This poster evaluates the current literature on the benefits associated with integrating a musical component in the classroom, as well as future directions for conducting such a study in local, Appalachian Head Start classrooms. In recent years the potential benefits and utility of musical instruction for children have been of great interest among researchers. Numerous studies have demonstrated a wide variety of advantages stemming from learning skills on musical instruments. Such benefits appear to be cognitive, behavioral, neural, visual-spatial, and linguistic in nature. The children served by the Head Start program come from low-income families and therefore are especially at an increased risk for poor language development, and the rates of poverty are higher in the Appalachian region when compared to the rest of the nation. However, few studies researching the benefits of musical integration into the early education classroom of such an intervention have been conducted. Therefore, the purpose of this poster is to review the literature on music and memory and propose potential benefits of incorporating a musical component into story time for Head Start students. .