Enrichment Classes

Enrichment classes are a core part of the curriculum at MCS. These include Music and French and are provided to all 5-day students in the Mixed-Age and Kindergarten programs.  These classes are innovative in their approach and foundational for lifelong gifts of language and the love of playing and enjoying instruments, voice and movement.

Students enrolled in one of our four Mixed-Age classes attend Music class twice a week.  In addition, the morning students attend French class once a week and the Kindergarten students attend twice a week.

NEW: As of January 2010, all students enrolled in the Young Preschool class are also participating in Music Class once a week.

Music

In addition to informal music time and sing-alongs in class, music enrichment classes are also included.. The children have so much fun in class that one might overlook the methodology and rationale for offering music at school.

Young children grow and develop as whole human beings in a "doing" environment. Sensory-motor exploration forms and sustains their intellectual life. All aspects of learning are greatly enhanced when music is a key element in a holistic approach to education. Research shows that when music, movement, and language are integrated, the benefits are incalculable both intellectually and psychologically.

Our music classes present activities that meet the fundamental needs of a well-balanced music experience:including song, movement/dance, listening, and playing instruments. We do lots of singing to nurture the children's singing voice; we do ear training via echoing tonal and rhythmic patterns; we dance and move to music to develop body coordination and self-awareness; we drum to develop beat competence; we tell stories with our whole bodies to beautifully recorded music by Musikgarten that expresses moods, feelings, and concepts to develop their listening skills, emotional well-being and creativity; we play instruments to build team work and express our joy in making music with others.

The ultimate goals of this music class are foundational in nature. They include:

  • Learning to listen: all learning begins in listening.
  • Truly enjoy making music — singing, dancing, and playing instruments.
  • Sharing the love of music, respect for others, and care for the instruments.\

French

French classes are offered at MCS once a week for preschoolers and twice a week for Kindergarteners enrolled in one of our four Mixed-Age classes. The classes are taught by a native speaker, Madame Chandra, through the innovative use of games, books and songs which emphasize vocabulary and key phrases as they are spoken in France.

The overall goal of this foreign language program is to expose the children to simple phrases used in everyday life and common realities, which can be demonstrated with concrete objects.

It is the starting point for the teaching of a second language at an age where children are most receptive to it — as they are still learning their own mother tongue. This is not meant to be an immersion program.

The structure of these thirty-minute classes is fairly the same for both age groups. Topics are further developed with the Kindergarteners since they are already familiar with the basics of the course and can expand their knowledge to more complex details in each category (handouts and written assignments are occasionally given).

Throughout the year, the children will get acquainted with the following topics:

  • Simple greetings and salutations
  • Basic colors
  • Numbers
  • Farm animals
  • Body parts
  • Simple action words
  • Shapes
  • Food
  • Clothing
  • Calendar, weather and seasons
  • Transporation modes
  • Family circle

These topics are revisited throughout the year since they can appear within each other, giving us the occasion to revise and reinforce our introduction to this new language.

Updates on our current topics can be found in the MCS news letter. In addition, phonetic vocabulary sheets are provided for parents wanting to practice French at home with their children.