The Childbloom® Guitar Program is a comprehensive musical education program for children between the ages of 5 and 12.

Kevin Taylor, of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, developed it in 1980.

The Childbloom method of music instruction through the guitar is currently being used by many educators throughout Texas and is the largest program of its kind in the nation.

Through an initial "limited-rote" approach, students are able to play music quickly and successfully. "We want to give the kids a learning victory in the first lesson," says Taylor. "They don't want to wait to play music. Can you blame them?"

The curriculum used in the Childbloom Program is comprised of music arranged in parts; the student not only learns solo-playing skills, but ensemble skills as well. This enables learning to proceed successfully in groups, thus integrating the young child's attention span and the adolescent's expanding social horizon.

Taking a lesson from the Suzuki method, parents are encouraged to attend the lesson with their child. "We have found," says Taylor, "that the more parents are involved in this process, the faster the student learns, the more the student learns, and the more persistent the student will be.

Please be sure to visit the website, www.childbloom.com for more information.