|
|
|
|
The Summit’s music program
at the Montessori level is based on the pedagogy of the late German composer and
educator Carl Orff. The
Orff-Schulwerk approach uses singing, rhythmic speech, instrument playing (both
pitched and non-pitched), movement and improvisation to teach children the basic
elements of music. Children are
actively engaged in making music at all times.
Concepts such as loud and soft, high and low, steady beat, singing
accurately on pitch and dramatically interpreting music and literature are
routinely explored. The children
experience music from a wide variety of cultures.
At the Kindergarten level, the concept of a musical staff with pitch and
rhythmic notation is introduced, and children begin to use standard musical
notation to compose and perform their own music. Every year the Montessori children present two performances for their families and classmates. The all-day Kindergarten children present an annual Christmas Nativity play in December, and all the Montessori children prepare a short musical production for our Mothers’ Day and Grandparents’ Day programs in the spring. |