In Kindergarten, I use a curriculum based on John Feierabend’s First Steps in Music and Edwin Gordon's Jump Right In! Through these activities, the goal is that students will become:
- Tuneful - to have tunes in their heads and learn to coordinate their voices to sing those tunes. By being tuneful they will be able to sing lullabies to their children, sing "Happy Birthday" to their children and friends, join others in singing ceremonial songs like "The Star Spangled Banner," and to sing for the joy of singing. They will have an inherent sense of the structure of music and understand where music wants to go.
- Beatful - to feel the pulse of music and how that pulse is grouped in either twos or threes. By being beatful they will be able to rock on the beat while singing a lullaby, dance at weddings or parties, and to play or sing along to their favorite tune.
- Artful - to be moved by music in the many ways music can bring out an emotional response. By being artful they will be moved by music and seek out venues to share artful experiences with others in concert halls, in community bands and choirs or by listening to National Public Radio. They will enjoy being moved by music.
Kindergarten students focus on learning the basics of musicianship: listening, steady beat, using a healthy singing voice, expressing music through movement, and audiating (hearing music in your head). It sounds like an awful lot, but most classes we do all these things within thirty minutes!
If you have any questions about what Kindergartners are working on or how our musical curriculum works, please feel free to contact me!