Early Childhood Music at Brookside

Early Childhood Music at Brookside

Teacher: Debra Navin

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind,
flight to the imagination and life to everything”

-Plato

The primary goal of the music program of the Early Childhood Center at Brookside is to provide students with positive and meaningful musical experiences, since music can help students engage more deeply within the diverse worlds in which they live. By fostering a love of music, students are organically drawn to go on to study the components of music reading, theory and history. The curriculum of the program is informed by the best practices of Carl Orff’s Orff Schulwerk, Edwin Gordin’s Music Learning Theory, and Phillis Weikart’s Education Through Movement.

Music is learned through the environment, just as language is learned. Babies begin by listening, then speaking and eventually moving onto thinking, reading and finally writing. In Pre-Kindergarten, Junior Kindergarten and Senior Kindergarten, children are still in the beginning stages of this sequence. At these young ages, Brookside students are exposed to a rich musical environment. They are provided with the opportunity to listen to and participate in a variety of musical styles, tonalities and meters.

In Music Class the students experience music through listening, singing, moving, playing, and creating. Students will play a variety of games and engage in other musical activities that encourage the students’ natural inclination to play. As Carl Orff said, “Tell me, I forget; Show me, I remember; Involve me, I understand.” Students learn music through making music both with their voices and with a wide variety of classroom instruments.

Movement is a core component of the music curriculum. Edwin Gordon’s Music Learning Theory suggests that “movement is the most important vehicle for assisting young children in making the transition from music babble to music sense.” Students will use a variety of props such as scarves and puppets to assist with musical expression. Throughout the course of the year students learn about different types of movements including locomotor (movement around the room) and non-locomotor (movement that stays in one place) as well as different qualities of movement.

Beginning in Senior Kindergarten, students are taught the basic elements of music reading. Students learn to associate symbols with musical concepts and lay the groundwork for further music reading.

All students in the Brookside Early Childhood Program attend music twice per six-day cycle for 30 minutes. Senior Kindergarten students meet in half groups allowing those students to have more individual attention.

It is my hope that students will be able to engage with the musical world around them both inside and outside of my music room. I encourage you to make music making and music listening a regular part of your child’s life at home. It is my pleasure to be your child’s music teacher.

Musically Yours,

Debra Navin
Early Childhood Music Specialist