Scheduling: ”When are the lessons?”

Classes are offered from 5:30 pm. until about 8:00 pm. Monday through Friday, and also Saturday mornings from 8:00am until noon. We generally teach in small groups, minimum 2 kids per groups – maximum 4. These groups are great for developing ensemble skills, camaraderie and improvement of long-term motivation. We group the students according to age and experience level.

Most of our entering students are beginners. If we don’t have a another student to start right away, there are several options available:

1) we can take your child privately for a few lessons and merge him into a class.

2) put you on a call-back list – the wait is usually just a few weeks.

3) or if you wish to start right away we may be able to schedule your child in a private lesson.

Because of our small-group structure, scheduling is often the most difficult part. But a good Childbloom class, at a time convenient for your schedule, is worth the wait!

”How much does it cost?”

There is a $25 enrollment fee per family into the Portland Childbloom Program. When you enroll we give you 2 things: the initial enrollment materials, which includes a CD of the music, lessons, exercises that the student will be learning. This material provides a key ingredient to the Childbloom success – listening to the music before, during and after learning it. We also provide easy-to-read music for the non-musician parent to help at home. You also receive a subscription to The Childbloom Monthly Newsletter. This helps parents deal with the many ups and downs of motivation that will occur in the musical education process. Tuition is $76 per month for the group classes. The lessons are scheduled on a yearly basis, with 42 lessons per year. This means some months will have 3 lessons, some months 4 and some months may have 5 lessons. It is the same tuition each month!

The Childbloom Guitar program is one of the most affordable entrances into private music education in the Portland-Vancouver metro area. Sibling tuition is half price. So for a family with two kids in the program, the cost is $108 per month.

Getting the Right Instrument –  It is very important that your child have an appropriate guitar on which to learn. Please call for recommendations before you purchase one. We are not in the business of selling instruments, but we try to keep abreast of what the good instruments are and where you can get them close to you. Consult with us before you buy. The best brands of guitars for children are: Cordoba, Strunal, Yamaha & Jasmine. These are all nylon-string instruments, which is what we recommend for the high-skill technique that we teach the children.

The highest cost of music education

We take music education seriously. Begun in 1980, the Childbloom Guitar Program is one of the longest running guitar programs for children in the world.  That is why we know that parents must be involved in their child’s musical growth. We want a parent to be present in the lesson with the child. You need to know the details of what the child is learning; the goals for the week, the technical aspects that the child can’t see from his or her viewpoint and help encourage practice in an effective way.  The quality of that involvement will change as the child matures but parental involvement has been a key ingredient to the success of the students in our program from age 5 -18. This is the the highest cost – YOUR time and attention. It will  will provide the greatest value to your child.