EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAM
The Orchestrating Dreams Early Childhood Program serves children 1-4.
It operates in 14 sites and serves 300 children weekly.
Curriculum
We believe that participation in well-designed, age-appropriate musical activities supports children in many areas of their development:
Nurturing creativity through music and movement helps develop cognitive flexibility.
Keeping a steady beat (clapping, patting, rocking, marching) correlates to motor skill development as well as early language and literacy skills.
Rhymes are repetitive and use simple language so that children remember, use and enjoy an increasing vocabulary. Many rhymes help exercise certain tongue and lip muscles to aid clear pronunciation.
Actions for songs and rhymes aid memory and develop coordination.
Circle games and dances develop coordination, freedom of movement, confidence and awareness of others. The children are also learning rules of structure and patterns that will be useful in language acquisition and mathematical learning.
Musical games develop social skills, manners, sharing, turn taking and listening.
Listening quietly to music extends children’s concentration, gives them time to explore emotions and allows them to develop a love of music.