Violin for 3 year olds in nursery, what's the deal?

[flowerybeanbag]

My DS1 has just started nursery school. I'm very happy with it all, nursery seems great, staff lovely and he's doing well. I've had a newsletter which says the children will be learning violin with a music teacher, and will be measured for their violin this term. (Presumably for 'weeny' or 'extra-weeny' )

I was very surprised. I'm a viola player myself and DH is also very musical but although I thought the DSs would probably try an instrument at some point I feel a little as though it's been taken out of my hands.

I'm assuming at 3 they will only be playing with it rather than learning very much, but if anyone's involved in pre-school education (it's a LA school not a private nursery) and knows of the scheme and can tell me what it's all about, what's the motivation behind it and what exactly the children will be doing, I'd appreciate it.

The smaller the violin the harder it is to keep it in tune. The cheaper they are ditto.

Hmm, I had to laugh the other day when a very competitive mum friend told me her dd was doing "baby cello". Her dd is 2.6

I don't know anything about the violin caper but I presume you can opt out of it. As you say, there is not going to be much learning going on, and a whole lot of caterwauling.

thanks all. I was a bit taken aback I have to say! I'll see how he gets on. I don't want to make a big deal of it but I don't want him to get put off either.

I can't imagine a better way to frustrate a child and put him off music for a good long time. Children this age need simple percussion instruments, noisy whistles, xylophones etc with which they can explore tone and rhythm for themselves.