New Curriculum Helps Kindergarten and First Graders Explore Music

This year music teacher Kimberly Lostetter is using a new curriculum for kindergarten and first grade. “It’s called ‘First Steps in Music,’ and is designed to help make students musical in three ways: artful, tuneful, beatful,” says Ms. Lostetter. “Children are not as exposed to music early on as they used to be and I noticed they were having a harder time associating with music. This curriculum gets back to the basics and lays a foundation before we move on to written music.” Students explore music through various workouts, including pitch exploration, echo songs, and dancing. “When the students are dancing, they can feel the music,” adds Ms. Lostetter. “I ask them, ‘Can you find a way to show the music through your body, rather than moving randomly?’” This has been a great curriculum for our youngest students and by the time they reach second grade, “they will have internalized the pitches, movements and beats, and will understand the more sophisticated concepts much more easily.” MORE PHOTOS