Music Program
FERGUSON FAMILY MUSIC & MOVEMENT CLASSROOM
This 2022-2023 Academic Year continues with its formal music instruction classes in the Ferguson Family Music & Movement Classroom. Music class for students includes an appreciation for music, performance, movement, and creative development as part of the School's specially-designed co-curricular program.
The creation and design of this music program is to provide a multi-sensory approach to instrumental and vocal education. Its foundation is from the collective research, knowledge, and collaboration between Music Director, Jessica Wyton, Associate Head of School for Administration, Dr. Kathleen Gallagher, and Boston Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School specialist Dr. Jenny Zuk.
The approach is to teach the techniques learned from the field of neuromusic with the intention to further develop cross-disciplinary connections in areas of literacy and executive function. Our instruction and environment is one of independence, adaptability, and flexibility, in order to create the best learning experiences and environment for students.
Our research has shown that children with musical training show enhanced neural activation during phonological processing in brain regions that are typically characterized by reduced activation among children with dyslexia. These findings suggest that engagement of these brain regions through musical training may underlie the previously reported positive effects of music on reading development.
Jennifer Zuk, Ph.D., Boston Children's Hospital/Harvard Medical School