September 19, 2006

Dear Parents,

I hope everyone had a great summer. I am very happy to see so many familiar faces and meet many new children and parents as we start another year of music classes at Duane St. In this letter, I would like to introduce myself and give you an outline of my approach and my goals for this year’s music class. If you ever have any questions about what we are learning in music class or about your child, please do not hesitate to approach me. You can also follow along with what we are learning on the “Students” page of my website, www.oranetkin.com. There, you will find lyrics and recordings of all of the songs and games that we are learning in class so that you and your child can sing along at home.

The early-childhood music curriculum that I have developed for Washington Market School grew out of my experiences teaching saxophone, clarinet, piano and ensembles to older children and adults. In my work with these students, I have often thought about skills that I wish they had developed at an early age. I grew to recognize the first 5 years of a child’s life as the best opportunity to really internalize music.

The ultimate goal of my music classes is to encourage the child’s natural musical growth so that he or she will have the tools to fully enjoy music (listening, playing and/or composing) throughout his or her entire life. Music is in many ways a language and, like all language skills, the early years are crucial. Just as a child learns elements of language before speaking, he or she tries to make sense of musical sounds before being able to sing or play an instrument. Through exposure to music and active participation in songs and musical games, the child’s musical instincts will develop naturally. I believe the way to do this is to always keep music fun, something to be enjoyed.

Some specific goals that I have for your children’s musical growth this year include:

· Strengthening their intuitive sense of the fundamental elements of music including pitch and rhythm. This is done through fun games that involve movement and linking pitch to animal sounds.

· Exposing them to various musical instruments from different families (wind, string, percussion) and different cultures.

· Exposing them to great musical works and performers in a variety of styles from a variety of cultures. Just as a child should hear a broad vocabulary, he or she should also be exposed to a broad range of music. In the first few months, we will learn music by Dizzy Gillespie, Babatunde Olatunji and Mozart. All of the original recordings by these masters will be available on the students page of my website, noted above.

· Promoting active listening skills by asking the children to listen and respond to specific elements in a piece of music instead of passively listening to it. This is done through games and dances that I have designed to draw attention to a specific element in the music.

· Begin playing musical instruments: both unpitched percussion instruments like rhythm sticks and shakers and pitched instruments like xylophones.

The benefits of this approach to learning music are far-reaching – math, social skills, coordination and physical development are all improved. Music uniquely incorporates the simultaneous use of multiple forms of intelligence – physical, emotional and intellectual. Most of all, the benefits of learning to listen are invaluable throughout life.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss your child, feel free to contact me at oran@oranetkin.com. You can also visit www.oranetkin.com for more information.

Thank you,

Oran Etkin