Mini Music Makers (Downtown Vancouver)

Registration for 2024-25 is now open

Looking for other locations? Mini Music Makers is also offered in Surrey (Clayton Centre) and New Westminster (Anvil Centre) for Fall!

This is an in-person music program, held at the VSO School

Our Mini Music Makers classes are taught by highly experienced and qualified Early Childhood music instructors and musicians, using a bespoke approach which takes the best of Kodaly, Dalcroze, Orff and Colourstrings Kindergarten methodologies. Full of singing, moving, playing and learning, the classes are progressive in nature, guiding your child through a full 10-month program building the foundations of music learning in a fun and highly interactive class. The brief descriptions alongside each age group listed below are a snapshot of the skills and concepts that instructors will focus on with each class through the year.

The three terms in the school year are 12 weeks (Fall) / 10 weeks (Winter) / 12 weeks (Spring). Students stay in their same age group throughout the school year, and we strongly encourage them to stay in the same class for all three terms. With that in mind:

NEW THIS YEAR! Some Mini Music Makers classes in the older age groups are for full year registration only. These are the bolded ones in the lists below. By enrolling in these classes, you are guaranteed your class space for the year, and the student group will remain consistent.
Once you have enrolled and paid for the Fall term, you will automatically also be enrolled in the Winter (Jan-Mar 2025) and Spring (Apr-Jun 2025) terms.
Automatic credit card payment for those terms will be processed on:
–  Dec 15, 2024 ($225 for Winter term)
–  Mar 15 2025 ($265 for Spring term)

ALSO NEW THIS YEAR! All Mini Music Makers participants will receive a progress booklet so you can see the musical experiences and skills that have been achieved through each term. By the end of Spring term, all the musical elements for that age group will have been covered, and your little one can feel proud that they are “graduating” to the next level!

Mini Music Makers: Babies
For babies from 3mnths – crawling, with parent / carer

Engage with your child through their first explorations of music! Through new and familiar songs, simple instruments, and creative dancing, children will begin developing a steady beat, one of the first foundational steps in their musical development.

Mini Music Makers: Toddlers 1
For children walking confidently, born in 2023, with parent / carer

Engage with your child as they develop their musical skills through singing, playing, and moving! With new and familiar songs, exciting movement, and body percussion, children will continue developing their understanding of pulse, while also building recognition of dramatic contrasts within a musical context.

Mini Music Makers: Toddlers 2
For children born in 2022, with a parent / carer
(or born in 2020 and prefer a class with parent participation)

Support your child as they explore and engage with music! Through song, movement, and play, children will build their independence and understanding of steady beat, contrasting styles, and the foundations of rhythm.

Mini Music Makers: Preschoolers 1
For children born in 2021, able to participate in class independently

Through independent participation in this class, children will explore rhythm and beat keeping, while developing their own singing voices and creative expression. Building social skills and connections will occur while singing, dancing, and playing new instruments together!

Mini Music Makers: Preschoolers 2
For children born in 2020, able to participate in class independently

Through independent participation in this class, children will begin creating their own rhythms and melodies, identify melodic contrasts, and develop confidence in their musical self. Exploring instruments, body percussion, and rhythmic dance together will foster meaningful social connections and leadership skills.

Mini Music Makers: Kindergarten
For children born in 2019, able to participate in class independently

Please note: Kindergarten and Musicianship classes are 60mins long.
Through independent participation in this class, children will build confidence and awareness of various rhythmic and melodic configurations, while responding to melodic prompts with creative expression and movement. Upon completion of this class, children will be prepared to explore private music instruction on their favourite instrument!

Mini Music Makers: Musicianship Class
For children born in 2017-2018

In this progressive class, students will develop rounded musicianship skills to prepare them for successful study of an instrument, and becoming intuitive, expressive and confident performers!

At the conclusion of this class, students will be able to:

• sing pentatonic songs in tune, with an awareness of pitch
• perform music with a sense of internalized beat
• sing and recognize solfege syllables.  Students will learn to hear the pitches and intervals within the diatonic major and minor scales.
• make the connection between solfege and rhythm, and reading notes on the staff. They will develop a holistic understanding of the beginnings of music literacy.
• develop a sense of musicianship and phrasing through movement
• read and perform rhythms, from whole notes to sixteenths

View VSOSoM 2024-25 Registration Policies

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