In Britain this week a programme of concerts for babies (including the unborn!) is beginning. Can't do any harm and may even do some good, but of course it's born out of the hyperbolic "Mozart effect" (as opposed to the real Mozart effect - see my article). The BBC article on it is honest enough to use phrases like "many experts think that it may", and "a theory which is credited with", but then displays the writer's true colors with the exaggerated "Numerous studies conclude that playing music to babies in the womb and in the early years helps build the neural bridges along which thoughts and information travel".
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of involving young children with music; my own children were Suzuki kids. But the playing of music is a world away from merely being exposed to it. I mean, it's a nice idea, and as I say, it certainly won't do the kids any harm; but let's not oversell the idea, okay? (And the idea of legally requiring all preschools to play classical music - as apparently is the case in Florida - just blows me away.)