Since we've only been part of BMS through the musical adventures class, this is really a review of that class. In one sentence, the Musical Adventures class for preschoolers would get 10 stars if possible! For more details, read on.
I signed up my three year old for the winter session in January and halfway through that, he was having so much fun that I signed him up for the current (spring) session. The teacher, Ms. Tahlia Cott, is WONDERFUL. She is warm without being fake (I firmly believe that kids can sense insincerity a mile away); sweet, calm, funny, and patient with the kids. She has a lovely singing voice, and she knows how to engage the kids in the various parts of the class--from the first minutes of the "Hello song" to the last floor-drumrolls of the "hey goodbye it's time to go home" song.
As I mentioned above, we are now on our second session. The winter session focused primarily on the piece "Carnival of the Animals"; the kids would hear excerpts while Tahlia read from a colorful kuds' book that went through the different movements. Each class would then go in-depth on one or two animals (movements) --as much as you can go in depth in a class for 3-5 year olds! Tahlia did a lovely job of pacing the class --alternating listening and repeating activities with movements and dancing marching activities to get restless kids up and moving. My little boy, who'd never had even a casual structured class, quickly caught on to the routine and basically fell in love with the class. I will further add that for the first two classes he was only watching/minimally participating. Tahlia assured me that this was totally normal end sure enough, at the start of the third class, it was as though a switch went on on his little head--a "oh yeah, this is a safe and fun place" switch. He was in his element--uninhibited, happy, excited to participate and to learn. By the end of the session, he could basically identify all the movements of the entire Saint-Saens piece and describe the qualities of each piece. It was really impressive to see how he internalized all the information--all while having a great time! As an added bonus, each class ended with a few minutes of coloring and at the session's end, each child got to take home a booklet made up of the coloring pages the kids did.
The spring session is an "around the world" theme got and each session we travel to a new country. As with the winter session, there is a nice mix of instrument exploration (including my favorite, the giant rain stick); dancing (in circles, with partners, as a group);, call and response, rhythm play, and of course, singing. And the kids get a "passport page" to color and will get a compilation of the pages at the end of the spring session.
In short, if you are looking for a fantastic introduction to music and movement, and want to nurture love of music in your child, look no further than this wonderful class!! read more