Every child has their own unique rate of development. Kindermusik classes and the at-home materials are designed to help you support and encourage your child right where he or she is developmentally. Classes have overlapping age ranges to help you find the right “fit” for the needs of your child. Be sure to consider your child’s emotional development, as well as his or her cognitive level.

Generally, a child should be at the minimum age when enrolling in a class, as Kindermusik curriculum is age-appropriate.

Below are some guidelines to help you in transitioning between one class level and the next. Please keep in mind that children will demonstrate many, but NOT all of these abilities before moving on to the next class level. Also, our teachers are experts in child development, and will be glad to help you with your decision.

Moving from Village to Our Time

Physical

  • Improved walking skills, feet are together, knees flexible (vs. the “just walker” who has a wide-based, legs apart gate with locked knees)
  • Beginning to imitate or explore a variety of traveling movements-run, jump, tiptoe, etc.

Cognitive

  • Reliably points to correctly identified body parts
  • Beginning to understand color and number concepts
  • Will generally cooperate and follow verbal directions of two steps
  • Has moved from sensory learning (touching, mouthing . . .) to more imaginative play
  • Shows interest in concept pairs- high/low, fast/slow, loud/quiet, stop/start

Emotional

  • Uses gestures and language to deal with frustration (as opposed to just crying or whining)
  • Sustains interest and attention in activity for several minutes (Note: not wanting to give something up, such as bells or sticks, can be a sign of maturation)
  • Beginning to understand and participate in “sitting” activities: finger plays, lap bounces, singing

Language

  • Can express wants and needs symbolically (gestures, words)
  • May have vocabulary of 20 words; receptive language is still stronger than expressive

Social

  • Interested in what other children are doing, and may attempt to imitate

Musical

  • Moves to music, perhaps to their own steady beat

Moving from Our Time to Imagine That!

Physical

  • Has a taller, thinner, adult-like appearance
  • Balances on one foot; jumps in place without falling

Cognitive

  • Demonstrates basic pre-school knowledge: counting, shapes, colors
  • Developing divergent thinking skills (”What animals do you like?”)
  • Beginning transition from concrete to abstract thinking (humor aids this process)
  • Sits and listens to stories for up to 10 minutes

Emotional

  • Recognizes needs of another person; can be empathetic
  • Usually separates from parent without crying
  • Development of humor

Language

  • Beginning to master rules of language; asks questions
  • Can make up or retell stories
  • Can comment on what they have heard (after listening to a story or musical selection)

Social

  • Enjoys interacting as part of a group
  • Can accept “she is playing with the drum and you have the bells today”
  • Participates in singing; follows a model for movement of instrument play

Musical

  • Recites rhymes
  • Sings simple, whole songs

Moving from Imagine That! to Young Child

Note: The two-year Young Child program was intended in design for kindergartners and first graders. Individual exceptions might be made for a child participating in a pre-K program who will turn five years old soon after school starts. A four’s preschooler would best be served, in most cases, by participating in Imagine That!

Physical

  • Can jump forward many times in a row, hops, gallops, is learning to skip
  • Developed fine motor control, demonstrates control of pencil or marker

Cognitive

  • Eager to learn
  • Able to understand concepts of practice, proper handling of an instrument, and playing a tune as opposed to exploring ways of creating sound on an instrument
  • Counts to 20; recognizes numerals 1-10
  • Has abstract thinking skills- can answer questions such as “how do you think a composer can make music sound like birds?”
  • Has basic pre-reading skills; understands that writing moves from left to right, and repeats from the top of the page down

Emotional

  • Impulse control is emerging and developing
  • Sense of right and wrong is growing
  • Beginning to see things from another’s perspective

Language

  • Speech is nearly 100 percent intelligible (exceptions may include children with hearing and language delays)
  • Uses grammar correctly (i.e. past and future tense)

Social

  • Enjoys friendships and group activities
  • Shares, takes turns, plays cooperatively
  • Follows directions, can participate in activity with groups doing different things simultaneously

Musical

  • Sings a whole song
  • Beginning to match pitches consistently
  • Developing ability to match to group steady beat