PPAM's Pedagogical Approach to Early Childhood Music
We are so excited that you've taken the wonderful and important step toward giving your little one a lifetime of musical enjoyment!
Besides building fundamental music-related skills, participation in early musical experiences has been shown to help children develop a wide range of perceptual skills, and may help them with language and speech development. We wanted to take a moment to share with you PPAM's approach to working with our littlest musicians.
The remainder of this page is very detailed, but crucial to digest before your class begins. PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE PAGE carefully before your session begins, and please ask everyone who may be accompanying your child to class (grandparents, nannies, etc.) to read it as well.
PPAM Baby + Toddler Method
Based on extensive pedagogical study and a distillation of a variety of methodologies, our music classes are designed to develop musical creativity from the very earliest ages, and provide a groundwork for a lifetime of musical expression. During our classes, your child's teacher will invite them to participate in a wide variety of musical activities, from singing and responding to aural cues, using egg shakers, sticks, and hand drums to explore rhythms, and moving their bodies expressively in response to music. Over the course of your session, you will notice your baby participating with music in new ways, based on their age and developmental stage. For instance they may: begin to match pitch in response to you and your teacher; respond in rhythm to songs and chants; vocalize on their own outside of class; become more attentive to music in class and at home.
Designed for the child: Our classes are specifically designed for your child in mind, but as a parent/caregiver, you are asked to be actively engaged in the class alongside your child. There will be opportunities to sing and model certain movements/behaviors, but we specifically ask that most activities be modeled for your child. For instance, rather than actively moving your child's body with the beat for them, you may pat your own legs. Over time, your child will learn to internalize rhythm at their own pace, and will develop this skill organically by observing and listening. There will be some wonderful songs that you can sing and listen to at home (via our playlist!), but we do not expect parents to learn some of the more complex chants or rhythms that your child's teacher will use, so don't worry if you can't remember them! We also ask that conversations be kept to a minimum once class has begun.
We believe that your child will tremendously enjoy these classes and activities, and will develop sophisticated and hard to "teach" skills. While our sessions are currently short in duration (6-8 weeks) to help with everyone's complicated schedules, children will reap the most benefit from continued participation over the course of several sessions.
Thank you again for choosing to make music an important part of your child's life at Patterson Park Academy of Music! We are thrilled to be a small part of their learning process!
Musically,
Josh+Erik
Besides building fundamental music-related skills, participation in early musical experiences has been shown to help children develop a wide range of perceptual skills, and may help them with language and speech development. We wanted to take a moment to share with you PPAM's approach to working with our littlest musicians.
The remainder of this page is very detailed, but crucial to digest before your class begins. PLEASE READ THIS ENTIRE PAGE carefully before your session begins, and please ask everyone who may be accompanying your child to class (grandparents, nannies, etc.) to read it as well.
PPAM Baby + Toddler Method
Based on extensive pedagogical study and a distillation of a variety of methodologies, our music classes are designed to develop musical creativity from the very earliest ages, and provide a groundwork for a lifetime of musical expression. During our classes, your child's teacher will invite them to participate in a wide variety of musical activities, from singing and responding to aural cues, using egg shakers, sticks, and hand drums to explore rhythms, and moving their bodies expressively in response to music. Over the course of your session, you will notice your baby participating with music in new ways, based on their age and developmental stage. For instance they may: begin to match pitch in response to you and your teacher; respond in rhythm to songs and chants; vocalize on their own outside of class; become more attentive to music in class and at home.
Designed for the child: Our classes are specifically designed for your child in mind, but as a parent/caregiver, you are asked to be actively engaged in the class alongside your child. There will be opportunities to sing and model certain movements/behaviors, but we specifically ask that most activities be modeled for your child. For instance, rather than actively moving your child's body with the beat for them, you may pat your own legs. Over time, your child will learn to internalize rhythm at their own pace, and will develop this skill organically by observing and listening. There will be some wonderful songs that you can sing and listen to at home (via our playlist!), but we do not expect parents to learn some of the more complex chants or rhythms that your child's teacher will use, so don't worry if you can't remember them! We also ask that conversations be kept to a minimum once class has begun.
We believe that your child will tremendously enjoy these classes and activities, and will develop sophisticated and hard to "teach" skills. While our sessions are currently short in duration (6-8 weeks) to help with everyone's complicated schedules, children will reap the most benefit from continued participation over the course of several sessions.
Thank you again for choosing to make music an important part of your child's life at Patterson Park Academy of Music! We are thrilled to be a small part of their learning process!
Musically,
Josh+Erik