Javelina Early Childhood Music Development Lab

Director:
Dr. Catherine Tu is Associate Professor of Music Education at TAMUK. She received a B.M. and M.M. degree in Music Education from the University of South Carolina and Ph.D. in Music Education from University of Miami in Florida. She is certified in Musikgarten, Orff-Schulwerk, Gordon Institute for Music Learning (GIML) early childhood, elementary, and instrumental music. Her research has centered on early music exposures and linguistic skills, singing accuracy measures, infant and toddler music behaviors, and their interactivities with the iPad. She is deeply concerned with equal opportunity for all early childhood music students. Her publications have appeared in the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Perspectives: Journal of the Early Childhood Music & Movement Association, and Contemporary research in music learning across the lifespan: Music education and human development (Routledge).

Student Teaching Assistants:
TBA

Philosophy:

Music is learned in much the same way that language is learned.  Just as children learn to speak from being in a rich, language-filled environment, children become musical through exposure to a rich, music-filled environment.  Like language acquisition, musical development occurs sequentially, moving through stages of listening, vocal exploration, music babble, and audiation which eventually lead to beat competency and accurate singing with proper breathing and expression.

The TAMUK Javelina Music Play Program is designed to create a rich musical environment for children.  Some children will be active participants, while others will prefer to watch and absorb.  Although classes will differ according to the age levels and readiness of the children, all classes will include songs in a variety of tonalities and chants in a variety of meters, Laban movement, and instrument exploration.  Many of the songs and chants performed in class will be without words, because we want the children to focus on the musical content rather than their natural tendency to focus on words. A certificate of completion of the curriculum will be awarded to each child at the end of the course.

   Fall 2019 classes began on Tuesday, Sept.17, 2019 and ended on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019. Due to the moving/packing to the new music building, we offered 6 classes this Fall and will be offering 9 classes in the Spring. These 9 classes are free and open to the public (with $25 non-refundable administrative fee for the Spring 2020 semester.) For the sake of your child's comprehensive music development, you will need to sign-up for the whole school year.

Dates: Spring 2020
TBA
You must fill out the following waiver form and send it in with your registration form to Music Office, Sheri Borchardt, 905 W. Engineering Ave., MSC 174, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, TX 78363.

Participant Waiver Form

Registration Form

Contact Dr. Catherine Tu at kumt2018@tamuk.edu or 361-593-2807 for more information.