Boosting Bilingual and Musical Superpowers!
S’Cool Sounds (SCS) music instruction champions the idea that bilingualism is a programmatic superpower. Being able to understand more than one language expands our abilities to communicate with each other while respecting diverse backgrounds.
Teaching Artist Hery Paz describes the communicative power of music: “Music has this ability to break through any language barrier, so it provides a context for language to be fully understood.” The act of making music can bridge languages, building communal and cognitive connections.
Hery recalls the impact he witnessed with special education classes at one elementary school: “Working with drumming patterns and songs, I saw a huge development in kids that were nonverbal starting to break through and communicate in their parents’ native language (Spanish). I discussed with the teachers how important simple things like coordination and drumming repetitive patterns are, not only for motor skills but for language and articulation. Something as simple as singing a drumming pattern phonetically, which is both funny and joyful, was extremely effective for speech development in class.”
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VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Check out Hery Paz as he talks about Cuban music and performing as part of the Tony Award®–winning band of the Buena Vista Social Club musical.