Start your child’s musical journey.
Summer Smart Start is a stand-alone program designed to consolidate learning at the end of a term for current students or give new students an introduction to the program. As with all Smart Start classes, the program is organized by birth year to allow us to plan appropriately for the learning needs and experience level of the children. Current students remain in their own cohort to prepare for the next level of Smart Start in September.
Babies 0-12 Months
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Smart Start: 0-1 Years
Enjoy rhythms and rhymes, learn some new lullabies, and have fun with your little one!
Children are naturally curious about music from a very early age, and the positive atmosphere of this class helps foster lifelong connections with music, builds strong parent-child emotional bonds, and provides a weekly forum for social interaction. The goal of this course is to expose you and your child to the basic concepts of music through sensory awareness and self-creation, with particular attention paid to beat, rhythm, and listening skills.
Infants are just beginning to explore the world around them, and that includes their musical world. Even before they are born, children can hear music all around them, and our classes start from the very beginning. In this class, you and your child will start to learn about the fundamentals of music through movement, singing, and play. The course is designed to foster basic cognitive skills through a musical framework, and to help parents and caregivers learn ways to interact with the child through music. A typical class begins with a greeting song, followed by gentle bouncing games, finger plays, movement, and many songs. The class concludes with lullabies or other songs for all to enjoy.
A parent or guardian accompanies their child for each class for the full session.
Students are registered by age as of December 31.
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A parent or guardian accompanies their child for each class for the full session.
*Adults should wear socks in class
Children 3 Years Old
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Smart Start: 3 Years Old
In this class, children learn foundational musical skills such as tempo, meter, pitch, and volume together through educational, movement-based games and multi arts activities.
By age 3, children are beginning to develop their singing voices, and as such, singing a wide range of songs is a vital component of the Smart Start curriculum. By age 3, children's basic cognitive skills are in place. Smart Start is designed to work with these cognitive skills through activities such as recognizing musical patterns, focusing on the most important aspects of music, and understanding connections across artistic representations. Children work in musical and artistic collaborations designed to foster basic musical knowledge and spur on individual and group creativity.
Socialization and personal growth are strengthened via group engagement.
Children up to three years must be accompanied by a single designated care provider for the first 5-10 minutes of class. After this, we aim to work independently of parent / guardians.
Students are registered by age as of December 31.
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A parent or guardian accompanies their child for the first 5-10 minutes of each class
*Adults and children should wear socks in class
Babies 12-24 Months
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Smart Start for Babies 12-24 Months The active, music-based activities in this class help support your child's cognitive, social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development, while facilitating parent-child bonding. Coordination, body control, and spatial awareness skills are accrued through games built around walking, dancing, and age-appropriate percussion instruments such as shakers, drums, and bells.
As infants grow into toddlers, their musical abilities and needs develop as well. This class works with toddler's ever-expanding cognitive skills through rich and engaging musical activities with the child and caregiver. Activities focus on topics such as musical memory, creative artistic play, and active imitation. Parents and caregivers both participate, providing further exemplars to interact with your child musically.
The activities in this class have been specifically designed to develop listening skills and improve memory through repetition, as well as to enhance cognitive skills. The toddler's social skills are also developed through experiencing music in a group setting.
A single designated care provider accompanies their child for all classes for this course.
Students are registered by age as of December 31.
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*A single designated care provider accompanies their child for all classes for this course.
*Students are registered by age as of December 31.
*Please wear socks in class
Children 4 Years Old
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Smart Start: Children 4 Years Old
The teaching techniques employed in this course are designed to improve and support children's socialization, fine motor skills, self-confidence, and attention span through instruction in fundamental musical concepts such as pitch, metre, rhythm, dynamic and tempo. Listening skills are developed through exposure to a wide array of musical elements through singing games, basic instruments, and guided listening. Singing, dancing, listening, instruments and multi-arts activities all factor into the Smart Start curriculum.
By age four, children start organizing and better understanding their world. Smart Start classes are designed for the four-year old to use their increased attention, organization, and planning to aid their musical creations. Children begin to learn the basics of music theory, and are encouraged to apply their creativity to musical and artistic activities. These Smart Start classes provide the framework for learning a musical instrument, singing, or any other type of musical activity.
In this class the children experience the beginning steps musicianship and theory with simple rhythmic and melodic notation. This class begins to bridge children The Royal Conservatory's formal music instruction.
Students are registered by age as of December 31.
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*This class will be offered Fall, 2024
Children attend independently of a parent or guardian
Toddlers 2 Years
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Smart Start: Toddlers 2 Years
Set your child on the right path by engaging them in music and movement based play. This class focuses on developing gross motor function in toddlers by encouraging them to move their bodies in time to sounds and music.
At age 2, children are beginning to develop more complex cognitive skills that will aid them later in life. These classes focus on cognitive skills relevant to music, such as sustaining attention, remembering songs, and recognizing perceptual cues. Children in these classes will learn how to apply these skills towards musical exploration, and gain greater musical independence through basic musical skills. At this age, parents or caregivers assist their child's musical creativity and gain further skills for musical interaction with their child.
With an emphasis on the fundamentals of listening and singing, playing simple instruments like maracas and drums, and taking turns, this course helps develop music competence and fosters confidence, belonging, and security among its weekly attendees.
A single designated care provider accompanies their child for all classes for this course.
Students are registered by age as of December 31.
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*A single designated care provider accompanies their child for all classes for this course.
*Students are registered by age as of December 31.
*Please wear socks in class
Children 5 Years Old
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Smart Start: Children 5 years old
The study of musical concepts through singing, movement and instruments is a key component of this class.
Teachers lead the class through pedagogy designed to improve children's senses of rhythm, metre, melody, pitch, timbre and the beginning of harmony. Basic melodic phrasing and rhythmic notation are introduced, leading to a solid rudimentary understanding of musical form.
At age five, children have a rich inner mental life, and Smart Start music classes are designed to support and build off their increased cognitive abilities. These classes focus on musical skills that utilize these new skills, such as audiation, musical form, and beat and rhythm activities. Because of their increasing communication skills, teachers in these courses also focus on providing musical terminology to help children articulate their musical knowledge.
In this course, students will be given a solid musical foundation to support their future musical activities and explorations. By the end of the course, the children will be able to recognize, repeat, and write basic rhythmic and melodic notation--valuable skills in their future formal Royal Conservatory musical training.
Students are registered by age as of December 31.
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This class will be offered fall, 2024
*Children should wear socks in class