Is it hard to find an extracurricular band that meets twice a week? It seems like making a mountain out of a molehill to try to force an entire school onto your preferred band schedule when there are probably mixed feelings in the parent community. One of my kids is heavily involved in taekwondo. I’m sure many parents would like it offered in school. But it’s unrealistic to expect every school offer every enrichment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ours starts in 4th with woodwind, brass, or percussion. In ES, band is twice a week and music (theory, voice, etc) is twice a week. In MS it drops to just band twice a week but there's an additional optional band outside school hours too. About half the kids take private lessons to start the instrument but most don't keep them up.

The music and art programs are really important to me and a major difference from public school. I'd be annoyed if they were reduced.

OP and that’s why I’m posting. I’m super annoyed that they have been reduced, and so I’m trying to collect information on what is typical and normal so I can advocate for a better music program. We donate a ton of money so it’s annoying to hear “we can’t afford it”. I think the truth is that the school can’t figure out the schedule.

I would flee to public but our zoned public doesn’t have access to band until 6th and we aren’t eligible for the public schools that start it in 4th.

I'm PP who said music and art are important to me. We don't have coding. I think starting band in 4th is normal / recommended, but it's true that they can only teach so many classes in a day and maybe they've chosen other things. Can you change to another private?

Anonymous wrote:Ours starts in 4th with woodwind, brass, or percussion. In ES, band is twice a week and music (theory, voice, etc) is twice a week. In MS it drops to just band twice a week but there's an additional optional band outside school hours too. About half the kids take private lessons to start the instrument but most don't keep them up.

The music and art programs are really important to me and a major difference from public school. I'd be annoyed if they were reduced.

OP and that’s why I’m posting. I’m super annoyed that they have been reduced, and so I’m trying to collect information on what is typical and normal so I can advocate for a better music program. We donate a ton of money so it’s annoying to hear “we can’t afford it”. I think the truth is that the school can’t figure out the schedule.

I would flee to public but our zoned public doesn’t have access to band until 6th and we aren’t eligible for the public schools that start it in 4th.

Ours starts in 4th with woodwind, brass, or percussion. In ES, band is twice a week and music (theory, voice, etc) is twice a week. In MS it drops to just band twice a week but there's an additional optional band outside school hours too. About half the kids take private lessons to start the instrument but most don't keep them up.

The music and art programs are really important to me and a major difference from public school. I'd be annoyed if they were reduced.

It should start in fourth. Check out the Nafme guidelines

DD is in band at our local public. They start strings (orchestra) in 3rd and band in 4th. In 3-5th kids get pulled out of classes for orchestra or band.
In middle school, they are offered as every-other-day classes as well as a co-curricular "morning band/orchestra" You have to take classes to be in morning band, but you don't have to be in morning band to take classes. (It's the morning band group that goes to competitions/group concerts/etc)

In DS's small private middle school they don't have band/orchestra, but every kid learns piano/keyboard in their 2x per week music class starting in 5th.

At SR you choose between band, choir, or orchestra starting in 5th grade. All groups practice a few times a week and perform twice a year.

Private: 4th-6th are after school as an enrichment opportunity. As an in-school class it's not until middle.

Local public: starting in 5th

Both schools have what I consider to be above average music programs compared to other similar schools.

Our public school had no instrumental instruction, just ECs for kids who were already taking private lessons.

Our private school has the class as an option, but it is still filled with kids who take private lessons.

6th

Kids have to be enrolled in lessons outside of school. The band teacher doesn’t teach each kid their instrument.

Music programs have been slashed across the board, public and private. It’s one of the budget items considered somewhat superfluous if money gets tight, and many programs haven’t recovered interest or staff or schedule time from pandemic restrictions. You’ll have to supplement outside school if it’s important to you sooner.

Did you mean "not dentally appropriate"? Nowadays kids get braces for cosmetic stuff and with much less compelling need, and it really does cut down on the inflow of wind players.

I suspect it's because not everyone wants a school band as much as you do. Some people may prefer the coding or whatever. Parents who are serious about music likely started piano or strings already and don't need another instrument and their kid would be bored in band.

Sincerely,
A flutist (not flautist)

I work in an MCPS school and instrumental classes start in 4th grade.

The problem is that they get pulled out of core classes to do their 1-2/lessons. I work in a Title I school where a lot of my students are not at grade level and I worry that they miss out on core instruction. However, music is so important for them! So it’s a give and take.

If music is important to you and your kid’s school doesn’t offer it, then get private lessons now.

Do it privately. Our public started in 4th bit not all instruments. We did private lessons starting in 4th bit

Our k-8 school’s music program is the last vestige of the messiness that was the 20-21 school year. In past years, band went from being offered starting in 4th grade, and then they pushed it back to 5th and then 6th.

So current 6th graders are in their third year of an instrument, current 5th graders are on year 2, and this year’s 4th grade won’t get to start until 6th grade.

Our local publics start in 4th/5th if they’re a magnet school or kids have to wait until 6th and middle school. My childhood public school had strings and wind instruments and they started in 4th and 5th, respectively, and you could play both instruments.

Our school administration insists there simply is not time in the schedule for 4th and 5th grades to start band, which seems insane to me because there is plenty of time for long transitions, throwaway coding classes, SEL, etc. They also say that wind instruments aren’t developmentally appropriate before ages 12–13?!

Is not having band until 6th normal and I am I overreacting, or is the school giving me lazy excuses?