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Early Childhood Music and Dance
PHILOSOPHY OF THE PROGRAM
The music and dance program in grades Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten is based on the belief that music and dance abilities are extensions of basic life skills such as walking and talking, and come from the inborn need for self-expression through the human body. The program seeks to develop these abilities while enabling the child to participate with confidence and pleasure in the music and dance styles of our culture, to appreciate the music and dance styles of other cultures, and to participate in creative learning experiences involving the child's whole self and their immediate community.
CURRICULUM HIGHLIGHTS In Junior Kindergarten, the students begin to learn to distinguish different vocal pitches through the introduction of the concept of high and low. Rhythm instruction consists of the concepts of fast and slow and of identifying the beat. Specific dance skills include the introduction of spatial concepts, tempo and rhythm, exploration of body parts, and locomotor movements through the direct instruction of galloping, skipping, etc. These skills are all developed through singing and instrument activity, movement improvisation, and games and dances done in circles and lines and in small and large groups.
In Kindergarten, the students are introduced to ear training by expanding on the high/low concept with listening games, imitation exercises, group singing, and singing games. There is continued practice in tempo and rhythm during drum circles. Spatial skills are refined as choreographed dances become more complex and personal space is better maintained and respected. "Free dance" improvisations as well as choreographed dances enable the students to continue their practice in moving with the beat at various tempos. Direct instruction in body part isolation and the addition of several "new" locomotor movements, including tap dance steps, further develop physical skills.
GUIDELINES FOR CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR
Music and Dance classes are held in the school's Dance and Drama Studio. This room is equipped with beautiful "sprung" maple flooring providing maximum comfort and safety for running, jumping and exuberant physical activity! Junior Kindergarten students are most comfortable in sneakers suitable for such activity. Kindergarten students, however, take off their shoes and socks before entering the room and store them in the shoe cubbies in the hallway outside.
On Music and Dance days, it is important that Kindergarten students come dressed in leg and foot attire that they can easily remove. For boys, it is simply socks and shoes. For girls, socks alone or with navy leggings, GCS sweat pants or uniform pants in November through April.
PERFORMANCE EVENTS Every December the Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten host a winter holiday sing-along in the beautiful Grace Church. Every spring the Kindergarten welcomes parents for a tap dance demonstration in the intimate setting of the school's Dance and Drama Studio. PERFORMANCE AND SPECIAL EVENT VIDEO JK and K Holiday Assembly, December 2006
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