Tag: junior kindergarten

Music and Cognitive Benefits

Did you know that making music is the ONLY activity that taps into ALL portions of the brain? That’s pretty powerful stuff! And that’s a huge reason why we do what we do – we are passionate about music education and the benefits of music. While yes, I’m a pro-musician and I LOVE making music… Our focus at Sing Music Studio is not to create little musicians. Our focus is on the incredible benefits that making music has for ALL children.

Watch this short video that explains about music and cognitive benefits. You’ll also see Kindermusik kids in action.

How Does Music Affect a Child’s Cognitive Development?

In a study led by Dr. Artur Jaschke, scientists assessed 147 young children in Dutch schools. After two years of music and/or visual art classes, they were determined have shown greater cognitive skills than their peers. There are significant issues with this assessment: 147 children is not a significant data set, we don’t know anything about how they were chosen for the study or if other factors, such as socioeconomic status, were included, and we don’t know who they were measured against.

That said, the scientists believed that the children had better short term memory and and less inhibition than their peers.

Music Teaches Discipline From an Early Age

Enrolling your child in Mississauga piano lessons, for instance, will teach them the power of discipline (a true superpower). We make lessons fun and engaging for kids, but the child will still need to listen, follow instructions, stick to the assigned steps, and practice in increments every day. Over a period of time, your child will notice how this regular practice will directly lead to significant improvement on the piano. The same applies for singing lessons in Mississauga, guitar lessons, and more.

This practical application of discipline alone will help your child significant outperform peers in academic pursuits, and these benefits will be noticeable throughout their whole life.

For more information about our music classes, or if you’d like to know more about our baby music classes, please get in touch! We would love to hear from you.

Junior Kindergarten Kids & Music Classes

Age 4… oh what fun! Eager to learn. Excited and full of energy. The 4 year old is ready to jump into junior kindergarten! That means the 4 year old is also ready for all sorts of musical fun in our music classes for junior kindergarten kids… Kindermusik Level 4!

While junior kindergarten kids are still processing thought through pictures (the inner voice does not begin to develop age 7), these 4 year olds have a large vocabulary and are now able to carry on full conversations! They are full of questions and curiosity… and ready to learn more about music!

Up until Kindermusik Level 3, our main focus is brain development and child development in our Kindermusik program, and, don’t get me wrong, all of that is still prominent in Level 4, now the children are primed and ready to start learning more specifics about music too! Throughout the course of the Level 4 year, children are introduced to so many exciting styles of music from jazz to opera, classical, modern, folk, world music and more. The Level 4 class sets the stage for the beginnings of new musical concepts, laying a wonderful foundation to move on the either Level 5 or private lessons.

Musical Concepts Learned in Level 4 for Junior Kindergarten Kids

  • Staccato and legato
  • Music appreciation and introduction to a wide variety of musical genres
  • Simple rhythmic patterns, not names and values
  • Introduction to the musical staff
  • Exploration of the note C on the staff, through singing and playing
  • Solo, duet and ensemble singing
  • Following melodic patterns
  • High and low
  • Treble and bass clef
  • Forte and piano
  • Crescendo and diminuendo
  • Introduction to keyboard instruments
  • Introduction to brass, woodwind, percussion and string family instruments
  • Learning about famous composers
  • Ear training exercises
  • Creative musical expression
  • Sound effect exploration
  • Creative movement to differing music/dance styles
  • Ensemble development
  • Steady beat
  • Music and the connection to emotion
  • Improvisation

We have tons of fun in our music classes with junior kindergarten kids and can’t wait for the next round of Kindermusik Level 4 classes to begin!