I would teach the children music, physics and philosophy, but the most important is music, for in the patterns of the arts are the key to all learning.
—Plato
Music
Early Program
In addition to the many musical activities they enjoy in their classrooms, Early Program children come to the music room once each week, half a class at a time, for half an hour. The groups are small - only seven to ten children. Over the course of the year, they sing and play instruments following the Montessori hands-on approach In addition, they create a repertoire of songs, including children’s material, traditional folk songs, nonsense tunes from their parents and grandparents eras, as well as appropriate contemporary pop melodies.
Weekly opportunities to handle and explore a variety of classical, ethnic, and homemade musical instruments help to develop a comfortable, yet respectful, attitude toward the "tools of the trade."
Rhythm exercises, word and movement games, as well as frequent opportunities for free form dancing, encourage kinetic awareness and creative expression. Acting out the lyrics and stories we encounter also helps to liberate dramatic imagination.
By regularly listening to diverse forms of music, from rock and roll to children’s adaptations of opera, the children enhance their aural attention span and broaden their taste in musical styles.
The entire Early Program has two opportunities to perform for the Caedmon Community. At holiday time, they take part in an All-School Sing during the finale of the Elementary Multi-Cultural Holiday Play. Each spring the Early Program performs their accumulated repertoire of songs for parents and friends in a concert performance of their own.
Elementary
The Elementary Music Program brings music within the reach of every child, no matter the range of his or her talents, or the extent of their musical exposure. Children learn that music is an important part of their lives, either as a language in which to become fluent, a tool for creative expression, or a world of sounds, rhythms, melodies, and harmonies to be enjoyed throughout their life.
By encouraging self-expression and creativity, the program reinforces the school’s general goal of nurturing independent, confident children, while also utilizing group activities to develop a discipline for collaborative cooperation.
At appropriate age levels, the children are introduced to the soprano recorder, the xylophone, and various percussion instruments. The gradual mastery of these tools gives them practice in relative pitch recognition, notation, sight-reading, harmony, and performance. The work they do on these instruments is frequently incorporated into the school plays.
Starting in 2008, the kindergarten children will receive small group violin instruction. As they move up, they will continue receiving violin classes.
Twice during the year, the focus of the music classes is the preparation for two original shows in which the entire Elementary Program participates. A holiday show revolves around a light-hearted narrative that approaches many of the world’s religious and cultural traditions within the context of a single story. This theatrical motif has been effective in creating a community-wide atmosphere of curiosity, tolerance, and sincere multiculturalism. The spring show enhances the academic curriculum by theatrically exploring an historical, literary, or cultural theme, while involving the children in a challenging and rewarding production process. Both productions are a showcase for the musical skills the children have acquired over the year on a variety of instruments or vocally.
Violin at The Caedmon School
Using the vehicles of singing, saying, dancing, and playing, The Caedmon School’s music program provides many opportunities for children to be drawn into music, not only as listeners, but as participants who know what it feels like to become part of a piece of music. All students at The Caedmon School participate in performance at varying levels, with opportunities to perform found in music class, assemblies, class plays, in-class performances and all-school concerts. To expand our children’s participation in music performance, The Caedmon School will begin the instruction of violin beginning in Kindergarten. Our resident violin teacher will teach this introduction to the violin during the school day. The children will continue this group instruction through grade three. There will also be opportunities for the children to have private instruction in violin through our Caedmon School for Music. Violin will assist our children developmentally through fine motor development, listening skills, organization, and left to right eye movement.
