NURTURING YOUR LITTLE ONE'S LOVE FOR MUSIC.....


students who do well in math usually have a strong sense of rhythm, beat and composition.”


Blackmer added that, in his experiences, when students arrive at St. Michael’s from other more curriculum-based schools they are more “reluctant or self-conscious.”


Jerredi Cowan, owner and instructor at Limelitez Dance Academy, says she watches students as young as three years old begin to develop through all forms of dance.


“We are working on childrens cognitive development… their attention and concentration. They are working on language skills… if we are going to do a step in ballet called a plie we call it a plie.”


Cowan also commented that as children mature, the objectives of the structured classes become more advanced. As children continue to learn more in-studio skills they learn correct classroom decorum, how to follow direction, determination, basic coordination and are challenged more creatively.


While each child is bound to develop interests other than academics it is evident that a host of professionals, directly involved in the early development of Medicine Hat’s children, believe lighting your child’s creative spark produces intellectual results.


Nurture your little one’s love for music and dance.


The Medicine Hat College Conservatory has a number of talented instructors to lead children on the journey from new music student to musician extraordinaire. For some children,


musical


instruction begins shortly after they learn to walk. Take Val Brower’s toddler class, for example.


Two-year-old kids attend her weekly class to sing songs, hear rhymes, play with felt cut-out blue birds and play Ring-Around-The-Rosie. What they don’t realize as they run around with friends and sit in Val’s lap for story time is that they are slowly developing a sense of musicality.


“We start by learning about heartbeat,


rhythm, melody,” said


Brower, the Kodaly Children’s Music Literacy Program instructor. “With the toddlers it’s a lot of echo singing. Now I will sing ‘Who is wearing purple today? Claire is wearing purple today.’ Next year, Claire will sing back to me, ‘I am wearing purple today.’ It’s a lot of repetition.”


Working with toddlers has its advantages and challenges. Two-year- olds aren’t known for their lengthy attention spans so Brower sticks to her lesson plan only as long as the children allow her to. When a young girl walks off to sit on her mother’s lap, she knows it’s time to move on to the next activity.


It’s all about


adaptability and going with the fl ow, she said.


Visit mhc.ab.ca/conservatory for complete programming details.


“We add new things and slowly let things go as the children become uninterested. Children love routine and repetition. I’ve told the parents, ‘we’ll get tired of these songs before they do.’”


But for Brower, working with the children and being immersed in music outweighs any so-called challenges.


“I fi nd it really easy to be at their level, sitting on the fl oor with them, using the vocabulary they understand. I love watching them progress to the next level. I get excited when they learn rhythm and you see they get it. When they succeed at something I have taught them, I know I’ve done my job.”


Part of Brower’s job is to prepare the students for music lessons in the future. The curriculum starts a year after the toddler class at the age of


three and goes to age six. Children learn the basics early on and progress to recognizing and reading musical notes in bass and treble clef. Above all, children learn focus.


“I always tell parents there aren’t any instruments you can play while jumping around a room,” said Brower.


It also teaches children to have more confi dence in their own abilities and be comfortable performing in front of a crowd. If children can overcome that shyness early on in life, Brower believes they will be better equipped socially as they enter their school years.


intellectually and improves their motor skills and discipline, added.


Haysom


Music develops children she


Deanna Haysom’s daughter Kinleigh started in the Kodaly program when she was two years old.


said Kinleigh looks forward to her weekly class where she is constantly challenged by Brower.


“It is amazing to see what can be accomplished with children at such a young age,” said Haysom. “On any given day my daughter can be heard singing, whether it is a song she learned in class, or a song that she makes up about her day. The Conservatory Kodaly program is the perfect fi t for children at a young age to develop a love for music.”


For Brower, she wouldn’t want to be teaching anything else.


“Music is my fi rst love. This is the place I want to be. I love walking to work in the morning and hearing instruments practicing – pianos, violins, cellos, everything.”


Whether you’re three or 93, playing an instrument is a skill you can use at any age anywhere in the world and bring enjoyment to those around you, she added. The Conservatory serves as a great launching point.


“It really is Medicine Hat’s best-kept secret,” said Brower.


Visit the Conservatory page on www.mhc.ab.ca


for more information about music and dance programs for children.


Information submitted by Medicine Hat College


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