Parent’s Role
All children have the natural ability to learn to
sing in tune, keep a beat, and participate with confidence and pleasure in
music and movement, provided that their early environment supports such learning.
At Music Together®
we introduce parents and their young children to the joys of actively making
music rather than passively consuming it from CDs and television. Young children
learn through play and experimentation, and by watching and listening to the
grownups they love enjoying making music. Parents don't need to have musical
skills, just a desire to play and have fun with their children!
In class, children and adults have many opportunities to create and to play-
making up rhythm patterns, making up new words to songs, making up movements
to express a sound. Children may or may not participate as they choose and
are given the freedom to respond according to their developmental level and
temperament. The class experience, reinforced by listening to CDs and parent
involvement, stimulates learning at home.
Class Descriptions
Mixed Age Classes
Most classes are mixed ages from birth through and
including four.
A child's music development benefits greatly from early exposure as an infant.Three
and four year olds benefit by having the opportunity to be leaders in the
mixed age classroom. Activities focus on adult/child interaction rather than
child/child, so children of different ages (such as siblings) can enjoy classes
together. Sibling discount is available.
Infants - Newborns
to 8 months
Every child's music development benefits from early exposure to music and
movement. Because the early months are so important, Music Together offers
two options for babies. Infants may join mixed age classes and enjoy the stimulation
of the toddlers and preschoolers. Infants 7 months and younger can attend
a mixed class free with a registered sibling. Infants can also join the new
"Infants Class" offered as a one semester introduction to Music
Together. The music activities and materials are specially designed for parents
who want to learn as much as possible about music development in infants.
Meet other parents of newborns and learn some fascinating music activities
you can recreate at home with your baby. This is a 45 minute class. Bring
a baby blanket.
What
is Music Together®?
A community of families sharing songs, instrument play, rhythm chants, and movement
activities in a relaxed, playful, non-performance -oriented setting.
Music learned through developmentally appropriate activities that support and
respect the unique learning styles of very young children.
Six to twelve children (infants, toddlers, and preschoolers) participating at
their own levels in family style classes of mixed ages.
Our teachers creating a fun, easy atmosphere and guiding parents, caregivers
and children in 45 minutes of 12-14 music and movement experiences.
A new song collection every 10 week semester, each containing carefully chosen
folk songs, chants and original music, all pitched in just the right range for
children's developing voices. Songs in unusual meters and non-major tonalities
provide a rich and varied music experience.
2 CD recordings and an accompanying beautifully illustrated songbook containing
information for parents on how children learn and music activities to do at
home. A parent guide for parents new to the program.
The
Collections
The Center for Music and Young Children (CMYC) has developed
nine non-sequential song collections, each characterized by its own graphic,
color, and instrument. These collections each include a recording and songbook
and are designed to be used one collection per semester. A family can begin
Music Together classes at any time with any collection.
Original songs and arrangements by the program coauthors make these collections
especially unique. Outstanding instrumentalists play a variety of instruments,
such as guitar, bass, flutes, keyboards, and percussion. And all of the songs
are suitable for mixed-age groups, perfect for families with children of different
ages.
Music Together’s song collections are research-based and artistically
conceived and produced. They are also classroom- and family-tested. Since 1987,
the feedback of hundreds of teachers and thousands of families has been incorporated
into these constantly evolving materials.
