Kodaly - Orff Music & Movement Classes for 1-5 year olds

Colourstrings offers a complete music education system that will take a child from the earliest stages of the music & movement program through to instrumental lessons at conservatory level.

Colourstrings; nurturing a life long love of music (photo by www.artoflight.ca)

Training begins in the Music Kindergarten and takes the young child on a wonderful adventure where their sense of pitch and rhythm is developed alongside the training of the inner ear. The basic musical concepts such as high/low, loud/soft etc. are learnt through the latest proven developmentally appropriate and engaging activities. Pictures, musical stories, puppets and games are used to bring alive the musical points, so that the children learn unconsciously and effortlessly. Why should your child attend music classes at such a young age? Click here to find out.

Weekly Activities

Activities include singing, finger plays, playing percussion instruments; creative movement, Circle & partner dances to music, rhythm games and active listening to classical and traditional world music (both taped and live). Eventually the children will learn to improvise, read and write basic music notation and knowledge of orchestral instruments. Click here to find out some of the many benefits of these activities!

The Colourstrings Experience

The classes are playful, lively and child-centred with the child and his or her needs the guiding principle to directing the lessons. Colourstrings teaching is well-structured (although only the teacher knows that) but at the same time enjoyable and we aim to build upon that which young children already know and have: a singing voice and a sense of pulse.

Though the children are not necessarily conscious of their learning process at first, our lessons are sequenced and aim to give very young children musical experiences through all their senses. Often the lessons have themes such as "The Jungle", "In the Woods", "At the sea-side", etc. to enable the children to enter an imaginary world through musical activities. The most common observations about a Colourstrings Kindergarten class are about how calm it is, how each child has an opportunity to express his or her ideas and ultimately how confident the children become.

Simple Graded Song Books & CD’s

The core song material exists in a series of simple graded song books and CD's called the Singing Rascals. These beautifully illustrated books are designed for pre-school children with the aim of arousing an interest towards music and creating a musical environment in the child's home.

The Simple graded song books and CD's encourage the young child to listen well, sing in tune and prepare them for future instrumental playing through increasingly specific activities. Hand signs for each pitch will be learnt as this will continue to develop inner hearing so that the children learn to hear in their heads a piece of music that they see written down and, conversely, write down a piece of music that they hear.

The Singing Rascals songs reappear in the workbooks and instrumental tutor books, creating an integrated system of learning, which has been tried and tested and established in Finland for over 35 years, with outstanding results.

(photo by www.artoflight.ca)

Age Appropriate Classes

Classes are offered for each specific age group as follows; 3-11 months, 1yr, 2 yr, 3 yr, 4 yr & 5 years. Babies under 12 months may attend their registered older sibling’s class for free. Each lesson is carefully designed and planned by the teacher using the Colourstrings guidelines and takes into account the developmental, musical and emotional needs of each individual child. Class size is limited to 6-12 children per class.

In the 3 month- 2 year classes, parents are requested to remain with their child to assist with singing and activities. In the 3-4 year classes an assistant works alongside the teacher acting as a positive musical role model. Parents may attend the classes until your child feels happy and secure. A reluctant child may choose to remain on the sidelines for several sessions or a parent may sit with them in the group. Once your child becomes accustomed to the routine they will soon develop the confidence to join in freely.

(photo by www.artoflight.ca)

The Life Long Benefits of Music.

The early years are now being recognized as the most vital stage of a human being's learning potential. The latest research confirms that weekly purposeful musical activities stimulate the cognitive & language, social & emotional, as well as physical developments that all begin in the very first days of your child's life. Music prompts greater connectivity between the left and right hemispheres of the brain and between the areas responsible for emotion and memory, more than almost any other stimulus. Active music making is thought to be linked with benefits such as improved results at school, better-adjusted social behavior, and even improvements in spatial reasoning, which is the foundation of science and engineering science. Pythagoreans considered music one of the four branches of mathematics.

Colourstrings classes aim to provide a set of experiences, which will help to develop within each child, a personal response to music. By giving your child a way of expressing themselves, you will be encouraging their creativity and improving their self-confidence and self-esteem. This can set them up in the future not just to take on the skills needed to master challenging tasks such as learning other languages, but also to believe in themselves so that they can achieve future life goals.

Parent's Feedback

"I am amazed how much Halycyon has learnt within two years of attending these classes even though most of the time she appears to be just having fun." Tracey Bednell, mother to Halycyon aged 2

"My son loves listening, acting out and singing along to the tapes in the car and at home and now has the confidence to sing alone in the class." Simon Johnston, Father of Jack aged 3

"All of the babies are captivated when Laura play's familiar songs to them on her violin. What a beautiful and exciting introduction to music" Wendy Allen, mother of Leila aged 6 months