Programs for children (ages 9 months-8 years) The Music School offers a rich variety of Music and Movement classes for children from 6 months old through third grade. These classes provide positive learning experiences for children, that are so important for healthy development and school achievement. The activities are based on several proven musical methods including Kodály and Dalcroze Eurhythmics. These activities build upon a child?s natural instinct and talent for imaginative play and fearless self-expression while developing an understanding of musical concepts and skills. The materials in each class are developmentally appropri­ate for the child?s musical, motor, social/emotional, cognitive and language acquisition skills. The Early Childhood program builds on the skills from the prior class. The child may take part in this program and be ready for Suzuki training or traditional instrument or piano study. These classes offer a great preparation for the choral program in 4th grade.Babies through Pre-School (ages 9 months-5 years)The Sing with Me and Toddlers Make Music are participatory experiences for the child and adult parent/caregiver. The adults participate with the floor activities and singing, helping them to gain skills along with the children. The adults learn to provide a musical environment at home so that the joy of singing can continue. In My Own Music the caregiver may observe while the children celebrate their independence with a wider variety of musical skills.  Parents are an essential part of the child's musical experience and can provide support and a musical environment at home that includes singing, dancing, listening and creating. Classes:         Sing With Me (ages 6-18 months; adult participation)This is the introduction to music for babies. As the children gain locomotion and fine motor skills, they enjoy chants, rhymes, peek-a-boo songs and listening to music. Play is enhanced with small rhythm instruments such as bells and shakers. Adults join in the fun and continue music play at home.  Toddlers Make Music (ages 18 months-3 years old; adult participation)Children increase their motor skills, balance and coordination as well as their vocabulary and imitation skills at this age. As they enjoy more independent singing, their song repertoire becomes more varied to­nally and rhythmically. The children listen to music and improvise movement and creative play. They enjoy the use of drums, maracas, scarves and other instruments. My Own Music (ages 3-5; adult observation)As children increase fine and gross motor skills and eye-hand coordination, they are ready for unison singing and following hand puppet prompts.  Imagination and play-acting is key in this class. Children are able to sing longer songs with a greater pitch range. They are also ready for musical games and enjoy a variety of interactive challenges that provide joy and excitement. Traditional and multicultural songs and percussion instruments add to the fun of this class.  Group Recorder (1st and 2nd grade) Group recorder lessons are a wonderful introduction to learning to play an instrument. This class teaches correct posture, breathing techniques, fingerings and music notation as the students develop their repertoire in a supportive peer group environment. The students present a performance at the end of the semester. Minimum enrollment: 4 students. Ready to Act and Sing (Kindergarten & 1st grade) Budding musicians, actors and actresses will enjoy acting out and singing their favorite stories. This class incorporates showmanship and the enjoyment of singing and play-acting. Children will perform such classics as ‘Little Red Hen” or “The Three Little Pigs” at the end of the semester. Other class experiences include partner songs, musical games, listening, rhythm instruments and circle dances.  Minimum enrollment: 6 students. Instrument Sampler (ages 6-9)  This 6-week class is designed to help each child choose his or her own instrument for private study in a fun, interactive environment. Each week members of our faculty will introduce a new instrumental family – strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, keyboard and guitar. Students will observe live instrument demonstrations, listen to recordings of great performances and actually learn to produce a sound on each instrumentMinimum enrollment: 6 students  The Early Childhood Department will provide a music specialist to teach at your Public Day Care, Home Day Care, After School program or Parks and Recreation Department. Call Jane Revkin at 401.248.7042 for more information.