The Role of Music in Learning

One aspect of being a home schooling mom is that I am free to include aspects of teaching that don't always translate well in classrooms with a high student to teacher ratio. I am also free to include subjects that have been eliminated by many public schools as "non-essential".
One thing that makes our day go better is the use of music in our classroom.  From playing classical music during handwriting warm-ups to playing instrumental music as background noise to help kids focus while I bounce between students helping them with work, music is a big part of our day. Music also helps with memorization and learning the mechanics of music helps young minds develop in important ways. We do "jingles" to remember rules in English, Phonetics, and Spelling. We make up songs to help us remember the order of historical facts. We sing prayers. We sing silly songs to give us a respite from intense mental work.
There is a music course as part of our curriculum, and my children sing and play musical instruments. They share their talents in a variety of ways outside of our home.
Even if you are not a musician yourself, you can incorporate music into your child's life in many ways. Look for learning song CDs and MP3s. There are a plethora of learning song videos on YouTube. These can be very beneficial for your young scholars. My kids love Schoolhouse Rock. Many of those are on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. Music just helps us connect to things in a different way than any other mode of learning.
I am not saying to substitute music for visual, aural, or hands-on learning. I am saying that children can get more out of these modes of learning when music is included. An important way we learn to read is by repetition. We do most of our reading by memorizing words, which we then easily recognize every time we see them. Allowing children to get some of that repetition by singing along to a catchy tune is fun for them.
Another wonderful benefit of including music in our days is movement. Children naturally want to dance along with a catchy riff.  Let them stand as they listen and watch learning songs, and encourage them to dance along or make up motions for the song. Kids retain information better when they associate music and motion with it.( They are also getting exercise while they do this.) Have fun with your child. You never know, you may have a budding Mozart in your midst!