About the Suzuki method
Suzuki is a teaching philosophy named after Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, a Japanese violinist who believed all children could learn music at an early age.
Lisa Sharer, director of the Reading Music Academy in West Reading, is using the program to instruct 130 kindergartners at Schuylkill Valley Elementary.
She said the Suzuki method can be used to teach children as young as 3 years old.
"According to research, there is a window of opportunity to study music and language," Sharer said. "That age is 3 to 6, and it has to do with ease and readiness of learning."
It's a way of learning music through repetition and copying and learning by ear, Sharer explained.
She offered this example:
Think about how a child learns to speak.
Children don't learn to say "da da" by reading the words or following instructions on how to sound it out.
Instead, the child hears someone say "Dad" or "Daddy" and the child spends hours copying and repeating the words.
Before children go to school or learn to read, most already have an extensive vocabulary.
Sharer said she's taught other methods of violin instruction in her 17-year career, and she prefers Suzuki.
"I see children learning better and I see happiness and joy," she said.
Unlike the traditional Suzuki method, parents of the Schuylkill Valley students are not involved in the lessons, and students aren't allowed to take the violins home or practice outside of class.
That's because the district is trying to conduct a long-term controlled study and keep the violin instruction within the school day.