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Q: My daughter goes to a Montessori preschool where she takes individual piano lessons once a week. I come from a place where children are taught to read music at an early age, so I am surprised to hear from the piano teacher that my daughter will learn only by ear. Why does this school not teach to learn to read music?

A: It is the Montessori method that young children learn the sounds that a musical instrument makes by manipulating it, that is, to learn what makes a loud tone or a high pitch. A Montessori student will learn music by playing music. Later on, when the student has a solid reading foundation, typically in first grade, musical notation is introduced, and the student learns music by reading music.

A preschooler is usually still learning to develop her fine motor skills. The Montessori method of learning music allows her to focus on hearing the music and controlling her muscles. She learns the tone that each key makes and the patterns of a scale by looking at the keyboard. This allows her to learn the instrument itself, what the instrument can do.

Most quality Montessori schools encourage families to adopt a Montessori lifestyle in the home. This means that you would help her practice piano at home by allowing her to figure out the song by ear. You can sing along, for example, “Yankee Doodle,” if she is learning it during school.

You may be tempted to hire a private teacher to teach her to read music, which is discouraged by the Montessori method. It is fine to hire another teacher, but to keep the focus on hearing music and developing fine motor skills, please be sure that the private teacher instructs ear training only.