Who we are

The ‘Music is Fun’ initiative of Furtados school of Music is a leader in music education for children and teachers equally. This is a beautifully designed program through which we aim to cultivate the love for music and the ability to express it among children. We have brilliantly designed modules which include songs sung in class, age appropriate instruments and a portal for parents as well.

Parents can login on the portal to help reinforce the lessons for their children and involve the entire family in the fun.

And not just this, but to make music teaching an effective process we train teachers on how to guide toddlers and children in developing love for music. We assist our teachers to how to use the Music is Fun curriculum to support the learning process.

As of today, all over India, there are hundreds of schools who have introduced the Music is fun program as part of their curriculum.

For further information about how you can extend the benefits of music and movement to children in your area,  contact us.

Benefits of Early Childhood Music for Your School (school)

Research has shown time and again that learning to play any musical instrument since childhood can help with a lot of aspects which are important for children from brain development and growth perspective.

Learning to play an instrument includes improving hand-to-eye coordination, ear-to-hand coordination.

Learning music involves the same part of brain which is involved in learning languages. Engagement in music lessons since childhood fine tunes the web of circuits that are vital to the sound processing and comprehension. And this goes to prove that children who are proficient in verbal communication tend to have an advantage in both educational and social settings.

Learning music also improves memory and focus along with sharpening the basic math skills.

Music brings joy in a child’s life, it is that one source which can be responsible for immense pleasure and happiness and at a very young age children have a very keen sense towards music. Sharpening that sense can really help any child with the road ahead.

Young Performers Certificate -

We run quite a lot of music related initiatives for children, and one such initiative is the Young Performers Certificate (YPC).

The YPC program is a certification provided by Trinity College London, designed to develop confidence and group interaction skills for children up to the age of 7. Groups of 6 to 12 children can enter for these awards. The groups can enact a Story; nursery rhyme; poem; myth or fairy story; song; musical work.

An examiner from Trinity College London will be evaluating these performances and to encourage participation, they will be awarded certificates that are available at 3 levels – Bronze, Silver and Gold. Depending on the entry criteria children will be given one of these certificates.

Importance of Music education since childhood – From a Neuroscience perspective

“The theory of relativity occurred to me by intuition, and music is the driving force behind this intuition. My parents had me study the violin from the time I was six. My new discovery is the result of musical perception” -- Albert Einstein.

Albert Einstein’s love for music is a known story. And his admittance that it was music that sparked his greatest works in the field of science is a testimony to the ever growing knowledge that - music is one of the biggest stimulants in human beings.

There has been significant growth in the amount of research that is being conducted by neuroscientists with regards to the correlation between music and brain development. In a nutshell any and every research conducted by scientists’ shows that music is indeed very beneficial in the development of brain. And as we become aware of the fact that music can only do good to our brains then the more we need to start questioning, “Why isn’t music an integral part of us since childhood”?

John Iversen a neuroscientist with University of California, San Diego, who has dedicated himself to the study of music, language and the brain to understand how we perceive rhythm. He is studying ways through which this musical rhythm can be used in medicine.

During one of the most interesting speech given by Iversen in a Tedx Talk, Iversen says, “music is a good exercise for the brain particularly for kids, there’s a lot of research, growing research showing that music can improve math skills, reading, even school attendance and confidence.”

This causal connection between music study and cognitive growth is what most of the neuroscientist are trying to understand. Research shows that learning to play an instrument from an early age causes changes in a child’s brain which will most likely enable a child to reach his/her full cognitive and academic potential.

And this theory is not just limited to playing an instrument but also music related activities like singing or just listening to music stimulates an entire network of brain areas, each area interacting with the other which contributes towards enjoyment and understanding of the music.

So rather than questioning anymore why not take that step towards giving this theory a try and introducing your child to the world of music.

Our Curriculum

We have a structured curriculum, which covers all the right foundations of learning music at young age. Children from the ages of 18 months (playschool) to 5 years (Senior KG) will benefit from this programme, wherein they will be learning about all foundational aspects of music which cover:

• Listening & Responding- Musical Perception

  1. Explore Sounds
  2. Develop an understanding of beat, pitch & tempo
  3. Explore dynamics, e.g. soft and loud sounds

• Performance

  1. Use body percussion to mark a steady beat, developing co-ordination skills
  2. Sing simple tunes with an awareness of pitch (high and low) and dynamics (soft and loud)
  3. Explore early musical instruments

• Creativity- Music as Self-Expression

  1. Use the voice as a form of creative expression
  2. Experiment & play with early musical instruments

The curriculum is graded for three age groups, Nursery & Below Years, Junior KG & Senior KG and can be delivered once a week over 36 lessons covering an entire academic year. The music repertoire includes both Western and Hindustani music, has music resources to support pre-schools themes and an annual performance.

Our Methodology

• 1. Music is Fun is a child centric approach of teaching– which include songs, teacher activities & games and musical instruments making the entire process fun and motivating. The joy of learning is experienced from day one.
  2. Preschool teachers will be trained by us to conduct the program independently; and will be supported by high quality digital resources. They do not have to be trained music teachers or musicians themselves.
  3. We also provide you the tools and training to formally assess children on music learning.

Training & Monitoring progress

• 1. We provide a minimum 3-day training program for teachers who conduct this programme.
  2. In addition we will provide half-yearly classroom reviews & teacher assessments.

How do Pre-Schools benefits from this programme ?

• 
  1. Pre-Schools are able to offer a superior music learning experience that can cultivate the musical gift in every child.
  2. They have access to a complete music curriculum with 36 week lesson plans from Playschool to Sr.Kg; an assessment framework and achievement certificates.
  3. FSM takes an annual license fee and the pre-school is free to implement programme at their time and frequency without any dependence.
  4. Pre-schools need only invest in early years musical instruments and a good internet connection.
  5. FSM trains and enables pre-school’s own teachers to deliver curriculum through high quality digital resources, and continuous teacher training and support.
  6. We provide home activity books & parent kits for musical awareness after school.

Our Curriculum Designers:

Ann Bryant G.R.S.M.
A.R.C.M., L.D.S. – Author & Music Educator

Ann Bryant is the internationally published author of around 120 books, largely children’s fiction, including the two very popular series Ballerina Dreams and School Friends. Wearing another hat Ann writes music resources for primary schools, including the award winning Teaching KS1 Music, the popular series of books Introducing Classical Music Through Stories, and the piano tutor series, Keyclub.

Trained at the Royal College of Music, Ann taught music for over twenty-five years, specialising in EYFS and KS1, as well as writing for numerous BBC school programmes including Something To Think About, Playtime, Let’s Make A Story and Dance Workshop. She wrote the theme and incidental music for a series of thirteen pre-school children’s programmes for the BBC called - Tales of Aesop. When she’s not writing, Ann travels in the UK and abroad giving ‘author’ talks and drama presentations in schools, and leading music education workshops for teachers.

In addition to developing and mentoring the Music is Fun programme, Ann is currently working on a number of children’s brands, integrating music with words and stories; which is her passion.