Lake
Ridge Academy’s lower school music program is led
by Jennifer
Shaw. Students enjoy authentic and artistic experiences
that are exciting, vibrant, and child driven. In the lower
school music program, we are guided by the German composer
and pedagogue Carl Orff's (1895-1982) and Gunild Keetman’s
(1904-1990) innovative approach to music education for
children. It is know as Orff Schulwerk.
The term Schulwerk is German for "school
work". It is a dynamic and empowering approach to
children’s music education. Students are encouraged
through a very process driven curriculum to use their knowledge
to create their own artistic experiences.
Like
Orff Schulwerk, music in the lower school takes on a holistic
approach to music education and encompasses dancing, singing,
instrument playing, rhythmic speech, drama, and art. Orff
Schulwerk is a “process-driven” way to teach
music that in its end result empowers children of all ages
to create what is already quite natural to them: they learn
through song, speech, movement, and the playing of percussion
instruments, such as xylophones, glockenspiels, and recorders.
The process is quite sequential, beginning with imitation;
this creates a learning model. Students then explore their
own musical ideas, and then move into improvisation, or
creating music spontaneously. This is the essence of the
Schulwerk.
To
view a presentation performed
by LRA Lower School Students on Thursday, February 1, 2007
click on the cover.
Through
active listening experiences, lower school students also
enjoy learning about other musical genres, including the
orchestra and its instruments, as well as many other cultures’ customs
and musical traditions.
