Welcome to Musikgarten: Joyful Music with Purpose
August 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment or Ask a Question | Print This Homework Post
Click on the following for a quick video on Musikgarten!
WELCOME FROM THE TEACHER
My name is Linda Neal and I am new at Faustina Academy this 2008-09 school year. I will be teaching Musikgarten. If your child is in Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, or First Grade at Faustina Academy, he or she will be in one of my classes!
ABOUT ME
I’ve loved music for as long as I can remember! I always enjoyed singing, and I’ve provided special music at many church services, weddings, funerals, and special occasions through the years. I received my formal music training at DCCCD and SMU in the mid and late 90s as a music major. While at SMU I won a prized place in the chorus of the Dallas Opera, where I sang three years. At the same time I gained experience as a professional section leader at a large North Dallas church. My musical energies took a new direction in 2005 when I trained with Musikgarten to teach their curricula. I began teaching it to a Catholic homeschool group in Irving the following spring; I worked with them for three semesters. Also in the spring of 2006, I started teaching Musikgarten part time for the Arts Academy at Brookhaven College, where I remain today.
ABOUT MUSIKGARTEN
So what is Musikgarten? Great question! Musikgarten (German for “music garden”) is an early childhood music and movement program that has been shaped by world renowned scholars and education experts. The classes are not private, they are offered in a group setting. There is a purpose behind every single activity we do! Written by Dr. Lorna Heyge and Audrey Sillick, it began in 1993 and has gained momentum each year due to its substance and success both here in the states and internationally.
Many Musikgarten classes take place in a setting with parent or other caregiver in attendance with the child, while other Musikgarten classes include only the teacher and students, such as what we will be offering here at Faustina Academy. This latter arrangement is typically found in learning institutions and daycare centers.
MUSIKGARTEN IS BUILT UPON THE MONTESSORI METHOD
Something that is not commonly known is that Musikgarten is Montessori based! It truly is a solid, carefully crafted program offering sequential, purposeful age appropriate activities. I often refer to it as a school of music.
MUSIKGARTEN IS A JOYFUL EXPERIENCE, AND SO MUCH MORE!
One of Musikgarten’s slogans is Come for the fun. Stay for the education. My students and I will have the greatest time together. Musikgarten is fun! Fun for the children, and fun for their teacher! I always tell my families, I don’t know who has a better time in class — me, or the children!
What is so compelling about Musikgarten, though, is that while we are having a great time, some no-less-than-amazing things are taking place in the children’s development. Decades of research have proven without question that early childhood music and movement stimulates quantifiable growth in the young child in some important areas:
- social
- emotional
- musical
- cognitive
- physical
I never cease to be amazed about that!
MUSIKGARTEN CLASSES I’LL BE TEACHING AT FAUSTINA ACADEMY
Musikgarten actually offers a wide array of age-specific classes for babies through early grade school. I am trained in all curricula available except keyboard. Here at Faustina Academy, I will be teaching the following classes:
(1) “Cycle of Seasons” — Pre-K (4 year olds) and Kindergarten (5 year olds) [each of these grades meet with me separately]
Students in this class will celebrate their love of nature and growing independence through activities which focus on the seasons of the year.
Musical Play Activities:
Features:
(2) “Music Makers at Home” — First Grade (6 year olds)
In Music Makers, we do something Chef Emeril Lagasse loves to do – we “kick it up a notch!” Wow, things really start to happen here.
Music Makers “ingredients” are many:
Features:
INSTRUMENTS THE CHILDREN WILL PLAY
All children will have ample opportunities throughout the school year to develop their musicianship through rhythm sticks, jingles, large wooden hoops, hand drums, colorful scarves, rattles and resonator bells. A selection of instruments and/or manipulatives is included in every lesson.
When parents ask, “Will my child learn to play a specific instrument [such as a recorder] in Musikgarten?” I respond by saying No, the emphasis in Musikgarten is upon first developing the body to be the main instrument. Do you want your child to eventually take private lessons? Piano? Violin? Guitar, perhaps? In Musikgarten, your child will first learn how to feel the music’s beat and melody in his or her body, and how to respond in an expressive, unconscientious way to that music. This prepares him or her to then communicate that expression through an instrument in the future, or any area of the arts requiring movement, such as dance and drama. In Musikgarten, we are about tapping into, and joyfully eliciting, that passion and emotion about music – greatly enjoyable now, and greatly rewarding in the future when channeled into private lessons, or other avenues.
PRIVATE LESSONS ALONG WITH MUSIKGARTEN
Note: If your child is already in private music lessons, Musikgarten will only enhance that training!
GRADING SYSTEM FOR MUSIKGARTEN
Grades are not awarded for Musikgarten. It is a non-performance based set of curricula. I like to tell my parents, “This is one of the few classes your child will ever make an ‘A’ in just by showing up!” The prevailing notion in the Musikgarten class is a sense of celebration of the child, music, and life. The Musikgarten teacher maintains an atmosphere of encouragement, praise and nurture of every child present.
MORE TO COME
I will continue to post more information here in the future, so please come back and visit if you have a special interest in the Musikgarten program at Faustina Academy.
For more information about the Musikgarten program, including its founders and history, and the benefits of early childhood music and movement, visit their official website:
“Long after the toys of childhood are gone, the gift of music remains.”
Welcome to the 2008/2009 Academic Year!
August 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment or Ask a Question | Print This Homework Post
Follow this list for all the homework assignments for this class. Contact your teacher if you have any questions.