Nurturing creativity, confidence, and connection
Seedling Strings (501c3 status pending) is an early childhood music education program using the String Sprouts curriculum for kids ages 4-10 which emphasizes fun and community building while combining methods from the Suzuki and El Sistema methods.
Proven Curriculum
All seedlings are taught the String Sprouts curriculum, which takes the best practices from famed Suzuki and El Sistema methods and combines them with fun and encouraging instruction that keeps kids engaged.
Five Years of Growth
We strive to keep students and teachers together through the full five-year program, to nurture mentorship and a strong sense of community with their ensemble.
Affordable Lessons
Every child should have access to music education, which is proven to enhance childhood development across a variety of skills. Our classes are affordable and we offer a variety of plans to ensure that everyone can become a seedling.
Supporting Early Childhood Development
Music education has shown to accelerate brain development, improving skills critical to academic success and life-long fulfillment and happiness.
Seedlings improve language, vocabulary, social skills, mathematics, numbers, executive function (attention, emotion regulation, planning, working memory), parent-child relationships, and more!
Help A Seedling Bloom
We rely on community members like you to help us provide instruments and music education to underserved communities.
Help us ensure all children have access to the gift of music.
Teacher Highlight
Ian Mitchell graduated from The University of Central Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in music performance and went on to graduate from the UMKC Conservatory with a master's in music theory. While studying at UCM, Ian served as the concertmaster of the UCM Orchestra, played in the UCM
Jazz-Rock Combo Ensemble, and was the American String Teacher’s Association Chapter president. At UMKC, Ian taught an introduction to music theory course and worked as a tutor and substitute professor through the graduate teaching assistant program.
Ian continues to perform with various local ensembles and bands while teaching as an elementary strings public school teacher. After working as a Sprouts teacher for three years, Ian worked to found Seedling Strings to preserve the Sprouts program and its mission to deliver quality affordable early music education.