The Suzuki curriculum is based on the mother tongue method; most children learn to speak their native tongue with fluency and comfort, and music is a language that can be learned in the same manner. Musical ability is developed though listening and imitating the teacher and parent, so that students become comfortable with the instrument before learning to read music. Shinichi Suzuki, founder of this method, was the first to suggest that pre-school age children could begin to play the violin given the right environment, a combination of individual and group instruction, and appropriately-sized instruments.

For folks who do not know what instrument to choose or decide whether or not their child will like it, parents can also take the 10 week Ìntro to Stings. A combination of cello, violin and musical games for parents and children. Classes are small groups of 4 to 5 participants with parents and children both attending.

When I started this business 10 years ago, I wanted to create a great musical beginning. You don’t choose music, it chooses you. I knew this was my calling so when I decided to teach Kindermusik and set prices, I had to factor in the cost of doing business, professional development and sustainability, that is what we charge.

This September will be our 10th season, what a milestone! I had a live on site intensive training for a week before Kindermusik changed to its online training. The face to face training gave our group an advantage of being able to observe other seasoned veterans teach classes while we took notes, then we had to teach in front of our colleagues and they had to give us feedback. That was very daunting! I basically lived and breathed Kindermusik and I`m still learning every day. My humble beginnings started at a dance school and the local library and the first year I had 40 students and by the second semester it doubled. I was so nervous when I taught my first Kindermusik class but I volunteered at Chapters a couple times for a free musical storytime in the kids section to non-paying clients to get all the jitters out! Since I`m a pianist, I took up singing lessons on my day off for two years to help me sing properly, learn breathing techniques, and preserve my voice, so here I am! I won an award from Kindermusik in 2006 for teaching over 2000 families, that`s pretty exciting! So now maybe its 4000. This afternoon I heard my Kindermusik teacher having her weekly singing class with our voice teacher, it feels good that we can do this for our teachers. It’s all because of the support of our loyal families.

I`ll tell you next time about my big drum story…..

The Yamaha philosophy of music education is based on the belief that all people have the potential to develop musical ability. Yamaha believes that everyone has the capacity to create, perform and enjoy one’s own music, and that through this joy of music one can enjoy a richer life. We hope to influence the greatest number of people to enjoy music.

Beginning this September 2010 we will be offering the Junior Music Course and the Young Musicians Course:

Junior Music Course – Ages 4 to 6
Early childhood is the ideal time to start music lessons. At this age, the ear is at its peak of sensitivity. Learning music is as natural as learning to speak. The creative approach centers on developing the three essential elements of pitch, harmony, and rhythm. The Junior Music Course develops the musical child from within.

Young Musicians Course – Ages 6 to 8
The Young Musicians Course is a great way for children to begin a lifetime enjoyment of music. The three-year curriculum develops musicianship and keyboard playing skills with wonderful materials written specifically for beginners of this age.

88 Keys is currently accepting students for this upcoming September.

Please contact us at our school for more information.
Telephone number: 905-881-2893
Email: info@88keys.ca

To learn more about Yamaha’s Music Education Program please visit their website at:

http://www.yamaha.ca/musiceducation/index.jsp

I am an individual that needs everything to be right. Some people call it a “Type A” personality, but I call it passion. A client asked me the other day, “How do you run a business and have three kids? You’re a supermom!” I answered, “Oh, you’re so sweet! Actually, I don’t consider what I do work, it’s passion.” By the way, I am writing this entry at 10:00pm and watching CSI at the same time. I think it’s called, “multi-tasking”, which is something women are really good at, but that’s another topic.

So have fun whatever you’re doing, you can’t have the TGIF mentality, or you’ll be on autopilot all week. I had a teacher a few years ago that got so stressed because she had trouble with the classroom management of the Imagine That kids. I told her, “Kids are kids, so you can’t expect them to be any different. You just have to understand them and get down to their level.” So I observed her the week after and she said, “It didn’t work, they’re still not listening to me.” Then I told her, “You forgot to have fun.” And then she told me she forgot about that because she was too busy teaching. So, go take on the day, and don’t be afraid to always take your skills to the next level.

-Eileen

In the same way that the sun can make us happy and rain can make us sad, different genres of music can evoke the same emotions. This can be a useful tool when dealing with the different emotions that our children have and can teach us how to use music to set the mood with our children. Music can be incorporated during play time, study time, meal time, and of course nap time. It’s all about choosing the right songs for the right time.

Here’s a song that I like to listen to when I’m cooped up at home and dreaming about the sun, it makes me feel all warm and tingly inside:

Soak up the Sun
By: Sheryl Crow

There’s the scientific proof, yes. Studies previously performed on Kindermusik students show positive growth in intellectual and self-control behaviors. Still, some educators and experts can’t be swayed by even the most convincing studies. I think it’s just the way some people are wired.

For me, though, I finally yawped out a “Eureka!” when I realized what preschool teachers have known all along…

Music is inherent to the methods used in early learning. Repetition, rhyme, exposure to patterns, and a variety of sounds are defining qualities of both music and early learning. That’s likely why music and language share the same pathways in the brain.

That’s why, to a child, music is the language of learning.

-by Molly McGinn

The following statement, jointly issued by The National Association for Music Education (MENC), the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the US Department of Education, helps explain just how important music education can be for even the youngest musicians…

The Value of Music for the Very Young
The idea that very early education provides great long-term benefits has been rendered incontestable by studies in cognition and early learning. Research in developmental psychology and commonsense observation underscore both the importance and the wisdom of making music an integral and overt part of the earliest education of young children:

[M]usic is among the first and most important modes of communication experienced by infants.
As young children grow and develop, music continues as a basic medium not only of communication, but of self-expression as well.
As preschool children not only listen to and respond to music, but also learn to make music by singing and playing instruments together, they create important contexts for the early learning of vital life skills.
Guided music experiences also begin to teach young children to make judgments about what constitutes “good” music, thereby developing in them the rudiments of an aesthetic sense.

Music contributes strongly to “school readiness…”
- excerpted from a report issued by the Early Childhood Music Summit, June 2000.

Creating regular quiet times at home gives your child practice in learning to calm herself, slow her pace, and relax. Plus it helps her develop a valuable lifelong skill – the skill of learned relaxation. Slow, gentle music can best provide an environment most conducive to relaxation.

So take a few moments to relax and listen to some beautiful music. You’ll love how good it makes you – and your child – feel!

By Theresa Case