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String Sprouts was founded in 2013 by the Omaha Conservatory of Music. This revolutionary music education program, funded by generous individuals, foundations, and grants, aims to change the lives of children in underserved areas by providing them with high-quality violin, viola and cello instruction at low or no cost to caregivers. Learn more at http://stringsprouts.org

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With a carefully constructed curriculum, excellent educators, and continuous caregiver involvement over the course of five years, young sprouts exercise both discipline and creativity. Early childhood music education has been shown to:

• Improve classroom behavior
• Extend attention span
• Strengthen motor skills and hand-eye coordination
• Give kids a jump-start on academic subjects, including math, language, and even science.

[ Video by OnPxl. ]

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A groundbreaking music program teaches preschoolers how to play the violin.

"Musical Seedlings"
Classically trained musicians from the Omaha Conservatory of Music teach 3-6-year-olds to play the violin as part of as part of a groundbreaking free afterschool program unique to Nebraska that targets underserved communities in an effort to bolster early childhood education and foster a love for the arts.
Producer: Michele Wolford

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NOTE FROM TED: We've flagged this talk, which was filmed at a TEDx event, because it appears to fall outside TEDx's content guidelines. This talk only represents the speaker’s personal understanding of and business approach to learning and music. TEDx events are independently organized by volunteers. The guidelines we give TEDx organizers are described in more detail here: http://storage.ted.com/tedx/manuals/tedx_content_guidelines.pdf


What if one approach to improve low reading, communication, math skills, SAT scores, college acceptance and graduation and decrease levels of truancy and college drop-out lay not in more classes, tuition, and discipline for the student, but in a tiny violin. Time to meet ‘String Sprouts’ and lots of tiny violins,16 inches in length, for students in urban and rural schools and communities all across the region. This five-year long program from 4 – 9 years old and built on sound theory and research, is the brainchild of Director Ruth Meints. The early results are astonishing, impacting students and their families, changing the paradigm and reframing the future trajectory of thousands of children in the community Ruth Meints became the Executive Director of the Omaha Conservatory of Music (OCM) in 2005 and in 2013 launched the String Sprouts curriculum. She also teaches violin and viola at OCM, conducting workshops nationwide in violin pedagogy and music education, integrating current neuroscience findings into music teaching. While at OCM, she has created many music education programs, the Summer Institute, Winter Festival Orchestra, a full music program at the St. Augustine Indian Mission School on the Winnebago reservation, and Inside the Mind of the Artist recital and master class series. Ruth received the Governor's Arts Award for excellence in arts education sponsored by Nebraska Arts Council and Nebraska Cultural Endowment.
After graduating from University of Nebraska-Lincoln Ruth received her Master of Music degree with an emphasis in Suzuki pedagogy from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville with John Kendall, pioneer of the Suzuki philosophy in the United States This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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Matthew has been learning violin in the String Sprouts program for four years. Find out about his experience in this short video.

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ISD students in the String Sprouts KC program celebrated their first year of violin lessons with a performance alongside the UMKC Conservatory Chamber Orchestra! Thanks to an amazing partnership with Heartland Chamber Music, the Independence School District is proud to offer this program to these 4-year-olds from Benton Elementary with hopes to expand in future years. The revolutionary curriculum uses research-based techniques to build a foundation for academic success through 32 weekly group violin lessons annually for 5 years all funded through donations!
ISD students in the String Sprouts KC program celebrated their first year of violin lessons with a performance alongside the UMKC Conservatory Chamber Orchestra! Thanks to an amazing partnership with Heartland Chamber Music, the Independence School District is proud to offer this program to these 4-year-olds from Benton Elementary with hopes to expand in future years. The revolutionary curriculum uses research-based techniques to build a foundation for academic success through 32 weekly group violin lessons annually for 5 years all funded through donations!

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Grace has been learning cello in the String Sprouts program for a year. Find out about her experience in this short video.

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