The Benefits of Music Education

Our Friends at the Royal Conservatory of Music have published a new brochure outlining the benefits of Music Education.  You can find a pdf version on their website here.

Rapid greying of B.C. population projected

The rapidly changing demographics of BC continue. It seems now that our population base is aging faster than most of the rest of the country.  After about 15 years of dizzying population growth most school districts are now faced with declining enrollments.   It seems this condition is set to continue as well as total school enrollments across Canada were down almost one percent last year, with declines in every province (Stats Canada)

Seniors will outnumber children in B.C. within two years, according to new population projections from Statistics Canada.The latest figures show B.C.'s population will swell from 4.5 million now to between 5.8 million and 7.1 million by 2036. And the rate of growth of seniors is expected to be particularly strong, faster than the pace of the rest of the country.

The Statistics Canada report shows the proportion of seniors in B.C. aged 65 and up will climb from 15 to 24 per cent by 2036. The proportion of seniors in B.C. will pass that of children under 15 in 2012 – that's not expected to happen nationally until 2021.

Richmond Review - Rapid greying of B.C. population projected

HELP: the Human Early Learning Partnership

It is sometimes difficult to get a clear picture of changing demographics of the communities we serve. One such tool that maybe useful for community music schools is the data being collected and produced by HELP. The studies deal with the assessment of 5 year olds throughout Canada as they ready to enter Kindergarten,  grouped by the areas in which they live. From this data you can track changes in population growth by neighborhood, and also note other trends of child development in your area.

The Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) brings together academic, government, school, and community partners to help us understand early child development across British Columbia.Beginning in 1999, HELP has collected and mapped population level child development data province wide. This data has been combined  with socio-economic and community asset information to enhance the understanding of factors that influence children’s development. An important goal of the project is to assist communities in using maps to monitor early child development, and in developing effective local responses that support the needs of children and families. The project is administered by HELP, in partnership with community networks and school districts of British Columbia. The project is funded by the Province of British Columbia through the Ministries of Children & Family Development, Education and Healthy Living and Sport.
The program is directed by Dr. Clyde Hertzman at UBC. You can learn more about the program below. There is a wealth of information available on their website. The latest information released is from studies completed this past fall 2009, with comparative studies looking over the past decade.

Human Early Learning Partnership

An example of a community report:
Community Summary for School District No. 37 Delta
(other reports are for each school district are filed in the same subdirectory, you can find the report for your own district by looking through the directory.)

The Fatal X: Unquiet Thoughts :

From the League of Orchestras' Audience Demographic Research Review,  an alarming graph that shows a comprehensive downward trend in generational participation in classical music. It uses data  from the National Endowment for the Arts and a further analysis by the McKinsey company. You can see clearly how various generations experienced a bump in participation as they got older. The so-called Generation X, however, has yet to exhibit an upward spike as it moves into middle age.  While this is data from the US, I would assume very similar trends are occurring here. Every classical organization should print out this graph, pin it on the bulletin board, and ponder what is to be done.

The Fatal X: Unquiet Thoughts : The New Yorker by Alex Ross

How Many Activities should your Child be In?

I am sure this story rings true with many of us in the teaching profession. There is a small segment of our students that always seem to be over programmed by their parents.They have no time to practice, or are always cancelling their lessons because of conflicts with other extracurricular activities. It seems some parents use extracurricular activities as a method of extended day care, which creates  situations where no one wins, and the child accomplishes nothing. Here is an article about this from this morning's Vancouver Sun:

While many parents pressure their children to become the next hockey champion or entertainment idol, Anita Wyczynski is allowing her children to focus on one or two activities they enjoy most.

"I do think kids should experience all sorts of different things, whether it be sports, art, or music," Wyczynski says from her home in Ottawa.

"Eventually, they pick what they're passionate about, or what they excel at, and they take it from there."

Wyczynski's children -- Alexa, 13, and Jordana, 2 -- both participate in sports. Wyczynski says Alexa's passion is for hockey, but she also plays basketball at school and takes one hour of dance lessons each week. Jordana takes baby gymnastics and swimming lessons.

Read the Article at the Vancouver Sun - Feb.1, 2010

The fine line between brilliance and burnout

If your Kids are Awake, They are Probably Online

So how much time do our kids have to practice and do homework? Considering that today is the day Apple is set to tell the world about the iPad, this article is rather timely. According to this study just released from the Kaiser Family Foundation in the United States by Victoria J. Rideout, M.A.,Ulla G. Foehr, Ph.D., and Donald F. Roberts, Ph.D., kids are spending almost every waking moment with some electronic media device or another.Smart phones, texting and Twitter are taking over our lives.. Knowing my own students, I would say that what is happening here in BC would be exactly the same, especially in urban areas.

A national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that with technology allowing nearly 24-hour media access as children and teens go about their daily lives, the amount of time young people spend with entertainment media has risen dramatically, especially among minority youth. Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). And because they spend so much of that time 'media multitasking' (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours.

Article in the New York Times

Kaiser Family Foundation Study

Generation M2; Media in the lives of 8 - 18 year olds  Pdf report