Music is a key ingredient in our home, but neither Neil nor I actually play an instrument. All children are musical though, and have the potential to be music makers. Music together class is for babies, grown ups, and everyone in between.
The Music Together program actually dates back to 1987 and was started by a theatre composer and music educator. He saw that children without early music training had developmental deficits in music, and he set out to fix it. Music Together is now in 2,000 communities in the United States and 40 countries around the world and is the first organization to offer mixed age classes. Both local instructors have masters degrees in music and have worked in the music field all their lives.
Full sessions are offered in the fall, winter, and spring, and a six week session is offered each summer. Tuition includes recordings of the music, an illustrated songbook, and parent education resources. There is even a free app! The classes start out by singing a sort of scales, but with silly noises to get the kids interested. The expectations are that children and parents are to be who they are. Everyone can jump in or sit back until they are comfortable. Some kids marched around the circle to songs while others sat inside. Movements range from small finger movements to large march movements. There are several instruments, some like the shakers, your (ahem.. my) kid might hold on to the whole time and refuse to give back. That was fine. Everyone that comes out to the kids is cleaned after every class, which every mom can appreciate.
The songs range from classic nursery rhymes to silly new songs, including one about splashing everywhere from the mud, to the bathtub, to the dog bowl that particularly stood out to me. There were some echo songs that reminded me of jazz, call and answer songs, and rhythm and tonal patterns. This class is perfect for a future rock (or piano, or jazz, or pop) star. Each song ends in a lullaby as a way to calm the kids down before they leave.
Classes start at birth and range to infants to big kids. Babies Class is for infants and parents of infants who want to learn about music development in babies. One part of this class is specifically geared to the interaction with other parents of newborns and learning how to recreate activities to do at home.
Babies Class:
Thursday 11:30 Wycliffe Presbyterian Church
The Babies class class is for children 8 months and younger. The families learn lots of different musical activities for babies and learn to understand which behaviors of babies are musical so that they can support their behavior. The babies class connects a lot of moms within the community too. I made friends at a class like this that I'm so thankful for!
Mixed Age Music ( Summer session)
- Monday 10:15 RPM Dance
- Tuesday 10:00 Larchmont United Methodist Church; 11:00 Larchmont United Methodist Church
- Wednesday 10:00 Parkway Christian Center; 9:30 Wycliffe Presbyterian Church; 10:30 Wycliffe Presbyterian Church; 4:00 Wycliffe Presbyterian Church
- Thursday 10:00 RPM Dance; 9:30 Wycliffe Presbyterian Church; 10:30 Wycliffe Presbyterian Church
- 9:30 Wycliffe Presbyterian Church; 10:30 Wycliffe Presbyterian Church
Mixed age classes are perfect for families with kids of different ages. (This is the one we did!) They are also great because older kids get to be leaders, and younger kids mimic what the older kids are doing. They welcome all kinds of families and care givers to join in. There are sibling discounts too.
There are still lots of demo classes this summer:
- Wednesday, June 27th at 10:00 Parkway Christian, Chesapeake
- Monday, July 2nd at 10:00 at RPM Dance Studio, Suffolk
- Thursday, July 5th at 10:00 at RPM Dance Studio, Suffolk
- Friday, July 6th at 10:00 at Larchmont United Methodist, Norfolk
The 6- week summer session begins on July 9th. Online registration is available
HERE.
For more info, you can contact Emily, (757) 971-1029 or emilyjbrennan@gmail.com
