Hello to all of the Cornerstone Families!   The children and I are having a marvelous time singing, playing instruments, and making music together!  Please see our Music Notes for the month of February.  Thank you for your support of music.  We invite you to visit us during music on a Thursday morning.  Just coordinate a time through the school office.  Wishing you a great month!

My name is Leta Bontrager and I am happy to work with the wonderful teachers and children at Cornerstone again this year.  I graduated with a B.A. in music education and also earned my Orff Certification through Denver University. I live in Lakewood, where I have a private piano studio in my home.  I also teach at Montview Conservatory of Music in Park Hill and at another Montessori school in Lakewood.

Our Orff music classes began on October 1st.  I come every Thursday morning and go to each classroom for approximately 45 minutes.  All classes, with the exception of the SouthEast classroom, are divided into two groups for music.

The Orff philosophy of teaching music is named after Carl Orff, a German composer and educator, who felt that children could best learn about music through speech, movement, singing, improvisation, playing melodic-barred instruments (such as xylophones, glockenspiels and metallophones), and non-pitched percussion instruments (such as drums, maracas, finger cymbals, etc). I start very simply, in the Orff process, and build on what the children already know.

My immediate goals are to help the children enjoy making music together, and to develop a basic steady pulse (beat) which enables them to successfully play the Orff instruments both individually and in ensembles.