B2R Kids Philosophy

The B2R Kids curriculum addresses intellectual, psycho motor, and social/emotional needs of young musicians as they develop musical understanding. B2R Kids programs are based on a curriculum that is comprehensive, sequenced and balanced.

Comprehensive Curriculum

A comprehensive curriculum uses the skills of performing (play and sing), describing (move, describe, see) and creating (improvise and compose) to allow learners to demonstrate their understanding of the content. The content of our curriculum is based in the music and its multiple concepts (melody, rhythm, form, timbre, style, etc). For example, a melody consists of an arrangement of individual pitches that occur one at a time. Those pitches can be high, low, or in the middle; they may move up, down, or remain the same. In addition, pitches may move in a stepwise motion up or down or pitches may move by skips or steps. The awareness of these concepts in music leads to the comprehensive nature of the curriculum.

Sequenced Curriculum

A sequenced curriculum is very similar to a brick layer building a wall. The teacher builds on previous knowledge and scaffolds, or layers, so the learner has a core foundation of information to which more layers of knowledge may be added.

The idea of new learning that builds on previous learning is the basis for to the sequential nature of the curriculum.

Balanced Curriculum

A balanced curriculum utilizes many musical styles and a variety of theories about learning. From Bach to Rock all styles of music can be used as a stepping stone to understanding other styles of music. In addition, teachers’ awareness of learning styles (visual, auditory, tactile/kinesthetic) and modes of representing knowledge (enactive, ikonic, symbolic) are examples of the theories about learning that B2R Kids Curriculum utilizes. The teachers’ abilities to understand and implement these learning theories lead to children's success within a balanced curriculum.