Thinking about private lessons vs Kindermusik Young Child

Kindermusik Imagine That! & Young Child Programs Versus Private Music Lessons

In today’s society we are always faced with the challenge of choosing what program is best for our children. There are so many to chose from it is difficult to narrow down what is best for your child. Here at the Performance School of Music we are always faced with questions from concerned parents about getting into the music program that best fits their child’s needs. We particularly begin to see parents doing their research during our Imagine That! level in Kindermusik. The parent is trying to decide if they should put their child into private lessons during this level instead of continuing on with the Imagine That! program and graduating the Kindermusik Young Child program. There are a few things I would ask for you to consider before making this important decision for your child.

When is a child ready for private instrument instruction?

A child who enjoys going to the piano and indicates a strong interest in playing the piano (or any other instrument) may still not be ready for private lessons. In addition to interest, a child must be ready to accept the rules, guidelines and suggestions of the teacher. Will the child still be interested and not frustrated when the teacher asks the child to play a certain way, or hold his hand in a certain position? Additional considerations include fine motor control as well as the maturity and attention span necessary for daily, individual practice. Will the child happily focus for 30 minutes on a series of directed tasks? A child with a strong foundation in movement, vocal development, and listening is more likely to be successful and remain motivated than a child without. Consideration needs to be given to the importance of skill building and motivation over a long period of time rather than how early ones starts. Most importantly that the child enjoys their musical experience!


Why keep your 3 & 4 year old in Imagine That! and not move them to Young Child earlier or private music lessons?

Focused on the whole child, Imagine That! nurtures the child’s natural tendency to explore the world through imagination and play. Children will show improved large motor skills, an increased attention span, a greatly expanded vocabulary, and an interest in interacting with others. This program offers 9 carefully planned curriculum components that optimal learning occurs through; Pretend Play, Singing and Vocal Exploration, Literacy and Language Development, Movement, Exploration of Instruments/Props & Instrument Play-Along, Creating, Active and Music Listening, Sharing Time and Family Activities. More specifically, the child’s involvement in Imagine That!:

• Nurtures imagination, creativity and pretend play.
• Invites and develops the singing child.
• Develops emerging literacy skills.
• Involves the family in music making and learning activities.
• Introduces beginning musical concepts and skills.
• Allows an active role in the development of activities.
• Develops movement skills and expressive use of body.
• Challenges the child through activities that promote problem solving, comparisons and evaluations.
• Provides experiences with a variety of percussion instruments.
• Encourages social development and skills.

When is my child ready to move from Imagine That! to Young Child?

Learning Component: Physical
Appropriate Characteristics: Jump forward many times in a row, hops, gallops, is learning to skip. Exhibits spatial awareness of own body in social setting. Demonstrates control of pencil or marker. Can reproduce many shapes and letters. Hand dominance is evident.

Learning Component: Emotional
Appropriate Characteristics: Developing impulse control (self-control). Exhibits self-confidence & reliability. Growing sense of right and wrong is growing. Beginning to see things from another’s perspective.

Learning Component: Cognitive
Appropriate Characteristics: Eager to learn. Has developed classification skills (e.g., can sort things by colour, shape, size). Counts to 20, recognizes numerals 1-10. Problem solves. Follows directions. Engages in dramatic play that is close to reality. Beginning to relate time to events (can wait for and anticipate events). Responds to simple three-step directions. Identifies at least 4 colours.

Learning Component: Language
Appropriate Characteristics: Developing speech, which is nearly 100% intelligible (exceptions may include children with hearing & language delays). Uses grammar correctly (e.g. past and future tense). Produces fairly elaborate sentence structures (approximately 5-7 words in length). Can tell a familiar story. Uses voice expressively.

Learning Component: Social
Appropriate Characteristics: Enjoys friendships & group activities. Shares, takes turns, plays cooperatively (for the most part!). Is affectionate & caring. Follows directions. Has sense of humour. Demonstrates better self control, fewer dramatic swings of emotions.

Learning Component: Musical
Appropriate Characteristics: Sings a whole song. Beginning to match pitches more consistently. Developing ability to match to group steady beat.

What is Young Child?

Kindermusik for the Young Child is not meant to be an end product of the Kindermusik experience, but rather a bridge between the musical play of early childhood and a more formal musical experience. Through a careful process of preparation, presentation, and practice, children are now introduced to the written language of music. The intense interest and excitement about musical instruments at the age demand that children have opportunities to explore them. Young Child provides a unique opportunity for children to explore a percussion/pre-keyboard instrument (glockenspiel), a stringed instrument (two-string dulcimer), and a wind instrument (recorder). These experiences are designed to help the child and family recognize special interests or skills with a particular type of instrument before formal instruction begins.

Goals of Kindermusik for the Young Child:

• Exploration of musical concepts.
• Singing and vocal development
• Exploring and playing musical instruments.
• Reading and writing music.
• Ensemble development.
• Movement and dance.
• Involvement of the family in music making at home.

I understand that this is a hard decision for many families. Please remember most importantly that the child is having fun while fostering a love for music. Many families get caught up in what they believe is best for the child and forget about what the child would like or enjoys. Next time you are viewing your child’s class stop to look at the big smile on their face and the new friends they have made or the friendships they have developed over their few years of Kindermusik. Think about the love they have developed for music and how excited they are to come to each class. As both a private music teacher and a Kindermusik Educator I see the benefits the Kindermusik graduates bring to their private lessons. Each child is emotionally, physically, and mentally ready for private lessons and are further ahead than a child who is starting private lessons from scratch, as their foundation for music is incredible (thanks to the Kindermusik). I truly believe that Kindermusik is the best possible choice for children 0mths-7years old. Each day I teach class I still cannot believe all that the Kindermusik program has to offer to children. Each concept a child learns in Kindermusik, whether it be music vocabulary such as tempo or staccato, or learning how to read music, or playing their first song on an instrument, I smile and grow fonder of the program and prouder of each child. After 10 years of teaching private lessons I have found and adopted the best program for children age 0 mths-7 years. If you have any questions regarding any of this information or the programs please feel free to ask any of the Kindermusik Educators they will more than happy to help you during this time in any way they can.

Good luck with the decision-making and I look forward to sharing the magical Kindermusik experience with all of you.

Kendra Clarke
Licensed Kindermusik Educator/ Music Teacher

“Catching” a Steady Beat with very Young Children

A STEADY BEAT is an unchanging continuous pulse. This is different from the Rhythm Patterns of a specific song. To illustrate a steady beat, tap with each underlined syllable as you sing the song.

Do you know the Muffin Man, the muffin man, the muffin man.
Do you know the Muffin Man, who lives on Drury Lane.

RHYTHM PATTERNS are patterns of sound that fit within the steady beat. To illustrate this, tap as you sing each word of “The Muffin Man”. The ability to keep a steady beat is developed over time, and can be started with very young children. This skill is required for walking, talking, using a pair of scissors and bouncing a ball, as well as many other abilities. Feeling and moving to steady beat develops a sense of time and the ability to organize and coordinate movements within time.

Encourage, don’t Impose


Notice how Mom is helping Bobby learn a new way to keep a beat. She helps his hands swish across each other with his hands going up and down. THEN - she lets go, and continues and focuses on Bobby, watching to see how he chooses to keep the beat. She continues to sing “Wishy Washy Whee” and keep the motion going just in case he looks to her and tries to imitate her actions. WOW! Thanks Mom for a great example!

Observe, Notice, Question, and Expand - Repeat

(This is called “Scaffolding” and is a method of teaching and interacting with your child.)

The following few postings include fun ways to “catch a beat” - appropriate to the age / ability of your child. Any of the ideas for younger children can be used for older children. When adding new skills or concepts, keep in mind the goal of increasing their self-concept as a competent musical person. Try to remember to use these BEST TEACHING METHODS:

• observe first (watch to see what they already know, or if they remember what they learned last time)
• Verbally notice their actions (label, comment, and imitate what they are doing);
• Initiate activities to expand on what they are doing well and are motivated to do. Start by asking questions: “What else can you do? Can you ___? How ____ can you do it? Where else can you tap it?” You can even make connections “That looks like a _____ !”
• Invite and help them try something new, “Can you do it like this?” Let them try to imitate, but if having difficulty, assist them physically to get the idea, then let go and see if they can do it. (Like Mom shows us in the above picture.)
• Sit back and watch to see what they have learned. Then repeat the skill in a multitude of ways to reinforce their abilities, for example, swishing hands high / low, or swishing feet.

The Progression of Abilities in Keeping a Steady Beat

The ability to react to the beat in music is an important learning process. This beat is basically a walking pulse. Many young children are able to steadily tap to an “inner beat”. Yet they may have difficulty changing their “inner beat” to correspond to the pulse of music or a drumbeat. Encourage, but don’t impose an external beat too early, it may result in tension, resistance, or loss of confidence in their abilities. Encourage practicing a beat in a variety of ways (see the following posts for each specific age group). Realize that children will progress through these developmentally appropriate stages as they grow and develop their abilities:

· Let them experience a steady beat, by tapping on their knees / body part.
· Start your own beat and verbally encourage them to imitate.
· Have them walk or march (without recorded music), and watch carefully for their “inner beat”. Imitate their beat with hand movements, drum, sticks, or tongue clicks, then pace a rhyme or song to their own “inner” beat.
· Play music with a strong beat, and “catch” the beat with their hands on top of yours (clapping or tapping), or with them bouncing on your legs, etc.,
· With your hands over theirs, start beat, but remove hands after a few beats.
· While singing, practice with variety of hand movements and body movements.
· While singing, practice with percussion instruments.
· With recorded music, practice with movements and instruments
· Use beat to play simple accompaniments on melodic instruments, ie. xylophones.