for children from Grade 3 to Grade 6.…”

Effect of the Montessori Method Integrated with Collaborative Learning on Early Mathematical Reasoning Skills

“…It can be stated that examining the different methods and techniques used in preschool education and integrating and reflecting their effective aspects into the teaching process will also appeal to the individual differences of children. Studies have revealed the positive effects of implementing robotics applications (Elkin, Sullivan & Bers, 2014), STEM activities (Çakır & Altun Yalçın, 2022), music activities (Rajan, 2017;Dansereau & Wyman, 2020), and movement activities (Laure & Habe, 2023) with the Montessori Method. However, Montessori Method applications integrated with cooperative learning were not found in the literature.…”