•  Classes meet mid-September to mid-May
  
• Twenty minutes classes meeting twice a week
  
• Classes have eight to ten children
  
• Classroom teacher or aide assists violin instructor during lessons
  
• Each site has one class set of violins (one-tenth and one-eight size)
  
• Site provides a designated room for classes and lockable violin storage area
  
• Instructors are adult string players with music education or music performance degrees
  
• All sites follow the MusicScores! Pre-K Literacy/Violin Curriculum described below
  
• Curriculum, Lesson Plans, Music Charts, CD Accompaniments are provided by MusicScores!
  
• Cost per child is under $200 per year 
  

program description

MusicScores! 

c/o  Music Foundation of Greater Naples

P.O. Box 112383  ​Naples, FL 34108

current program

As a society, we have become increasingly aware of how critical the first five years of life are to the future development of children.

• Incorporating music before age 5 connects left and right brain, and therefore serves as an important educational tool.
• According to a study conducted for ABC Music & Me, that reviewed scores of research projects on the relationship of music and learning in children:
  
  
  • The research provides strong support for including music and musical instruction in the early childhood classroom.
    
  • Importantly, (it is) not just for the value of the musical experience itself, but also because of the impact music and musical instruction can have on young children's development of language and early literacy.
    
  • Music improves reading, verbal memory, listening skills, vocabulary, and phonemic awareness, and is particularly useful for English Language Learners and children with disabilities.
    
  • Music is an effective means of engaging families in home learning, again particularly with ELL students​.
  
  

the importance of early learning

The MusicScores! curriculum, developed by Founder and Program Director Judy Evans, uses violin instruction to enhance the following characteristics:

• Avalon Elementary - Established 2012
• Golden Terrace Elementary - Established in 2012
• Parkside Elementary - Established in 2013
• Manatee Elementary - Established in 2014
  
• Golden Gate Elementary - Established in 2015
  
• Village Oaks Elementary - Established in 2015
  
• Calusa Park Elementary - Established in 2016
• Naples Park Elementary - Established in 2016
  
• Eden Park Elementary - Established in 2017
  
• Lake Trafford Elementary - Established in 2017
  
• Shadowlawn Elementary - Established in 2018
  
• Poinciana Elementary - Established in 2018
  
• 407 Collier County Head Start children were enrolled in the 2019-2020 school year.

music as a language and educational tool

​MusicScores!

THE Music Scores! CURRICULUM

Countless independent research studies have validated that music reaches people -- and especially children -- at a deep level, including those who have language, emotional, and physical challenges.

​Creating Learners through Pre-K Literacy/Violin

MusicScores! is currently offered at the following institutions:

• listening skills,
• focus attention for longer periods of time,
• pre-reading skills: Left to right and top to bottom of page,
• recognition of patterns,
  
• ​likenesses and differences in sounds and shapes,
• thinking skills,
• crossing the visual and auditory midlines,
• memory and abstract thinking,
• eye-hand motor coordination,​
• ​fine motor skills,
  
• AP and AT sight words, and
  
• ​beginning violin playing techniques,
  
• emerging math skills,
  
• self-discipline.
  
• syllable work with rhythmic patterns,
  
• self-regulation,
  
• Social skills: Cooperate in group activities, respect for instruments and peers.
  

• Birth to age 5 is the most critical period for brain development.
• Significant research regularly supports that appropriate education before age 5 produces the highest rewards.
• According to Education Crossroads:​​​
  
  
  • From birth to age 5 the human brain develops more rapidly than during any other subsequent period.
    
  • Children make remarkable gains in their linguistic, cognitive, emotional, social, regulatory, and moral capacities, which serve as the foundation for subsequent growth.
    
  • Playing an instrument accelerates the brain development of young children in the areas responsible for language development, sound, reading skills, and speech perception.
    
  • Early childhood education can nurture early learning. 
    
  • Quality Pre-K has the potential to make a significant difference in a child's development.