Kindermusik classes at Our Sweet Beginnings
Our Sweet Beginnings Wellness Center – 5778 S. Rapp St.
(located in downtown Littleton)

Date: Every Thursday morning
Time:  11:30 – 12:30 pm
(45 structured time; 15 minutes social time)

Cost:  $10 drop-in (no need to pre-register)
Curriculum rotates every two months with
each curriculum lasting 8 weeks

Materials accompanying each curriculum are
available at a 10% discount  ($25)

(includes a CD of the music used in classes, a board book,
a baby-safe instrument, 2 art banners)

Owning your own materials allows families to recreate the experiences
we have together at home in the child’s primary learning environment.

Do Si Do (Fall 2011) – Pick up your baby and dance.  Do the Charleston, the Tango, and the Cha-Cha and learn why dancing with your baby helps develop vital learning skills – from head to toe.

Feathers (Fall 2011) – Vocal exploration through rhymes, songs, and sounds, including the musical poems of Woodie Guthrie, bird songs, and the naturally occurring sounds in nature help babies develop an early appreciation for language, movement and music.

Cock-a-Doodle Moo! (Spring 2012) -- Hop on the hayride—it’s time to head for the farm! Enjoy the best of Americana through the sights and sounds and activities found on the farm.   Traditional and new folk song become memorable tunes for singing and dancing as we explore wheels, hay, and animal sounds.

Dew Drops (Spring 2012)  -- Stop and smell the roses—and lily of the valley, and tulips, and pansies . . . in the DewDrops unit of Kindermusik Village, families will play and move together to songs about flowers, such as “Jasmine Flower,” “How Does Your Garden Grow?,” and “White Coral Bells.” Traditional Irish music will give us the opportunity to dance a jig, move to the “Irish Trot,” and exercise to “Did You Ever See a Lassie.”

New curriculum begins every 4 weeks

Each unit comes with a Home CD, a Family Guide or Literature component; and some units come with an instrument to match the theme.

Fall Themes: 
Splash!  - In this unit we take a trip to the beach, river and bathtub!  Children will explore the sounds, sensations, movements, and music of all things wet and bubbly while they learn to understand the world through opposites.

Marvelous Me – The Marvelous Me! unit celebrates the wonder of moving our bodies, using our senses, talking about our friends, our favorite things, and hearing and remembering patterns. 

Rhythms of the Land -  This unit investigates the diversity of Native American cultures and music.  Drums, bells, and rattles are common in the music of many Native American tribes.  We’ll explore the difference between beat and rhythm.  We’ll also hear a story about Tabitha Tsosie, a girl who uses rhythm to learn how to ride a bike.

Spring Themes: 
Silly All Over – Silly All Over gives children a case of the giggles.  We’ll listen to silly sounds, move in silly ways, and read a story about a mouse that puts clothes on all the wrong places.

Sounds Abound -  In this unit we’ll build sound effects into our storytelling.  We’ll learn the term timbre and explore the many different sound qualities that can be made with ordinary objects and with our fingers on the keyboard.

Dance With Me – We’ll dance our way through a variety of styles – everything from ballet and tap to jazz and jigs.  A literature book called Dance of Our Own, follows two girls to a festival, where they learn there’s a dance for everyone if you do what you feel.

Drums, Drums, Drums – We will introduce the children to percussion instruments from the continents of Africa and South America.  We’ll echo patterns of rhythm through singing and clapping.  We’ll explore tempo and accelerando – a musical term for “speeding up.”

“Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other,
because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul,
on which they mightily fasten, imparting grace.” 
– Plato

Young Child Semester One and Two begins a four semester journey to build foundational understanding of musical notation, musical expression, and musical skills.  Students explore many facets of the musical experience—speaking, singing, moving, dancing, listening, creating and playing instruments along with learning about reading and writing music. 

• Attention to listening skills
• Development of voice & pitch
• Work with steady beat and motor control to develop a sense of timing
• Learning about rhythm through movement, reading, writing & creating rhythms
• Learning to understand lines & spaces on the staff
• Learning about melodic steps and skips
• Working together to create ensembles of rhythm & melody
• Singing games give us practice following directions and understanding patterns of music.

At Home materials set includes: Children's Folder, Games Bag, Family Songbook, Home CD, Carry Bag, and a Glockenspiel w/mallets

 YOUNG CHILD – SEMESTERS THREE & FOUR
5 to 7 years

Young Child Semester Three and Four continues the musical journey to explore voice development, rhythm, notation, musical symbols on authentic pre-keyboard, string, and woodwind instrument.  The Young Child curriculum, building on over 25 years of experience, works through the rudiments of note reading and writing to engage children in a variety of musical experiences. 

In Semester Three, children are intrigued and challenged as they learn to play a two-stringed dulcimer!  Appalachian, Native American, and African American music provide the medium to broaden and deepen the child’s musicianship through creating, reading, writing, and moving to music. 

 In Semester Four, children add the recorder as a wind instrument, exploring music from Japan, Hawaii, Hungary, Africa & Central & South America.  With their skills we engage in music and story through ensemble playing, singing, and continuing development of our musical reading skills. 

At Home materials set includes: Children's Folder, Games Bag, Family Songbook, Home CD, Carry Bag, Includes a two-string dulcimer for Semester Three Includes a recorder for Semester Four