structure provided in the SS classes benefited both parents and their children in a number of ways. Ursula indicated the routine ordering and “repetition” of songs in weekly SS classes allowed her and her son to better remember, and, thereby, more consistently practice songs and actions at home. Ursula explained:
The kids actually start to remember because the routine takes place all the time. Joel can tell you what song he did at class. It’s not because he did it once. It’s because he’s done it a number of times.
Farrah also reported the repetition used in the SS class particularly helps Ciara learn: She's really comfortable with doing activities in which you repeat. She learns really fast and she's really interested in that. Like if you have a toy that she can touch a button and it will sing a song, she learns that. Like she will repeat it a thousand times. So I just thought, “well, she's really comfortable doing that at home, so I think she's going to enjoy the class.” And actually that's what's happening.
Additionally, Ursula stressed her appreciation that the SS instructors’ use of “structure,” “routine,” and “repetition” helps her to structure her own parenting and better meet her child’s needs. For example, Ursula indicated she believes that children find comfort in routine and described too much change as “hard on kids.” She noted the importance of “try[ing] to give your child structure and continuity. Suzuki Singing is continuity for them.”
Ursula reported she and her son have benefited from using music to develop routines, inside and outside the SS class. That is, attending the SS class “[keeps] your day busy. It
[keeps] your week going.” Moreover, she pointed out the weekly routine of attending the class is “helping me to get out and make sure I go out for coffee with [my friend] once a week as well as
going to the Suzuki Singing Class.” Furthermore, Ursula, reported that as the class progressed, she was able to overcome her musical insecurities by finding comfort in the class structure and routines:
I enjoy the structure. I enjoy knowing that [the SS class] is something I can rely on. . . I don’t really have to worry about ‘oh my god, what are they going to throw at me next week?’ It’s a comfort level for me now. I know the routine.
Instructors, Sarah and Madeline, echoed Ursula and Farrah’s understanding of the benefits of repetition, routines, and structure, especially within in the SS classes. Sarah and Madeline noted the “layering,” “repetition,” and “routines” emphasized in the SS classes help children to learn songs and actions faster. Madeline explained, “With Suzuki, kids learn quicker . . . [and] pick up the songs much faster, because the repertoire is less than half with much more repetition. And if they don’t learn the songs, they won’t sing them and they won’t have as much fun.” Sarah noted, “I use repetition more in the MP than I would have before, because I know the children learn better,” however, she confirmed “in the Suzuki classes, we see children singing and doing actions quicker because of the [greater use of] repetition.
Madeline reported, in addition to encountering more repetition in SS classes, parents often enroll in repeated sets of SS classes, more so than parents do in MP classes:
Most kids start young and continue until 3 years old. Suzuki classes are 24 weeks and families can take summer classes so most of these people are getting all-year lessons for three years.
Madeline also reported that the longer parents and children attend classes, the more they learn:
Some of these kids - we laugh - they could teach the class, they know it so well. Some kids who don’t even walk are able to sing, match pitch, keep the beat, do a rhythm
(steady beat that words are timed to), find the rhythm in their feet and in their step. Some parents can’t do it, but their children can. Because with the early exposure, music
becomes internalized, intrinsic.
Sarah noted she sees parents in the SS classes as being more committed:
The parents who’ve been in the Suzuki classes longer will probably be better Suzuki parents, later on, for instrument classes . . . I think it’s because they really keep the Suzuki philosophy in their heart. Each week, we [the instructors] share parenting quotes,
a 2-minute blurb on music and parenting. Some people understand. They say ‘yes, I know’ but you can tell it doesn’t stick with them. But if you really believe it, it moves from your head to your heart; you really buy into it. It makes you more committed. Sarah also noted that the longer parents attend classes and the more committed they are, the more they learn: “You can learn so much more if you’re committed. We see parents for 3 years. We see them for a long time and there’s continuity there.”
The instructors talked about parents learning to use routines and structure in their classes. Sarah pointed out some parents initially worry about their children’s ability to accept and learn from class rules and expectations. However, Sarah noted instructors “teach the parents to go get their child” when they are “running around” instead of participating in the class. Similarly, Madeline stated instructors “value structure and expectations” in their classes:
Your child’s not running around amuck. They’re with you, singing and doing the actions. Your hold them when necessary. You take turns . . . They’re the small rules about how you’re going to do things . . . We lay out the rules and we will speak to them. Then parents take those rules home and use them.
4.5.2 Supportive relationships. Parent and instructor interviews indicated parents get