Selecting the Right Class
The Kindermusik philosophy springs from genuine respect for each child's individual rate of development.
Class activities and at-home materials are designed to honor, support and celebrate the wonderful uniqueness of each child.
Classes have overlapping age ranges to help parents accommodate their child's own needs.
While a child should be at least the minimum age to enroll in any given class, parents have an important choice to make about which class is most appropriate and beneficial for their child at ages 1½, 3½ and 4½.
How do I know if my child is ready for the next class level?
Here are some guidelines to help your decision:
Consider the following characteristics when choosing a class for your 1½ year old.
PHYSICAL
- Improved walking skills, feet are together, knees flexible (vs. The "new walker" who has a wide-based, legs-apart gait with locked knees).
- Beginning to imitate/explore a variety of traveling movements--run, jump, leap.
- Can walk up stairs while holding onto a rail or hand.
EMOTIONAL
- Uses gestures and language to deal with frustration (as opposed to just crying or whining).
- Sustains interest and attention in activity for several minutes. (Note: not wanting to give something up {egg shaker, scarf, etc.} Can be a sign of maturation.)
COGNITIVE
- Reliably points to correctly identified body parts.
- Can follow two-step direction, "Come get a scarf and take it back to Mommy."
- Understands what "one" means (vs. a handful).
- Learning to use toys and objects in symbolic ways (moving beyond just enjoyment of sensory properties).
- Moving beyond play schemes of mouthing, throwing, and dumping. Actions becoming purposeful and integrated.
- Can interact in a directed activity.
- Able to shift attention with transition.
- Connects to an activity. Initiates a play sequence with caregiver.
- Reliably responds to own name (Refers to self by name in secure environments).
LANGUAGE
- Can express wants and needs symbolically (gestures, words).
- Has vocabulary of 20 words. Receptive language is still stronger than expressive language.
- Reading with caregiver becomes cooperative. Child will select book, sit, turn pages, relate to the story and interact.
SOCIAL
- Interested in what other children are doing.
- Capable of distal communication (i.e. Following verbal instructions from further away).
MUSICAL
- Moves to music, perhaps to steady beat.
- Responds to rhymes and songs, recognizes familiar ones.
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Consider the following characteristics when choosing a class for your 3½ year old.
- Separates from adult without crying; enjoys interacting as part of a peer group.
- Thinks creatively- has moved from "what animals do you know" to " what might we see in our pretend tree?"
- Recognizes the needs of others; can be empathetic, take turns (usually!), understand classroom rules and why they are important.
- Developing abstract language and thought- can sustain a pretend play and enjoy developing an idea for up to 5 minutes or more.
- Can tell stories, relate a series of ideas, connect own experiences to those of others.
- Has good patience - can accept "she is playing the wood block, and you have the tamborine today."
- Has a broad movement vocabulary, and can explore the same movement in diverse ways ("what other parts of your body can twirl?")
- Can sit and listen to a story or musical selection for several minutes, and comment on what they have heard.
- Knows shapes, colors, weather, seasons, counting.
- Participates in singing, reciting rhymes; follows a model for movement or instrumental play.
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Kindermusik for the Young Child realizes the developmental leap to school-age child.
Musically, it is the culmination of all that has come before; in addition to movement, instrumental play, singing, and creating, YC students begin to learn musical notation (note and rhythmic), and begin learning to play a melody instrument, the glockenspiel.
I strongly recommend that the step to Kindermusik for the Young Child be made by children who are entering Kindergarten, rather than those who are still in preschool.
If your child's birthdate falls after the school cutoff or you have elected to wait for the following year to begin school, consider the following guideposts when choosing to begin Young Child or remain in Imagine That.
Please be aware that Young Child is a sequential, two year curriculum- new students may join in second (Spring) semester as class space allows, with the understanding that the family and child will work with the teacher to catch up on concepts and learning covered in the first (Fall) semester.
The child ready for Kindermusik for the Young Child:
- Exhibits self confidence and reliability in a classroom or group situation.
- Has basic prereading skills; understands that writing moves from left to right, and repeats from the top of the page down.
- Has good fine motor control- reproduces shapes and letters, enjoys puzzles, games, drawing.
- Follows directions reliably, can participate in an activity with groups doing different things simultaneously.
- Has good abstract thinking skills- can answer questions such as "how do you think a composer can make music sound like birds?"
- Can sing whole songs, and is developing a good sense of pitch.
- Is eager to learn, and is developing self-motivation- can work independently for short periods toward a set goal.
- Is ready to begin understanding concepts of practice, proper handling of an instrument, and playing a tune as opposed to exploring ways of creating sound on an instrument.
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