Teaching Pre-K's

[Kaaryn]

I'm thinking about this fall - maybe - starting a music class for little kids.  Similar maybe to Music for Young Children but not exactly.  I haven't really planned it out yet, but I love that age group and I think it would be fun to do a Saturday morning program with musical games and activities, not so much learning piano but more an introduction to musical ideas.   I think it could be a good way to enlist future piano students too, if this group was for 2-3 year olds, then they could move into piano lessons at 4 and they'd already have some of the basics down pat.

Any thoughts?  Has anyone done something like this before?

[coco]

Hi there,

   I do think that your idea of teaching 2-3 yr olds is quite a fun and could-be-rewarding challenge. The fact is that children of this age-group really need a comprehensive curriculum to help develop a sense of music and the love for music, and that how we piano teachers can plant 'the seed' from the beginning becomes a tough task.

   You might want to start with 1) what these kids are capable of in terms of their learning/developmental stages and 2) what the essential 'things' in music are that need be taught to build the foundation. There are a number of suggestions and reports dealing with this issue discussed in the journal 'Early Childhood Connections'. Also, Musikgarten seems to have a suitable curriculum called 'Music Makers: At the Piano.'

   Hope this helps.  

Best, Coco

[CW]

If you are seriously thinking of starting a music class for little kids, there is heapz of work involved in doing so, not just before hand but during the lesson as well (e.g. continual planning).

It's funny to read that you love that age group...I do like children of that age group too, but get them in a group music class as I did for the very first time the other day and maybe you may rethink the whole idea of teaching really young kids.  

I'm not trying to put you off the idea at all, but it's really alot of work and you have to be really committed to doing it whilst at the same time trying to maintain your sanity.