Believe it or not, the metronome is a very valuable educational instrument! It helps to:
- Develop visual-motor skills.
- Develop perceptual skills (visual and auditory skills).
- Integrate the movement and body coordination in our sensory-motor work.
- Enhance rhythm and timing.
- Increase the brain’s processing speed.
- Train a student to have internal control of self.
- Allow the student’s skills to become automatic.
The metronome is a very useful learning development tool because it introduces rhythm and time to the learning process. Rhythm is an important input into the brain! For information to be useful to the brain, it must be easily accessible. With Metronome Therapy, skills are developed so that requested information is accessible by the next beat. This teaches the brain to process information at higher perceptual levels.
All the important basic learning skills, (you remember the 3R’s don’t you?) reading, writing and arithmetic, can be helped with the introduction of rhythm and time to the learning process. Spelling words with metronome help to imprint the word into memory. By spelling one letter per beat and establishing a rhythm, the whole word and its correct spelling is easily remembered and recalled. It is similar to how easily song lyrics can be recalled when the beat of a song is heard. Another technique to allow easy visualization of words is to write the letter in the air with the index finger (air writing) to the metronome beat. Practicing math facts to a metronome beat helps with the memorization of math facts. In the brain, the rhythm process helps to easily recall the basic math facts which then allow the student to easily calculate more complex mathematical equations. Handwriting skills can be improved by initially slowing the student down with the metronome beat so that the student develops control in the formation of letters. Once control is achieved, the student can speed up with accuracy.
The use of the metronome with sensory-motor work enables the student to speed up or slow down to be appropriate to the activity at hand. This skill can carry over to any activity a student participates in. Metronome Therapy can also be beneficial in attention problems and ADHD symptoms. By establishing a rhythm with the metronome, the student is able to sit at a desk without wiggling and focus their attention on the teacher.
The learning process encompasses all the different sensory perceptions. Hearing, seeing, and touching all contribute to learning. And rhythm and time are equally important. Just think of the rhythm in a bird’s song and the timing of the seasons. We are beings who require utilizing a variety of processes to expand our learning potential. Metronome Therapy is one of those techniques that focus on one aspect of our natural learning processes and allows it to improve.
