| 09 December 2009
Programme Description
Rhythm In Me seeks to develop the whole child through deep engagement with the ways of being musical.
The environment at Rhythm In Me provides opportunities for skill development in vocalizing, moving, playing, organizing sounds, listening and using language to express musicality. In a supportive and engaging environment, the child will develop confidence to experiment, to improvise and to create his or her own music; this same confidence will above all, enable the child to solve problems in other areas. Rhythm In Me is a place for creative music and dance education, in an environment that is stimulating, structured and filled with the wonderful spirit of play.
Rhythm In Me also aims to instill and build confidence in a child to showcase his or her musicality fluently. Emphasis is also placed on language, social and emotional development in a child.
All the programmes at Rhythm In Me are run by educators who share the same beliefs:
- that all children have a genuine desire and ability for music and rhythm
- to develop confidence in the child to express his or her voice musical ly
- to develop and expand the child's creativity in music, movement and language
Class Description
Mini Movers 1
6 Months to 12 Months
At such a tender age, you may wonder what exactly a child so young can achieve in a music class. It’s all about involvement and parents are asked to join their baby for this class. A typical lesson includes naming songs where each baby’s name is incorporated into the song, peek- a- boo scarf games or a baby bike riding song. Elastic work is a feature too, where a set of songs with a strong rhythmic content is introduced. Many songs are repeated on a regular basis and new songs are continually brought into the repertoire. Another feature of the lesson is movement and dance. The babies at this stage are not able to walk or dance on their own so the movements conveyed by the parent are vital. The music is kept to its most simplistic level in order to make it easily accessible for all to relate to.
Mini Movers 2
12 Months to 18 Months
This is the age of discovery, exploration and we all face a simple fact – they just can’t keep still! At this stage of their musical development we understand their desire to keep on the move and in addition to this their continued close dependence on their parents for emotional support. Not all of them are able to physically move freelyor independently and so a great deal of their movement and dance activities rely heavily on being carried by the parents. They are also encouraged to use simple percussion instruments as they sing and none of the songs, rhymes or words they learn are quick ly garbled through as at this stage the development of language skills are extremely important.
Mini Movers 3
18 Months to 24 Months
At this age they are just beginning to enjoy their repertoire of songs and rhymes. Their language is flowing fast and they are being introduced to a constant stream of words and new skills. It is little wonder that they seem to never be still, nor do they seem to stay absorbed by any thing for too long. They will be singing some familiar nursery rhymes as this is a great help with the development of language skills and reading and listening. In addition to this, they will be working with a whole selection of new material. This particular programme is also about moving towards musical independence, with support and help from their parent s and teachers they will be prepared for their new found freedom. Many of the musical activities will lead them towards working with other children, alleviating their anxieties about separation from their parents and learning to trust their teachers.
Walkie Talkies 1
2 Years to 3 years
One of the important aims for this age group is to alleviate their fears of separation from their parents or significant family members. At this tender age they are still very emotionally dependent and should not be forced to work without parental help if they are not yet ready. Once their confidence is established it is easy to move on to more complex activities. In the early stages of this programme, the children are allowed to enjoy this emotional support; however it is important to note that some activities are especially used in order to aid the process of separation, particularly hand clapping rhymes and certain dances where the children should attempt to work independently. At this age the development of language skills is crucial and children should be bathed in all forms of language in terms of poetic, rhythmic melodic, pitch, timbre and even nonsense language which appeals to their developing sense of humour.
Walkie Talkies 2
3 Years to 5 Years
With increased levels of confidence, these little ones are ready for a new phase of learning. Their ability to keep a regular beat and follow simple tunes widens their scope for some interesting challenges. They will enjoy working with all the instruments will take great delight in experimenting with songs with unusual language and vocal form. These children become very expressive and comfortable with their own sense of self worth once they are able to formulate their own ideas and have the freedom for their creative input. They are also able to collate ideas from a variety of sources as their experiences are taken from family, home, school and their social life. Armed with a wide array of information they are very adept at using new skills combined with previous experience and can pool this wealth of knowledge using it to create unique musical ideas. This is definitely the time for musical investigation and exploration; a time to begin developing creative potential either individually or within a group setting.
Scallywag
5 Years to 7 Years
This is the stage where the children really start to understand how to break down the various musical components and begin to put them into context. The big question is - HOW is this done? It is vital to note that at this stage a great deal of previous conceptual learning has taken place through the assistance of parental guidance and for some children through the type of formal education received at school or kindergarten. We all need a set of pre-requisite skills in place in order to understand music and these skills must be both established and developed in order to understand how music works. With a good background of all of these strategies in place the children will feel the confidence to independently involve themselves in a wide range of musical activities.
Families Make Music
12 Months to 6 Years
Rhythm In Me is all about learning in a fun and playful environment and who better to do it with than your own family! Our family class was started up for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is convenient for parents to bring their children once a week, especially if they are busy. Some parents prefer this, and it is entirely up to your preference. Our family class is also a great way for the whole family to spend quality time together, focusing on learning music and experimenting with new and different things each week. From our experience and we're sure many of you would agree, younger siblings tend to want to copy the actions of their older siblings. We find that with our family classes, younger ones tend to listen and follow their older siblings and the older ones tend to like helping out with their younger brothersand/or sisters. It promotes sharing and caring between siblings and is a fantastic way to bond with the whole family. The structure and content of our family programme is no different to our otherclasses, except that the age group for the family class is broader and the activities are tailored to a wider age range. As with all our other programmes, singing, dancing, rhymes, vocalization and improvisation are all part of our family sessions. Our family classes are definitely a wonderful way to spend 45 minutes just focusing on each other without any interruptions or distractions!
Sing Dance Celebrate
