Let me know what’s on your mind
Hi Everyone,
My name is Maria Alley. I teach music to young children and I find that exciting and very rewarding. I’m very passionate about what I do and I wanted us to have a space where we could share experiences, ask questions, make suggestions, etc. Let me know what’s on your mind. I hope to read you soon.
Maria.
Tags: Experiences, Music, Music Find, Young Children
Just read your news letter, like the idea of the contest, very cool! Looking forward to reading your blog.
Hi
I am about to embark on the adventure of teaching music to children as a profession. I need marketing advice to anyone who has targeted preschools and/or daycare centers. Thanks.
Hi Tricia. I’m so glad you’re beginning to teach music to preschool age children. I remember when I first started to develop that concept for myself back in the early 90’s, fond memories! What is your musical background? The first thing I did to let the daycares and preschools know about myself and the program I would be teaching, (Do Re Me and Maria), is to make up a trifold brochure which would be delivered to each institution. This brochure gave the centres a point by point description of the program, letting them know what the main focus of the classes would be, length of sessions, outcomes of say a 12 week session, pricing, and a section about the teacher. There are different ways of marketing your classes but the most inexpensive way is the informational brochures which could either be mailed out or hand delivered,depending on how many classes you would be offering. Will you go into the preschool itself or have a classroom of your own where children would come to you? A preliminary phone call is always nice for introduction as some people just throw those brochures away on sight. Sometimes I would do a complementary demo class so the teachers get an idea as to how the class is run and how children are enjoying it. Follow up with your potential clients is also extremely important.
Did you develop your own music program or will you be using one that is already made up?
Thank you for your interest. Feel free to email with any other questions or comments you may have.
Hi Maria.
At what age would you say a child can start learning a musical instrument? Which instrument would you recommend?
Thanks.
Hello Claudio. Thank you for your comment.
Music is a wonderful outlet for children of all ages, whether listening to their favourite songs or playing an instrument. There has been much discussion on when and what instrument your child should begin with but I believe it varies with each individual child. The basics would be to start younger children, (Ages 1 year and up), with an instrument which involves large motor skills, maybe percussion instruments such as hand drums, maracas, the xylophone, jingle bells or jingle bracelets, tambourines, wood blocks, etc. When the child is 4 or 5, again depending on that child’s rate of development, they are beginning to develop their fine motor skills. Then you could introduce the keyboard which lends itself well to children of this age group as they get a sound immediately from the instrument. Although it is not common, I have seen four-year-olds play the violin having gone through the Suzuki Program. I believe their parents made them practice long hours though and I am not sure if this would be the way I would go as it may turn them off in later life. If the child is keen to practice though, no problem. The recorder is a great instrument for children of this age as well. It can develop the breathing techniques necessary to later play instruments like the flute. You may begin the flute at around 6 or 7 years of age. Although it is quite untraditional to begin 4 or 5 year olds on an instrument such as the trumpet, a number of my daycare kids could get a big sound from the trumpet’s mouth piece. Sometimes it takes legends like Sonny LaRosa, a trumpet player who taught children as young as 5 years to play an instrument, read music and count time to get us out of our mind set about age. Then of course there was Mozart who began playing the clavier at the tender age of 3. He learned instruments like the organ, the harpsichord and violin, also at a very early age.
I guess having said all of that, I would rent various instruments for your child to try which will save money in the long run. Sometimes they will take to a certain instrument like a fish to water and it is our job to give them a wide variety to choose from. Music is certainly an excellent outlet for the spirit and makes joyous beings of us all!
Hi There
I joined your email list as a friend of mine told me about an article on “music and the brain, which my friend said was an excellent article. I believe this was in one of your past newsletters. I was truly hoping I would receive these kind of topic by subscribing to your newsletters. However, not this last one for sure! Could you either post the article on this blog or tell me how to find that article mentioned above.
Thanks
Charley
Hi Charley,
Thank you for your comment and for having subscribed to my newsletter. I’ve included the article that you are referring to in a separate post on this blog (click here to open it).
You seem disappointed with the last issue of the newsletter and I’m sorry about that. But I like to vary the content of my newsletter to keep it engaging for both parents and their children. Teaching music to our children should be fun.
I’m sure that you’ll like the next issue of the newsletter. If you have any ideas on how I could provide more value with my newsletter, please do not hesitate to let me know.
Thank you.
Maria