Summer is right around the corner! Enrollment here at our piano program will dramatically increase in the coming weeks, so if you are interested in enrolling your child in our program, then please contact us as soon as possible. If you have questions about what age is best for your child, read the following, peruse the remainder of this site, and visit us at one of our open houses.
Preschool Piano for 2.7 to 4 year-olds:
Piano is about learning to play by singing and listening! This age learns just as fast as older children, but learn different things. Motor skills are not a problem due to the manner in which we teach piano technique (the physical ability to play the piano). Every week, children will learn new pieces and new concepts about music making, and as their reading capabilities come 'on line," they will begin pre-reading (introduction to music reading), fundamental theory, and move to more intricate concepts in their overall music making.
Our instructional style is adjusted immediately and on the spot during every interaction we have with your child. We adjust in accordance with their blossoming capabilities, the emergence of the 'true self' (which happens around this age), and there interests.
PPK Play, Sing and Pre-Reading (age 4)
Four-year-olds can learn more elaborate music and build upon previously learned concepts from their prior experiences in music. Children who are beginning will master the beginning concepts more easily then move on. Students learn more precise motor movements, ear training, theory, pre-reading, and of course, they are able to play more elaborate pieces than 3-year-olds can master (due to greater cognitive capabilities). Students improve their concentration and attention spans are increased with our teaching methods.
PPK Play by Ear, Sing & Sightread--ages late 4 through about 5.
When entering the 5-7-year-shift, children will be on their way to more rational thought capability. Their logic will begin to be based on more real-life situations than on their feelings (as in preoperations). As this takes place, children can begin to learn more advanced theory concepts and these children have greater working memory than their younger counterparts. Advanced intellectual performance of older children is a careful combination of learning and developmental processes. PPK utilizes these developmental advances and aligns the child's curriculum with his or her developmental capability.
We carefully adjust our instructional style immediately and on the spot during every interaction we have with your child. Children at this age are changing fast, and it requires our utmost attention, but your child benefits by having his or her capabilities matched at every juncture.
Elementary Foundation, ages 5-7:
Do 7-year-olds learn and behave differently from 5-year-olds? If so, are their behaviors and learning ability qualitative or quantitative? Do children give up what was learned earlier, or do the incorporate prior learning into new learning? PPK! prepares children for Level 1 piano instruction by introducing new and more challenging concepts, performance practice, theory, sightreading and technique (movement). This carefully designed section of our program piques what your child already knows and redefines it to fit this age group's growing cognitive, linguistic and perceptual capabilities. All students are actively involved in the Private Lessons, Computer Music Instruction and Music Classes that are unique to PPK.
Children in this age group are transitioning from Preoperations to Concrete Operations. This time of life is called the 5-7 year shift, and is the time of your child's life of the most rapid transition of cognition, social awareness, language and overall behavior. This unit is uniquely designed for children in the 5-7-year-shift. As instructors, we are continually watching your child for behavioral signs of the parts of your child's cognition that have transitioned to concrete operations, and the part that is still in preoperations. We adjust our instructional style immediately and on the spot during every interaction we have with your child. It requires our utmost attention, but your child benefits by having his or her capabilities matched at every juncture.