Early Childhood & Dalcroze Eurhythmics Department

Early Childhood & Dalcroze Department Dates and Family Resources

IMPORTANT DATES FOR 2025-2026 SCHOOL YEAR

All event details are subject to change. Please check our event calendar for updates and registration links.

Parent Education Session
Thursday, October 23
8:00 – 9:00 PM

• Held over Zoom
• For currently enrolled Early Childhood student families

Children’s Dalcroze Showcase 
Sunday, April 12 
Performances at 2:00, 3:15, and 4:30 PM 

• Performances by current Dalcroze classes
• Held in Metcalf Hall at the Winchester Unitarian Society

WCMS Faculty and Family Concerts 
All ages welcome

Sunday, October 5, 4:00 PM — Reflections and Influences
Sunday, November 2, 4:00 PM — Fiddle Traditions
December 11, 12:00 PM — Sentimental Journey
* December 14, 2:00 PM — Brazilian Serenade
February 1, 4:00 PM — An Afternoon with B&B
* March 1, 2:00 PM — Blues and Music Fun

* Family Concerts — especially appropriate for younger children

Check website calendar for updated details

FAMILY RESOURCES FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD MUSIC EDUCATION

How to Prepare for Your Young Child’s Musical Journey

As your child’s parent, you are their first and most important role model. You can support their musical development at home by:

• Singing songs together
• Listening to music together—on the music station from your apps, radio, CDs of your favorite music, or even musical YouTube videos
• Talking with your child about what they hear. Try asking them questions like:
  • What does the music sound like?
  • What does this music remind you of?
  • What feelings does this music make you feel? You can also draw pictures together that represent the feelings or thoughts invoked by the music

• You can do this with music from any genre! It doesn’t have to be classical. Folk, world music, classic rock, pop—whatever types of music you and your child enjoy listening to!

How to Support Your Older Child’s Musical Development

• Most of the “Eurhythmics Plus” classes have an expectation of home practice. The frequency and length of practice expectations will depend on the class type and teacher, but please make it a priority to have your child practice at home according to the teacher’s guidelines.
• Take some time before each class to ensure that your child brings all of their materials with them (music binder, melodica if applicable, and any other class materials).
• For Eurhythmics plus Piano, it will be necessary to have a full-sized keyboard at home. This doesn’t have to be an acoustic piano; a digital piano is just fine. The important thing is that it have a full, 88-key keyboard.
• Prioritize attending class whenever possible. Of course, keep your child home if they’re sick!

My four-year-old is very musical and loves the piano. Can they just start with private piano lessons right away?

In general, we highly recommend young children (especially age below 5) to prepare their musical ears and bodily movement before starting private music instruction.  All children are musical beings, very curious and interested to explore new things. Success in private lessons depends on many other factors, including overall developmental readiness and whether the child has the attention span for a 30-minute, one-on-one lesson. In addition, many young children have not yet developed the fine and gross motor skills needed for success in a private-lesson setting. If a child begins private lessons before they’re developmentally ready, it can lead to frustration and a desire to quit altogether. Each of our instrument areas has a minimum starting age which is carefully tailored based on the expert opinion of the faculty in that area to set students up for success from the beginning.

In contrast, our Early Childhood and Dalcroze Eurhythmics classes are a fun, engaging way to encourage an early love of music and lay a foundation for success in later musical study. In particular, children who take these classes before beginning private music lessons tend to progress faster and experience less frustration when developing new musical skills than those who have not. This often results in children making faster progress in the long run, even if they wait an extra year or two before beginning private lessons.

Where can we go to see live concerts?

Fortunately, the Boston area is full of excellent live music! Here are just a few suggestions:

• Faculty concerts and family concerts right here at WCMS (view our event calendar for dates)
• Check your town to see if they offer a summer Concert on the Common series
• See if your public library hosts live musicians or family concerts
• The Boston Symphony Orchestra has a Youth and Family Concert series
• If you want to stay a little closer to home, look for professional or community orchestras, choirs, or bands near your town. Here are just a few:
  • The Lexington Symphony and Lexington Pops Chorus
  • The Melrose Symphony Orchestra
  • The Philharmonic Society of Arlington
  • The Longwood Symphony Orchestra
  • The Lowell Chamber Orchestra (many concerts are free of charge because of the LCO’s mission to make high-quality classical music performances accessible to all)
  • It’s also valuable to attend ballet or dance performances with live music!