Special Art, Music Training Boost Math Performance, Study Suggests

First-graders who got special training in music and art showed better performance in math than peers who received only routine programs, researchers report.

The training may help by making children realize that they can learn challenging skills, which can improve their attitude toward learning, and also by “stretching” mental skills useful in math, researchers said.

The students got one hour of music training plus one hour of art training per week, while their peers got a standard program of one hour of music one week and an hour of art training the next.

The experimental art training was designed to fit with the topics of the regular classroom lessons. The music training followed the Kodaly method, which includes musical games and the writing down of melodies and rhythms the children have sung.

After seven months of the training, 75% of the students scored at or above expected grade level in math on a standardized test, compared with 53% of their peers. Similar results occurred when the study was continued the next year for second-graders.

At that point, researchers also found that second-graders who had two years of the training showed a higher percentage of scores at or above grade level in math comprehension than did peers with only one year of training. Students who did not get any of the training had the lowest percentage of such scores.