Parents and children can participate in the ECE class beginning at 9:30 a.m. A question and answer session will be held after the class with instructors. Parents can learn about the Suzuki method of talent education and how it can benefit their infant or toddler into adulthood.

Three ECE class times are available during the spring session, which runs March 9 through May 11. Classes are offered Thursday morning from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. for children ages birth to three years old. A Monday afternoon class is offered from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. for children ages three to five.

From Aug 10-13, the Suzuki School of Music will host this four-day strings experience. Each participant will receive one private lesson, one master class in their instrument and one theory/orchestra class per day, along with two enrichment classes. Summer institutes have a long tradition of providing Suzuki students with a unique, concentrated learning experience with long lasting benefits.

Approved by Suzuki Association of the Americas, The Dakotas Suzuki Summer Institute is the only summer institute offered in our region.

Registration will begin in February 2009.

• ECE Toddler Monday at 1pm.
• Group lessons start on Monday at the usual times.
• Brown Bag Lunch Violin Lesson on Wednesday at 12:15.
• ECE Infant at 9am Thursday.
• and ECE Infant on Saturday morning at 9:30.

All group lessons are at the Frances Leach High Prairie Art & Science Complex. If you are not sure when your individual lesson starts, then ask your teacher.

All ECE classes have spaces available. If you have a baby or toddler ages 0-3 or 3-5 and you would like to introduce them to music, you can read a little about the Infant and Toddler classes in our information pages. To find out more you can email the teacher, or call us. The first lesson is free, so you could show up at the most convenient lesson and simply join in and see what you think.

The brown bag lunch lesson is for adults who wish to learn beginners violin. If you have a desire to learn violin then now is your chance. Come join the group.

If you have a child who is interested in learning violin, viola, cello, piano, or voice, send a message to our director and she will get you in touch with one of our teachers.

School starts again on the 5th January, and so does the Suzuki School. All lessons start that week.

February has two special events: Live Art in Motion at Kirkwood Mall (7th) and the Lincoln Days (9th-13th). The school is involved in both events. Check back soon for more details.

The third Butterfly Ball is on April 4th. This is a prom style ball for girls aged 4-12, accompanied by their dads. This is an important fund-raiser for the school, and we are expecting another successful year.

Looking ahead to August we will be hosting the Suzuki Institute. Preparations are under way. We will have more details posted shortly.

So, here’s to a fun and educational year with the Suzuki School of Music.

A big thank you to all who participated in or attended the Spooktacular at High Prarie last month. Everybody had fun making spooky sounds with violins, and the school raised some money too. Stay tuned for more events coming up.

This article points to a study that says:

While these results are correlational only, the strong predictive effect of training duration suggests that instrumental music training may enhance auditory discrimination, fine motor skills, vocabulary, and nonverbal reasoning.

While auditory discrimination and fine motor skill seem like obvious traits that would improve, the latter two traits are interesting in that they are not things that we directly associate with playing music.

Of course your child is learning a musical instrument because it is fun. However, such reports are always encouraging to see. It is a pleasure to think that their hobby also helps them at school and beyond.