Music IQ

I come from a fairly musical family and we all enjoy singing, some of us playing an instrument, and generally surrounding ourselves with tunes most of the time. In an effort to keep the passion alive, I have immersed my kids in musical experiences, taking them to Kindermusik as tots, having them join Kid's Choir at church and I've even suggested taking instrument lessons themselves. Little Chic has fully embraced this idea since she pretty much has a song and a jig going inside her brain 24/7. Brainy Boy, on the other hand, loves to hear music, likes to sing, but does it all in his own time. The discipline associated with going to choir practice or playing an instrument does not interest him at all. Now, I'm not the type of parent to force my interests on others, so this year since Brainy Boy is 10 and in 5th grade, I allowed him to opt out of the children's choir at church, and he is no longer required to be in chorus at school. He does still have a general music class, but that's about all the structure his notes get.

Occasionally I will indulge myself in a little prodding, and tonight at dinner I mentioned that if Brainy Boy had joined chorus or had taken lessons on an instrument this year, he would have been performing in the 5th grade chorus and band concert tomorrow night. I knew this would just confirm his decision about not joining, since he never likes the concerts. I decided to try a little psychology on him stating "You know, research shows that taking music lessons increases your math IQ." It took him about a millisecond to respond - "Yeah, well BestBud takes TWO instruments and he still has failing grades." So much for that string of logic.