Maria
Alley, B. Mus. (Dalhousie University), has enjoyed many years
of teaching children,
including those with developmental
issues and special needs, resulting in a unique rapport with children
through music. She has also been an active participant in the Halifax
musical community.
Maria was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She attended the Halifax School for the Blind where her musical training began at the age of 6 years. Throughout these years she had the opportunity to study classical piano, giving biannual performances along with her fellow students.
The
next ten years were dedicated to raising two boys, attending Dalhousie
University’s
music program where she obtained her B. Mus. with a 
major in guitar,
and working as a music instructor at The Atlantic Provinces Resource
Center for the Visually Impaired. During her time at this school, she
taught guitar, bass and vocals, forming small folk groups whose performances
included school recitals, variety shows and talent competitions. She
found this work both enlightening and rewarding as she traveled through
the intricacies of teaching students with special needs.
After
graduating from Dalhousie in 1991, Maria began a music program for
young children called DO RE ME AND MARIA which
she offered to local daycares and preschools in the
Halifax/Dartmouth area. She developed and compiled the material for
this music education program throughout the
1990’s as she worked with the preschool children,
discovering their favourite activities and utilizing this
knowledge of their play to teach them some of the basic
musical concepts necessary for good musicianship.
“The children loved the classes so much,” says
Maria, “that I decided to gather all of the material
I had used with the children and package it up in the form
of a curriculum guide and 6 CD set so that every person
interested in the musical education of their children would
have the tools to run my program. All of the lesson plans
found in the book are facilitated by this CD
package.”
Maria
is currently teaching this music program at Grace Note
Preschool, Play to Learn Daycare and Preschool and Purdy's Wharf
Children's Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She welcomes your inquiries
about
DO
RE ME AND MARIA.
