An Early Beginning:
From birth children are surrounded and immersed with the spoken language of their mother tongue. Children should also be surrounded and immersed with beautiful music. When a child reaches the age of 3 or 4, formal instruction can begin on the instrument of their choice. The early years are crucial for the development of fine motor skills, muscle coordination, and mental processes. This is one reason of why it is beneficial to begin music instruction early.
Parental Involvement:
Since the child begins instruction at an early age, the parents take on the role of "home teachers." They practice with their child at home and diligently take notes during the lessons on how to work with the child. A parent must attend every lesson and they have an important role of helping to create a desire for the child to love and nurture their music instruction. Often the parent learns how to play the instrument before the child so that they can understand what the child is expected to do.
"Where love is deep, much is accomplished." --Shinichi Suzuki
Weekly Assignment:
*Pick one special spot to use as a repetition and play a "game" with it. Clear your schedule for about 7 minutes. -No interruptions...moms. After each correct repeat, use a different word of encouragement for your child, ie; fabulous!, sensational!, wonderful!, fantastic!, tremendous!,perfect!. Say words like "try again", and "almost" for the repeats that are not quite correct. The smile on your child's face will get bigger and bigger as you use a new word each time they get it right... especially if they have never heard you use these words before. Most important--- ALWAYS keep your cool.
Good Luck! Let us all know how it goes.
From birth children are surrounded and immersed with the spoken language of their mother tongue. Children should also be surrounded and immersed with beautiful music. When a child reaches the age of 3 or 4, formal instruction can begin on the instrument of their choice. The early years are crucial for the development of fine motor skills, muscle coordination, and mental processes. This is one reason of why it is beneficial to begin music instruction early.
Parental Involvement:
Since the child begins instruction at an early age, the parents take on the role of "home teachers." They practice with their child at home and diligently take notes during the lessons on how to work with the child. A parent must attend every lesson and they have an important role of helping to create a desire for the child to love and nurture their music instruction. Often the parent learns how to play the instrument before the child so that they can understand what the child is expected to do.
"Where love is deep, much is accomplished." --Shinichi Suzuki
Weekly Assignment:
*Pick one special spot to use as a repetition and play a "game" with it. Clear your schedule for about 7 minutes. -No interruptions...moms. After each correct repeat, use a different word of encouragement for your child, ie; fabulous!, sensational!, wonderful!, fantastic!, tremendous!,perfect!. Say words like "try again", and "almost" for the repeats that are not quite correct. The smile on your child's face will get bigger and bigger as you use a new word each time they get it right... especially if they have never heard you use these words before. Most important--- ALWAYS keep your cool.
Good Luck! Let us all know how it goes.
