Yes, I’m endorsing a product/service here. No, I am not being paid to do so. It’s called Music Together and two past experieinces made me decide to recommend this activity.
Several of my friends had done Music Together for three consecutive “semesters” and then decided to skip a semester. During that period we met at the park during the time that many of us used to do Music Together and Sarah was saying how much she missed it, couldn’t wait til it started up again, and that not doing it made her see how much she values it. Our park-based playdate was simply filling the hole in her life left by abstaining from Music Together.
Ok, so Sarah (hearts) Music Together. Her enthusiasm made me think hard about how I feel about it. I had been thinking that it’s just too expensive, and then I decided that I agree with Sarah.
Later that day, I read that most North American families only know two or three songs to sing to their children when they are born, and one of them is often 99 Bottles of Beer. And here’s where I relate to how much value you get out of these classes. From Music Together, my husband and I have learned countless songs in that can be sung and re-sung in different ways. The class is designed to teach you, the parent, how to incorporate music into your kid’s life.* Each song can be changed around to include your kid’s name, interests or description of the activities you’re doing. Our teacher, Ryk, also gives great advice on using music to distract while diaper changing or putting on shoes. People, it works.
Julian was obsessed with the CDs that come with the class. He begged for us to put them on and then, as a baby even, would smile and wave when he heard the first song.
*The class is not about building music skills in your kid. In fact, they are welcome to sit absolutely still and silent. The parent or caregiver is the one participating. The theory is that you can develop musical interest and enthusiasm in children by enabling them to watch you have fun with sounds, songs and instruments. Given that we don’t have community music experiences in this culture, our kids will not pick up songs to pass down to their kids unless we make it happen.
So there you have it. My love letter to Music Together.
And again, this is not an advertisement.
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Yes, yes! I’m part of the Music Together cult, and I’m not even a big extracurricular activity type. I can’t say enough about the quality of the music, the amazing fun in the class, and the lasting effects of the kind of education MT provides.
Great endorsement for early childhood music. However, I have found Kindermusik to be more educational, fun and musical. The Kindermusik quality for their “take home stuff” is amazing. I think exposing our children to music at an early age is such a great thing. I hope that after reading this, more moms and dads will consider this type of activity. You can never start too early.
I too am a big fan of Music Together. I tried a Kindermusik class too and found it to be very bland and rigid in comparison, maybe my inner hippy needs more of what the groovy instructors of Music Together offers. I don’t know, maybe it’s not fair to compare Teacher Bill at the Julia Morgan Center in Berkeley with the Kindermusik lady who must double as a Sunday School teacher at the church in Alameda. I’m not judgin’ I’m just sayin’. Different strokes for different folks I guess, heh.
If you and your child love music, you’ll love this site!
Http://www.littlelovees.com
Created by a retired Music Together director!
as you know, dear whitney, I was scarred by my own son’s terror of large groups of small children, which he likely got from me, so our experience was not stellar. That said, I know this is a great program and once big boy is in kinder next year and I get some extra time with just the little girl, we will give it a whirl. I know she’ll love it. But I’ll be honest, even just watching the scene in Babies when Hattie is at MT with her dad made my heart rate go up. They should do a program call Music Therapy for people like me.
Thanks for your nice writeup of the Music Together withdrawal you felt at the park! As children watch and listen in class, they are making connections in the brain as they learn the language of music, much different than our spoken language. The patterns of music, especially that of the Music Together curriculum in which families experience different modes and rhythms from around the world, are complex but the window of opportunity for learning them is actually best during the years of birth to five! A child who is exposed often and early to live music experiences, especially with a person they love, will develop into a music-loving child who has the skills of basic music competence (provided they have healthy hearing), that is, singing in tune and moving with accurate rhythm. I prefer the Music Together curriculum to the others that I’ve seen, spoken as a musician, educator, parent and Music Together teacher.