Children's Music Foundation Programs
The Children’s Music Foundation (CMF) offers a single program titled First Note™, a 30-lesson standards based music curriculum that is taught in the classroom during the school day, so that all children receive the benefits of learning through music. The program is designed to be taught for 20-30 minutes, once or twice per week, in Kindergarten and 1st grade. The program is currently in use throughout the Puget Sound area.
There are three primary components that make up the First Note program; curriculum and materials, teacher training, and on-going support. What is most unique about this program is that it is not designed so much to be ‘taught’, but rather ‘facilitated’. This is key in that specialized music training though preferred, is not required. This dramatically expands the number of teachers, or even volunteers, such as parents that could provide this program to our youngest students. This combined with the low cost and First Note a highly attractive option, and within reach of those schools that are poor and/or underserved.
Our Need
CMF would like to be able to offer the First Note Music Curriculum to all schools that desire the program, and to accomplish this, is reliant on foundations, businesses and individual philanthropy.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
As a direct result of grants and individual gifts in 2012, 2 Seattle Schools that had no music program for their Kindergarten and first grade students, were able to provide music for the entire 2012-2013 school year to nearly 200 of them. There are many teachers and thousands more students that wish to have First Note that can be made possible by private gifts.
Some comments from teachers and students taken in 2013 are below:
From our teachers….
“Students ask for music day, every day, and sing songs & rhymes by themselves, just to pass the time”
"I really wish the cultural guest section was longer. It always goes by too quickly," says one teacher, and another teacher heard her student whisper, "This is my favorite part."
“Behavioral problems are non-existent during Music Time, because everyone is so engaged”
“They all love Miss Melody, and wait in anticipation for the day she might surprise them in class”
From our students…
“I like how they do the song first and then they do it with us”
“I like it when she says close your eyes and guess what the instrument is”