By Nici Wooding
When you hear the term “Kindergarten Enrichment” you may be tempted to think that it has mostly to do with “filling time” or having your child participate in “extra activities.” Maybe you’re not even exactly sure what your child may do or learn in such a program. Learn why Kindergarten Enrichment at Kathy’s Music is one of the most valuable opportunities for your Kindergartener.
The Definition
Kindergarten Enrichment is typically a program designed to support and enhance the learning that takes place in a child’s Kindergarten classroom. Typically KE programs include a focus on reading, math, and science.
Our Definition
At Kathy’s Music, Kindergarten Enrichment is a musical program offered for students who are enrolled in half-day Kindergarten at a school or learning center. We offer morning or afternoon sessions that include:
- Instrument Instruction (Piano, Ukulele, Dulcimer, World Drums)
- STEM Exploration (Science experiments about sound)
- Level 4 Kindermusik Class (teaching kids to read and write music on the staff)
- Lunch and snack time
- Art and student choice activities
Your child is singing, dancing, playing together, learning together, moving, exploring instrument sounds and processes, reading music, counting rhythms, creating ensembles, and more. As you can surmise, there are countless skills being developed or strengthened along the way. Learn more on our website HERE.
If you take one thing away from this article, think on this:
The one thing that makes our enrichment experience special and the perfect complement to a Kindergarten program is the MUSIC. Musical training changes the structure of the brain for the better. It improves long-term memory and leads to enhanced brain development for those who start at a young age.
Did you catch that last part?
Timing is important.
“Brain-scanning studies have found that the anatomical change in musicians’ brains is related to the age when training began. It shouldn’t be surprising, but learning at a younger age causes the most drastic changes.” That’s why our Kindergarten Enrichment program gives your child a head start in school, an excellent foundation for lessons, AND the best gift of all: an opportunity to maximize the power of your brain. Everything we do and teach is wrapped in and around the music.
For more details on the “brain benefits” of musical learning and playing an instrument, click HERE.
The Big 5
While the brain benefits are reason enough to choose our Kindergarten Enrichment program, here are 5 benefits that we love.
Benefit 1: A Child-Centered Curriculum
When your child attends Kindergarten Enrichment (or any Kindermusik program) they benefit from a child-centered curriculum that does just what it sounds like–it focuses, or centers on the child–meeting them where they are, allowing them to discover their learning organically (as opposed to being told the answers) and encouraging them in their whole development–social, emotional, musical, cognitive, and physical. Your child will be encouraged to ask questions and seek answers by experimenting on their own, all while being supported by a teacher who has their development in mind every step of the way.
Benefit 2: Music is Math, too!
In line with focusing on the whole child, one of the many other skills that are being developed as your child explores music and musical concepts is math skills! While learning about the steady beat, students will practice active listening by repeating after the teacher and counting how many beats they hear. When learning basic skills on the piano, students will be asked to find groups of two and three black keys on the keyboard–this is called “subitizing” and it is an early math skill that requires students to simply look at a group of objects and know how many there are without actually counting them. Practicing this skill in a musical setting allows students a different way to receive and practice the information, which helps the brain remember it better!
Benefit 3: Music Is Literacy
As you might imagine, reading is a part of music in an obvious way when students are asked to sing a song and they read the words that are in front of them. This is indeed sometimes the case, but there are other ways that your child’s literacy skills are being developed during music time as well. When your child learns to read musical notation, they learn to read it from left to right, just as they would read words on a page. It’s a wonderful way to practice this skill and it’s fun, too! When they learn to read notes on the musical staff, they are applying the same concept they would for letters of the alphabet–each line and space on the staff has a name (just like each letter of the alphabet) and that opens a whole new world of reading music and being able to play it on an instrument, too!
Benefit 4: Collaborative Learning
Collaboration is one of our big 4 values at Kathy’s Music. Music by its very nature is collaborative. Musicians come together to create music in ensembles. Musicians share their music with an audience and the moment becomes collaborative as they create a shared experience. More importantly, our curricula and classrooms are designed to take advantage of social constructivism. The learning itself is collaborative as the group explores together, discovers and discusses, problem solves, and creates together. The outcome is a confident student who functions well in a group, feels respected for their ideas, is comfortable sharing feedback, regularly practices listening, and feels connected to others. An environment where students feel safe, valued, and connected is an environment where learning thrives!
Benefit 5: A Primer to Private Lessons
After attending Kindergarten Enrichment, your child will be ready and prepared to progress into group or private lessons that are offered here at Kathy’s Music. During the KE year, students experience small group instruction on piano, the ukulele (a great precursor to the guitar), the dulcimer (a great precursor to the piano or guitar) and drums as well! We are happy to help guide your child in finding the instrument that suits them and their interests and abilities best. When it comes time for that first lesson, they’ll be ready to apply what they’ve learned and use it as a solid foundation for their new adventure in music lessons.
A Good Beginning That Never Ends
Choose a musical kindergarten enrichment to create a good beginning that never ends for your child.