WunderKeys for Preschoolers
- Cristina
- Sep 13, 2024
- 3 min read
When my son was three, he started begging to do piano lessons just like my students. I had taught him concepts like forte vs. piano, white keys vs. black keys, and even basic keyboard geography. However, I knew that a method book would yield more consistent results, and my quest to find the best piano books for preschoolers began. I looked through many popular recommendations. such as MFPA and the Alfred Premier books I use for my grade-school students, but nothing moved at a pace that worked for my preschooler. That's when I came across Andrea and Trevor Dow's series: WunderKeys for Preschoolers.
Right off the bat, my son loved the colorful books and cute animal characters in it. I was a little hesitant at first to commit to the method, it moved so much slower than what I was used to and refers to fingers as characters (called Wunderbies) rather than numbers. However, after putting it into practice and reading about the pedagogy reasoning behind the book (great article here), I've come to appreciate how this book truly was written with the learning abilities of our youngest students in mind. Rather than being a simplified or extended version of a traditional piano primer, WunderKeys for Preschoolers were created specially for preschoolers and their learning and attention capabilities. All of my young students (even the 5 and 6 year olds) who struggled with primers and switched to the preschool method have thrived; they love the games, songs, activities, and pace at which these books move. There are three books in the WunderKeys for Preschoolers curriculum, which prepare students to advance to the primer level, whether it be in WunderKeys or another method book series. The WunderKeys website has explanations and PDF samples of each of the books, so you can take a look inside.
One of my favorite things about WunderKeys is how attentive and helpful the creators are! Andrea and Trevor put so much time and care into creating ADDITIONAL content to supplement these already incredible materials. Piano teachers can sign up for weekly email freebies and access past resources ready to download and print. These include sheet music, lesson activities, studio materials, and more. One of the downloads available is a Teacher's FAQ to WunderKeys for Preschoolers, a very helpful resource when looking into using WunderKeys. Additional resources include the Trading Card Sets (pictured below), Popsicle Puzzle, and Welcome Postcards.
I am so grateful that I've started using the WunderKeys for Preschoolers books and materials in my studio. I love them, my littles and students love them, the parents love them. I cannot recommend them enough!! Please let me know in the comments or through email if you have any questions about WunderKeys for Preschoolers!
Below are links to purchase the WunderKeys for Preschoolers books from Amazon.
Disclosure: I may receive commissions for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you, and all of these products are items that I recommend because I love them. I hope that you enjoy them, too!
Another great resource to use for the littles pianists is a pedal extender. This solves the problem of dangling feet and enables students to use the pedals while maintaining correct posture. My littles love it!
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