Word of mouth is the best recommendation and the following Teachers, Administrators, Early Childhood Educators, parents and students all agree - ETM is highly recommended! Contact us for more information!

"Over the past few years, many folks have asked me to explain what ETM is and I have always said," It is not an easy thing to explain to someone else how to teach the way I do - you just have to see it in action. Come to my class and see." Now that I am on LTD and don't have access to a classroom, it makes it even harder to let people know how to teach, using the philosophies of ETM. So I have tried my best to put my personal thoughts into words, based on how I have used ETM and on how I have seen it work with children when used daily in a classroom. So here goes!!!!"

WHAT IS ETM? by Pauline Cherry July 5, 2002

Education Through Music, or ETM, is a method of teaching children to be creative thinkers, using music as the medium for learning. It educates the whole child.

For those people who work with children daily using the theories of ETM, you will learn how to provide wonderful opportunities for children to play games, sing, dance, dramatize, think, discuss, express opinions, solve puzzles, move to rhythms or beats, and feel successful doing them. The children will have occasions which will require them - in a calm, safe environment - to join hands, be part of a group, socialize, make eye contact, build self confidence, improve verbal and listening skills, pay attention to details, improve perceptual and spatial awareness and accept responsibility. Best of all, it is done through play, which is the way nature intended learning to occur.

ETM uses as its base, the folk songs and nursery rhymes which most of us learned when we were children. These rhymes follow the natural flow of the English language, and children are led through the games by the words and story contained within each song.

ETM starts with what the child already knows and challenges them to reach new heights of learning at their own personal level. It is a method of teaching children first, and allowing curriculum to follow as a result - which is directly opposite to today's curriculum-geared teaching. It is, in fact, brain-based learning at its best.

Our courses teach people - who are dealing with children, and who are concerned about their development - how to access both sides of the brain more effectively, and thereby make learning easier and more enjoyable. Children's bodies were meant to move, and thus, through movement, combined with the use of music, children learn with ease. Come see for yourself and learn how to make a truly positive difference in the life of a child. We'd love to have you join us at ETM.

"When I registered for my first Education Through Music course I thought I would bring some songs and games back to the classroom; my portfolio of "tricks" would be thicker! Little did I know that three years later I am changed, my teaching has changed and my children are the beneficiaries.
Richards Institute is the one bright light still shining - a beacon if you will, amidst curriculum that ignores developmental theory and promulgates political and business agendas. Education Through Music forces one to stand back and examine closely what it is that promotes learning and thinking; what it is you as a teacher are teaching, how to most effectively teach it and why".

Elizabeth Knowles, Teacher
Nepean, Ontario, Canada

"I was introduced to Education Through Music (ETM) in the fall of 1993 and have continued to study with them ever since in both winter and summer sessions. Through these studies I have experienced strong personal growth in my confidence and especially in my musical skills. My understanding of children and their ways of learning has increased greatly as well. Although an elementary teacher for 25 years, it is only since my ETM experiences that I have gained the self-confidence and security to regularly do the music program in my class. Before ETM I only did a minimal amount of music, usually just very familiar songs that the class already knew and with no other adult present. That has changed in the last 5 years".

Anna James, (now) Retired Teacher
Bancroft, Ontario, Canada

"My child and I have been coming to this program since she was nine months old. She has loved every session. At one, she was acting out many of the songs and singing the tune to the songs. I believe that this program has improved her vocabulary".

Parent and School Teacher

"I am a primary specialist teacher at Dr. Emily Stowe Public School in Courtice, Ontario. I teach music classes to children from the age of three to the age of eight years. Since taking the ETM courses, I have changed the way I teach children, and I can truly say that the gains have made all the study very worthwhile. The ETM experience has benefited my students not only in their music class, but in all of their classes. The children are more alert and self-confident, eager to learn, more considerate of each other and they seem to have an increased ability to remain focussed on a task. I have also witnessed children with many personal problems becoming so engrossed in their play with song that for a short time they seem to relax and forget many of their problems."

Janice Engel, Primary Specialist Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada

"My four year old has been involved with ETM for two years. It has improved his vocabulary and self-confidence. He enjoys it very much and strikes up a tune at any given moment. This group is a must for your child for their natural development".

Parent and Educational Assistant

I went to Windsor because I had decided to take an ETM Summer Course as soon as my younger son Takumi turned age 3. But to tell the truth, I was worried whether or not my two sons would be able to survive the children's program and the observation class, which was their first experience of being totally immersed in English. Then after a lot of worry, the first day of ETM in the Family came. Surrounded by more than 100 people watching us, my two boys did not want to leave my knees. They curiously looked at the people around us, holding my hands. The class started and on the second song Kazuki, my older son, said "I know it!" he looked a bit relaxed. After this the two boys were involved in the play guided by Gerry and Barb.
By the end of the first week, Kazuki was able to sit next to his favourite friend, and Takumi next to Barb, from the beginning of the class.
Takumi, at his own pace, walked around, happily singing and dancing and sometimes sitting on Gerry's lap. Kazuki began to be an active participant, raising his hand up or becoming a leader.
Did I enjoy myself? No doubt, not only as a teacher, but as a mother. I learned how to be with my children. The three of us were fully attracted by the charm and depth of ETM. Even after we came back to Japan, we still enjoyed singing. Whenever one of us starts a song, the rest join in and continue singing.
We are all looking forward to seeing Barb, Gerry and Randy in the spring. I have already started to plan our next trip to Canada.
Finally, I'd like to thank my husband, who spent time alone in Japan while we were in Canada. Without his support, I could not have made this valuable experience."

Teacher and mother,
at the Windsor ETM course attending
from Japan with her children

"I had been a music teacher in elementary school for 10 years before I took my first ETM courses in 1985. I thought I knew about teaching music. My interest was sparked after my first course and I have stayed with the Richards Institute ever since. I have learned so much about teaching in a way that I never learned in teacher's college. ETM got me interested in why children are the way they are, and prompted me to do reading about learning, brain development, and children that has never been brought to my attention through my profession. More knowledge about our clientele is very necessary for effectiveness in the classroom. I'm surprised that ETM isn't a mandatory course in every teacher-training institution in the province of Ontario. It is able to supply everyone with tools that support a positive attitude/philosophy about teaching".

Linda Finlay, teacher Walkerton, Ontario, Canada

"I have taught in the elementary school panel for the past twenty three years. I have taken many courses, namely: primary education, environmental science, physical education, and computers. Although valuable in my educational growth, the most important course I have ever taken is Education Through Music. This course is not just about playing simple games with children. It is a philosophy about teaching from the heart. One learns the importance of valuing and celebrating children's ideas and opinions. The children learn to take risks, problem solve and feel good about themselves through the song/game experiences. This course has helped me bring out the best in my children. It has had a profound impact on me, and I know I am a better teacher because of it."

Darlene Brooks, Early Years Teacher, Avon Maitland District School Board Ontario, Canada

"There is not a morning or afternoon that goes by that I do not start off with information, techniques, songs, games and experiences developed while participating in the Education Through Music courses. It awakens my children's brains. They focus and are ready to learn. They really love music and my principal is amazed with their knowledge of and comfort with such concepts as tempo, beat, rhythmic pattern, ostinato, anacrusis. These courses have been invaluable in helping me to implement the new Ontario Ministry of Education guidelines in Music in the Arts Curriculum Document. I feel so strongly about their value to educators that I feel Education Through Music should be a requirement at every Faculty of Education training future teachers for the elementary level".

Maureen Radley-Walters, teacher Pembroke, Ontario, Canada

"I experienced my first Education Through Music course this past summer in Kingston, Ontario. Considering my 40 years of exposure to Ontario schools as both a student and a teacher I can simply state that never have I been taught so well as during those three weeks. One rarely sees such excellent teaching modelled. Their unique program allows rapid internalization of the curriculum and concepts. I came away in awe of their carefully crafted, incremental program and their excellent instructors.
Though music education is the basis of this course, I learned methods that are easily applied to language, French as a second language and math. Physical education classes could be enriched by integrating many of their song experience games. This course provides an excellent resource for the development of classroom management skills. To foster co-operation and civility in thirty-five children from varying economic backgrounds and under many kinds of pressure and stress is no easy task. From ETM I learned many excellent tactics for discreetly drawing out shy children, fostering empathy, encouraging leadership and developing an appreciation for one's own abilities and talents.
Increasingly research is showing that the first few years of a child's life are the most crucial for developing an intelligent, independent and well adjusted member of society. ETM is especially pertinent to young children and infants. To develop one's singing abilities at an early age is to acquire valuable listening skills, thinking skills, and social interaction skills that are easily transferred to the task of absorbing curriculum later on.
ETM courses may seem slightly out of step with currents trends in education, but considering their intrinsic value, they are ahead of their time."

Patricia Jardin, Teacher Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

"I received my Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees with majors in elementary education from the University of Nebraska in the late sixties. I taught in Nebraska for a few years before moving to Ontario and beginning my education career in Niagara Falls in 1975. While there, I received my Specialist in Vocal Music through Brock University.
In 1987 I enrolled in my first Education Through Music course. At that time, I had already been teaching music for eleven years in the schools, using all of the traditional teaching and curriculum from my educational background. After only a couple of sessions, I found myself questioning the traditional methods of teaching music. The children in my classes deserved better and that better method would come from the Education Through Music classes that I was taking. Not only did I learn more about the teaching of music, but I learned so much more about the psychology of the child in the classroom, and about the role that I as a teacher had to play in the education of that child. Practical discussions and observations of children in learning situations with ETM followed, and each class simply put more and more ideas together for me. In fact, much of the study of Education Through Music is not just for the teaching of music, but rather, for the teaching of the whole child. Even my relationships with my own children at home improved through my learning from ETM courses."

Sara Conron, teacher Simcoe, Ontario, Canada