DID YOU KNOW THAT ALL CHILDREN ARE MUSICAL?
Have you ever wondered what you can do to nurture the musical growth of your child, regardless of your own musical ability?
Experience Music Together® and find out how important--and how fun--your role can be.
Our Music Together classes build on your child's natural enthusiasm for music and movement. We'll help you provide your child with the basic musical skills needed to enjoy school and social musical activities, and to study an instrument should he or she choose to do so.
MIXED AGES CLASS
The age range of Music Together classes is from birth to 5 years. Activities focus on adult/child interaction rather than child/child interaction, so children of different ages (including siblings) can enjoy class together. Also, many childhood educators consider mixed-age groupings beneficial and the process of music development throughout this age range is similar.
And, of course, infants blend with any age group. We have found that early exposure to music greatly benefits their musical development. The rewards for this can be seen as they grow and develop. Adults, regardless of their own musical ability, find it fun and easy to help create an environment that supports any child in achieving basic music competence.
Children participate at their own level in classes of mixed ages by singing, moving, chanting, listening, and exploring musical instruments. Plus, it’s fun to watch the older/veteran kids helping out the younger/new kids.
MUSIC TOGETHER IS FUN
What will you and your child find in a Music Together® class? Rainbow colored falling leaves, cows sitting in the old oak tree, tyrannosaurus rex, shining stars, rockets to the moon, trains to the beach. You will hear happy village harvest dances, Korean lullabies, Cuban rain forest songs, and much, much more. You'll also find drums of all sorts, bells, triangles, flutes, shakers, scrapers, kitchen instruments, scarves, stretchy dancing ribbons - instruments galore!
WHAT ARE MUSIC TOGETHER CLASSES LIKE?
Up to twelve children and their parents or caregivers (nanny, babysitter, grandparent) meet weekly for 45 minutes to experience new songs, chants, movement activities, and instrumental jam sessions. Both adults and children sit in the circle and participate, led by a teacher with early childhood and music skills. The teacher helps adults understand how to participate and the importance of relaxing and enjoying the activities with their children.
Children have may opportunities to create and to play - making up rhythm patterns, making up new words to songs, making up movements to express a sound. Some children will simply stare and "study" the experience, as they absorb the musically rich environment. Other children will sing, play and dance freely, because they are in a comfortable, encouraging environment and because they know the songs and chants from the songbook and tape they take home. Each class has ritual features which the children need and enjoy such as the "Hello Song," the instrumental "Play-Along," a lullaby, and the "Goodbye Song." Eight to ten other experiences are included in each class, ranging from free movement to songs in unusual meters.
SONGBOOK & CDS
The enjoyment doesn't stop when the class is over. Each semester families receive a song collection and recording of original compositions and traditional songs performed by outstanding singers and instrumentalists. The children will often ask to hear the Music Together CD in the car and at home, or when friends come over to play. The songbook often comes out at bedtime or naptime and is used as a storybook. Parents are encouraged to "read" the songs, even if they don't read music. At home, parents also enjoy their children singing parts of Music Together songs and dancing spontaneously to music.
Years after your child takes a Music together class, he or she will still remember the "Hello Song" and other favorites. Parents of former students tell us "We still have those tapes!" With a childhood of Music Together experiences, your child will be among the young people who have a deep-seated love of music-making. Enjoy!
OUR MISSION
To provide the highest quality music and movement experiences to as many young children as possible and to involve their parents and other adult caregivers, including early childhood professionals.
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE MUSIC TOGETHER PHILOSOPHY
I. All children are musical.
II. Therefore, all children can achieve basic music competence, which we have defined as the ability to sing in tune and move with accurate rhythm.
III. The participation and modeling of parents and caregivers, regardless of their musical ability, is essential to a child's musical growth.
IV. This growth is best achieved in a playful, developmentally appropriate, non-performance-oriented learning environment that is musically rich yet immediately accessible to the child's-and the adult's!-participation.
WHAT IS MUSIC TOGETHER®?
Music Together® is an internationally recognized early childhood music program for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners, and the adults who love them. First offered to the public in 1987, it pioneered the concept of a research-based, developmentally appropriate early childhood music curriculum that strongly emphasizes and facilitates adult involvement.
Music Together® classes are based on the recognition that all children are musical. All children can learn to sing in tune, keep a beat, and participate with confidence in the music of our culture, provided that their early environment supports such learning. By emphasizing actual music experiences rather than concepts about music, Music Together® introduces children to the pleasures of making music instead of passively receiving it from CDs or TV.
Central to the Music Together® approach is that young children learn best from the powerful role model of parents/caregivers who are actively making music. The program brings families together by providing a rich musical environment in the classroom and by facilitating family participation in spontaneous musical activity at home within the context of daily life.
Music Together® is committed to helping families, caregivers, and early childhood professionals rediscover the pleasure and educational value of informal music experiences. All our teachers have successfully completed Music Together®’s training program. Music Together® applies the latest research in early childhood music development to the program. A curriculum pioneer since 1987.