Parental awareness and perception of music instruction in an early intervention program

The purpose of this study was to determine whether parents and guardians understand the specific benefits of a music-based early intervention program for their child's development, when given data documented through observational methods. Participants (N=15) for this study were parents or guardians of children 2 to 4 years of age who attended "Music Play" in Tallahassee, Florida. On-task behavior data was coded from the 4 video recordings of the children who attended with their parents/guardians. After receiving the documentation, the parents were asked to complete the post-survey measure. Data was obtained from 8 parents out of the original 15 who consented to participate. Results from this study confirm that children benefit from music-based instruction for early intervention and that parental perceptions are altered when documented group on-task behaviors are presented. Further research needs to be conducted to affirm these responses with a larger sample size. Overall, parents and guardians have a good understand of the benefits of music-based instruction for their young children.