Music is a way to teach how to lose

A lot of life is about losing.

As human beings, we lose loved ones, we lose jobs, and we lose opportunities. An important life skill is to lose in a positive way. Instead of taking your anger, frustration, and sadness out on others, you are able to handle losing in a mature manner. 

This is a skill that is learned.

The first time I realized how important it was to learn how to lose, I was playing a musical card game with a group of first graders. One of the students in the group became so frustrated she tore up all her cards when she did not win. Twenty minutes later we were playing a musical game where she would have to sit out for a few minutes once she lost. She took this in stride realizing that she would recoup quickly and have another opportunity to win. 

Losing is hard no matter what age you are.

Music can be a method to teach young children to lose in a positive way. The card game was a more traditional game where once you lost that was it. But the musical game allowed the child to try again and demonstrated that you can pick yourself up and continue after a failure.

So many small children lose terribly with tantrums and pouting. Teaching a child that failing at something is an opportunity to try again is a valuable life lesson. This can be taught through fun games where students lose momentarily but are reinstated. Examples are Hot Potato, Freeze Dance, and Musical Chairs. These are the standards but there are many more.

Life lessons can be taught through music. There are tons of songs that teach the students colors, numbers, and even continents but music is not just about learning academic concepts, it is also an opportunity for students to learn life skills.