Suzuki Early Childhood Education

Emma Goodbehere

The Wellington Suzuki Branch was very pleased to offer the first level of Suzuki Early Childhood Education at our Spring Workshop, which ran from 29 Sep.–3 Oct.

The Suzuki Early Childhood Education programme is for babies and toddlers, and is the realisation of potential through active and reactive participation in the environment. A well-placed series of traditional songs and rhymes are used as stimulus for movement, singing and percussion playing. It is designed for 0-3 year olds and their parents, and it lays the foundation for instrumental lessons.

The uniqueness of Suzuki Early Childhood Education is the emphasis on the natural development of the child from birth and the rich and stimulating learning partnerships that are developed with parents and teachers.

Dorothy Jones, founder of the Suzuki Early Childhood Education programme

We had 10 trainees attend from all over New Zealand, and we were very lucky to have Emma O’Keefe from Perth as our teacher trainer. We also had 18 early childhood students attend workshop classes, and the trainees had the opportunity to put their new skills to work. All of the trainees presented an item of Hickory Dickory Dock to the students, which the students thoroughly enjoyed!

The training was an intensive 34 hours, learning all of the skills necessary to run a Suzuki Early Childhood class. There are many layers to each rhyme and action song. Emma Dann, trainee, said “Coming into the Suzuki ECE training I was excited, both for myself, and my 4 month old daughter Matilda. Having been a Suzuki student and teacher, I now had my first opportunity to be a Suzuki parent! And what an amazing experience it was. Seeing Matilda’s development, focus, and
enjoyment each day was incredible and I can’t wait to give her the opportunity to be in these classes again.”

Look out for a teacher starting a Suzuki Early Childhood class near you!

Emma Goodbehere