"Dear Suzuki teachers:

Forgive me for being ridiculously amused by my child, and worse yet, telling you about it, but considering that this is a direct reflection of his Suzuki experience I thought you might appreciate it, and we could use the opportunity to thank you for his continued interest in music. Thank you!

Find below the transcription of Bede's original song called 'fruits and vegetables', which he plays on his bass and has lyrics something like:

Watermelon, apple, green beans, cherries, watermelon, bananas, strawberries, green beans, cucumber."

Bede even taught his little sister how to hold the bow (click for video).

“My 5 year old daughter rushes up to the door to key in the code opening the back door of school. She'll give me a ‘mommy, you're so silly’ laugh when I get the code wrong, but in reality this small little action every morning gives me a sense that she is at home in school. This is our second child to go through Suzuki Preschool of Newton. We happened upon the school when we moved to Newton from another state, because we were intrigued by their music education curriculum. Although all of my children, even the 2.5 year old, now either play violin or pretend to play, the music education curriculum is not what makes me love the school the most.

Finding a preschool that you enjoy means that when you walk the halls and see the cubbys with all the kids' stuff, you recognize most of the names and have a sense of joy seeing them. It also means connecting with other parents, some of whom this is also the 2nd go-around at the school for their kids. It means having even your children that don't yet go to preschool, find themselves right at home because all the teachers know his name. To our family, finding a preschool that we enjoy means connection.

Sometimes we happen upon a great preschool, but for families who are looking for a preschool, ask to be connected with the families there - those who just started and those who have been there for a long time. Ask the families not just about the curriculum and teaching philosophy, ask them about their sense of connection.”

"When Eli was 3, Friday was his favorite day. It was baking day in Miss Bonne's class! Miss Bonne would always be making something interesting, like muffins or Halloween cookies. When Eli would get home he would always tell me about it.

One Saturday we were home and I was making French toast. I took out the eggs and put them on the counter, and then went back to the fridge to take out milk. When I turned around, Eli had grabbed an egg and was banging it against the counter. Before I could get him to stop, he had perfectly cracked the egg into the bowl! Since then, whenever I make eggs, I let Eli crack them. I think he's even better at it than me! Thank you Miss Bonne."

“One of the key reasons we selected Suzuki preschool for our son (and later for our daughter) was the preschool's focus on music. Towards the end of our son's first year at Suzuki we saw an announcement for a violin concert by the faculty of Suzuki School of Music. We did not pay much attention to it until our son's violin teacher from the Suzuki preschool suggested to all preschool parents that they should not only attend that concert but also have their kids participate in it. We were puzzled, since we could not comprehend how our son could possibly participate in a violin concert?! We certainly knew our son had violin classes at his preschool, but we did not think he could play. In fact, we knew from weekly blog posts by preschool instructors that kids had just switched from using simulated violins, made from cardboard boxes, to real violins. But surely they could not yet play anything! Any attempt to extract any useful information out of our son about his progress in music classes resulted in little useful insight. We contacted the violin teacher inquiring about the level of participation she had in mind for preschoolers. To our absolute astonishment, she indicated he could play the violin! Obviously, he isn't a professional musician yet, but... he could play the violin! We are still in shock... Our son did participate in that concert, and he did play his little violin on stage, along with other kids who have been studying music for much, much longer! Quite impressive!”

"I want to thank you for being such great teachers to Alex. I remember 3 years ago when Alex first started school, although he liked school, he was a bit shy and unwilling to show his true self. At the end of his preschool years, he not only loves his school, but is completely comfortable in your classrooms. As a parent, there's nothing better then knowing your child is well taken care of and is encouraged/supported to be whoever he wanted to be. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Alex has transitioned well into kindergarten and only time will tell if he's going to be as comfortable in his new school as he was in your classrooms. We are forever grateful to you for making Alex's first school experience such a positive one. We wish you have a great year and Alex misses you guys dearly!"

“Thank you Ms. Bonne and Ms. Drago for being Charlotte’s wonderful and loving teachers this year! Charlotte absolutely loves the activities in school. We were amazed by how creative you are in teaching the kids - using cotton ball/sandpaper as a metaphor to teach them to be kind, the cow balloon to teach nutrition, the dinosaur scene, the arts for art show, and many many more! You also put a lot of effort in teaching the kids how to learn, to make friends, and to be a good person. Charlotte is lucky to have you as her teachers and we are happy to see her grow and bloom in all aspects in academics, creative, and social skills. Thank you so much for a fantastic year!”