Philosophy

...and making music is a fundamental human right. Children need ample opportunites to perform, create, respond to, and connect to music through singing, playing instruments, and movement. General music classes facilitate these experiences and guide children toward becoming tuneful, beatful, and artful. Children should be active music makers, not just passive music consumers.

Children learn best through play. Music-making should be a joyful process where children learn through aspects of play: imitation, exploration, and improvisation. Preparing a "product" for presentation to an audience is not the primary focus of play-based music learning. (But, sharing small performances with family is an excellent source of pride and motivation!)

Making music is fundamental to human expression and has a host of social-emotional, physical, and cognitive benefits. Neuroscience tells us that making music activates more regions of the brain than any other activity. All humans throughout the history of humanity have made music, not for the sake of boosting mathematical intelligence or test scores, but because it is a basic human need. It is part of the essence that makes us human. Young music-makers should not be concerned about standardized assessments inside (or outside) the music classroom.

Repertoire included in these group music classes will be seasonal but secular. Every attempt will be made to include musical selections from a wide variety of cultures without appropriation. Meadow Star Music recognizes the work of music educators in Decolonizing the Music Room and will avoid culturally insensitive music selections.