Question: Our family just loves listening to music around the house and in the car. Once we know the words to songs, the family sings along with the music. Our young children can actually sing all the songs in "The Sound of Music." Is all this music helping them learn anything important? -- Music Lovers
Answer: Besides having the music entertain your family, there are actual educational benefits. In fact, researchers are currently studying the positive effects that music may have on the brains of young children.
What is now known is that learning the lyrics to music does increase the vocabulary of young children. Be sure to explain the meaning of the words they do not understand. Retaining the words to songs also helps them develop valuable memory skills -- just as learning nursery rhymes does. So keep on singing together as a family.