The media's popularization of findings from studies indicating a causal link between music training and spatial reasoning in young children (Rauscher et al. 1993, 1997) has caught the attention of many and spurred interest in the inclusion of music in early childhood education. Curriculum models that substantiate this point of view are credible; however, music educators need to remind decision makers about other valid reasons for teaching music in the early childhood curriculum. The purpose of this article is to survey some of the work in music education that validates the inclusion of music for its own sake in models for early childhood learning.