Music education for young children is an educational program introducing children in a playful manner to singing, speech, music, motion and organology. It is a subarea of music education.
Contents |
Music education for young children is offered by institutions as diverse as music schools, some local brass bands and others. In Germany, there is usually one weekly session lasting 45 minutes. Participants may sing songs, look at and try out musical instruments, try some dancing motions and more. The atmosphere is usually casual and playful. A number of simpler musical instruments have been used extensively with children, including bongo drums, simple xylophones, lummi sticks, recorders, and tambourines.
Several international organizations exist which promote specific methods of training young children in music. Kindermusik, Music Together, Music-in-the-Box, Musikgarten, and the Suzuki Method are among the most widely recognized of these methods. Kindermusik is a music and movement program of classes designed to be taken from birth until a child is 7 years old. Music Together is also a set of music and movement classes. Musikgarten offers a comprehensive, sequential plan for the musical development of the child from birth to age 9. Music-in-the-Box's Music Masters program incorporates picture books, music, and movement classes to encourage language & reading development through music. The Suzuki method is notably different in that it focuses on learning a specific instrument like the violin, and it uses this focus to foster musical ability and appreciation. This method is child focused and depends on the parent/teacher/child triangle to create an early internal understanding of music by first developing the musical ear, and then adding the more traditional note reading as instrumental technique is developed.
| last = Chastain | first = Dr. Jacob | authorlink = | coauthors = Rev. Jessica Brooks | title = Lessons Learned in Larsen | publisher = Olivet Nazarene University Press, Inc. | date = 2007 | location = Bourbonnais, IL | pages = | url = | doi = | id = }}