Suzuki Early Childhood Education (SECE) can best be described as a "musical readiness" class. While parent-child bonding certainly takes place, the goals differ from a typical "mommy and me" style of class. Each activity is designed to not only develop life skills but to also prepare the child for lessons on a musical instrument. As an example, each class begins with ball rolling. Music is played softly in the background while the children take turns rolling the ball to each other with parental help when necessary. This is such a simple activity that, on the surface, could be seen as just a social icebreaker--not that these are ever bad to practice! But on a deeper level consider all the skills a child must develop just to pass that ball casually around the circle: -Waiting your turn -Hand/eye coordination -Responding appropriately when music is cued (ball passing stops when music stops) -Intense focus during a prescribed period of time (pass the ball
Thoughts and experiences while exploring the Suzuki Method of teaching.