Early Childhood Classes
Term 1 Dates
Tuesday January 28 to Saturday April 5
(with no classes on Mondays January 27 or March 9 due to public holidays).
Term Fees: $270 for 10 week term
Fees are adjusted pro-rata for enrolments during the term.
Enrolments for Term 1, 2025 are now open!
Suzuki music education is guided by the idea that all children can achieve and develop musical skills. Our carefully selected songs, rhymes and activities will immerse your child in a calm, nurturing musical environment, free of pressure, in which they can explore and grow their musicality. Our program is based on the Suzuki Early Childhood curriculum and draws on ideas from the rich musical traditions of Kodaly, Orff, and Dalcroze.
Our Program
Our 40-minute music classes provide a calm environment for children to enjoy music together with a parent (or other special grown-up). In each class, children and their grown-ups play percussion instruments, sing, dance and enjoy musical stories.
Turn taking is a very important aspect of all our classes. Not only does turn-taking encourage patience and sharing, it also gives your child the opportunity to be both demonstrator and observer. We believe that the role of the observer (or the audience) is as valuable as that of the performer as there is so much to be gained from watching others learn and play.
Our Classes
Each of our programs caters for a range of ages. The philosophy behind this grouping is to allow children of various ages to participate together. The younger children in the class have role models to follow and the older children gain confidence from being a leader.
Little Ones (babies and toddlers up to age 3)
Skills are developed through nursery rhymes, speech patterns, action songs, finger play, circle songs, storytelling and other musical activities. All children have opportunities in each class to play various percussion instruments.
Preschoolers (ages 3-5)
Skills are developed through songs, rhymes, movement, and storytelling. We explore classical music by significant composers and learn about the instruments of the orchestra. The children have several opportunities to explore and play percussion instruments throughout the class, learning about musical concepts such as beat, rhythm, and pitch. The curriculum introduces the beginnings of ear training and music literacy with a foundation of musical notation and language. This program provides a solid foundation for moving on to instrumental lessons when the parent and child wish to do so.
Preps (ages 5+)
Our ‘Preps’ class continues with the skills developed in our 'Preschoolers’ program and provides extension for children who are 5-6 years old. The curriculum builds on music literacy with the beginnings of singing in solfege, and furthers their skills in reading and creating music notation.
Age Groupings
Our recordings for home listening are an important part of our program. Listening regularly will help your child get the most out of their classes.
Our music is available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and many other streaming services. Click here to find links to our recordings, or search for The Music Cottage in your streaming program.
