This is the first week of lessons for 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.

As 2008 draws to a close, it is time to look forward to 2009 and all the fun and exciting events that are planned for the coming months.

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.

Pampered Chef Party
November 24, 2008     7:00 – 8:30
 
SSOM is hosting a Pampered Chef Party at High Prairie
Art & Science Complex, 1810 Schafer, on Monday, Nov. 24.
Stop by for scrumptious deserts and place your order
for those Christmas presents that the cooks in
your family can’t live without.  Proceeds will benefit
SSOM.

It seems that the longer a child learns and practices a musical instrument, the better their verbal ability and non-verbal reasoning develops.

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.