Frequently Asked Questions
What is Music Together?
- A fun family music program for parents and children ages birth to Pre Kindergarten.
- Parent participation – regardless of the parent’s own music ability - is essential to creating the stimulating musical environment that all children need to develop their musical intelligence.
- A high quality, developmentally appropriate research-based curriculum with playful activities.
- Children participate at their own level and when they are ready. There is no performance pressure. Children are not required to sit still, rather, they are encouraged to respond spontaneously to the musical environment.
Basic Program Information
- Weekly 45- minute classes
- Ten- week semesters
- Three semesters per year
- Mixed-age classes
- Six week summer semester available
Basic Class Activities
- Singing
- Rhythmic chants, like nursery rhymes said in rhythm
- Creative movement- from finger-plays to large motor movement activities
- Instrument play (The play-along jam session is a lot of fun!)
What are Music Together classes like?
The children have the freedom to respond according to where they stand developmentally. The environment is informal, completely free from performance pressure, and you and your children will enjoy making music instead of passively receiving it from recordings. You and your children will sing along, play various instruments, dance, and listen. Children learn that music is valuable when they observe their parents actively making music themselves.
Are the Same Songs Used Every Semester?
No. Each ten- week semester uses a different song collection. There are nine song collections, or three years’ worth. The summer semester collections are a mixture of our favorites from the nine collections.
How Does the Mixed Age Format Work in Class?
- Early Childhood educators are now recommending mixed-age groupings as a better learning environment. Older children learn from being in a leadership role, and younger children benefit from the example of an older child. Mixed-age classrooms also promote social skills and self-esteem.
- The classes have more of a family feel rather than a school orientation. Siblings can participate together, as well as moms, dads, grandparents, and caregivers.
- The curriculum is designed to teach on many levels of complexity at once.Children of the same age are not necessarily in the same stage of musical development.
- The activities are parent-child oriented, not child-child, so children don’t need to be with children of the same age.
I’m Not Musical. Can I Really Help My Child Develop Musical Intelligence?
Yes! A parent is a child’s most important teacher. Research has shown that children learn their disposition from their primary caregiver. A parent who has difficulty singing in tune can still teach his or her child that music is fun and important by modeling enthusiastic participation. Experiencing music in the class, at live concerts, and on recordings will teach the child to discern accurate pitch and rhythm, so the “non-musical” parent can relax about that aspect.
Do Infants Really Benefit?
Yes! Infants’ participation will seem passive at first, but they are actively absorbing what they are seeing, hearing, and feeling. By reading the parent guide to children’s music development and through parent education in the class, caregivers will learn to recognize their infant’s musical responses and observe them reaching musical milestones. As their bodies and nervous systems mature, the infants often show progressively more complex musical responses and evidence of song recognition. Parents will learn in class how to enhance their child’s music development and how to create or enhance the musical bond with their child. Infants are welcome in any class and attend free with an older sibling.
