Incorporate music, dance therapy to curriculum Gaisie

A clinical phycologist, Dr Annie Gaisie, has urged basic schools to incorporate music and dance therapy into their educational curriculum to promote learning and teaching.

According to her, children found it difficult to express their feelings but with music and dance therapy they would learn to express themselves. 

Speaking at a social action day organised by the Brainy Best School in Accra, Dr Gaisie said some children were emotionally depressed and stressed up because of pressures from the home and were not able to concentrate on their academic work.

She said music and dance therapy was able to help with pain management and depression and promoted movement and eased muscle tension, adding that when one listened to music and danced to it, the brain produced happy or positive hormones which fed all the body parts. 

Dr Gaisie noted that when music and dance therapy was practised together by parents and children, a bonding moment was provided since most parents did not spend quality time with their children and “will rather talk to them than be with them.”

Music therapy, she said, helped children to overcome confidence problems. 

She further called on parents to pay particular attention to their children and attend to their needs as they came. 

Social action day (SAC)

The Headteacher of the school, Mrs Akweley Odonkor, said the SAC was set aside by the management of the school for parents to bring their children to the school premises for games. 

This, she said, provided an opportunity for parents to be involved in the lives of their children and for them to socialise with other parents. 

The day was also aimed at collecting items for a donation programme, which the school was about to undertake, to inculcate in the students the act of giving, Mrs Odonkor added. 

She called on parents to get involved in their children’s education and be well informed about their academic progress rather than spending more time on their business.