DISCOVER
MUSIC TOGETHER
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OUR MISSION:
To provide a rich musical experience for children and their caregivers not only in the classroom but that the experience would extend to the home as well.
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE MUSIC TOGETHER® PHILOSOPHY:
I. All children are musical.
II. Therefore, all children can achieve basic music competence. We define basic music competence as the ability to sing in tune 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.
All Children are Musical
Twelve Children ages birth through five and their parents or caregivers (nanny, babysitter, grandparent) meet for 45 minutes each week for ten weeks or a six week session for summer to experience new songs, chants, small and large motor movement activities and instrumental jam sessions. Adults and children sit in the circle and participate, led by a teacher with early childhood music skills. The teacher helps adults understand how to interact and play musically with their child in class and at home. Playing music is fun and nutures the child’s musical ability. Children have many opportunities to create and to play.
Music Together® is an innovative, thoroughly researched approach to early childhood music education. Now being taught nationwide, the program began in 1985 as an educational project of the Center for Music and Young Children® of Princeton, New Jersey.
The program is based on the premise that all children are inherently musical. Our goal is to nurture your child's natural enthusiasm for music and movement during the early childhood years when, as with language learning, musical aptitude is at the critical stage of most rapid growth.
In a society that no longer supports music-making as an integral part of daily life, Music Together is committed to helping families rediscover the pleasure and value of informal musical activity. We do this by providing children with new contexts and opportunities to experience and express themselves musically alongside their most important role models: their parents, caregivers and teachers.
FAQ's
How long are the lessons ? |
The classes are 45 minutes each. |
How many classes in a session? |
There are ten weeks in the Fall, Winter and Spring semesters and six weeks in the Summer session. |
How many children are in each class? |
There is normally a maximum of 12 children enrolled in each class. Occasionally there may be one or two extra families doing a preview or making up a missed class. Each child or set of siblings is accompanied by a parent or caregiver. |
What happens if I miss a class? |
Please give advance notice if you will miss a class. You can make up any missed classes by coming to another class that week or any other week in the session. You must schedule the make-up in advance. Make-up classes cannot be carried on to another semester. You can do only up to 2 make-ups in any one semester. |
What is the age range of the classes? |
Most classes are aged 0 through 4 years (the activities are Parent/Child interactive rather than Child/Child so mixed ages are not an issue). |
What do you do in the classes? |
It's 45 minutes of fun, informal music-making and creating. Adults and children together sing and dance to songs, play instruments, look at pictures in our songbooks, make up silly rhymes for our songs, sing tonal and rhythmic patterns, and experience a wide range of rhythmic and melodic musical variety. Live music making rather than passive listening is the name of our game! |
How can I preview a class with my child? |
You can come to a class during a regular session or, at the beginning of each session, we sometimes do demo classes at the Library or local bookstores. |
What kind of instruments do you use? |
We have a wide variety of unpitched instruments such as Drums, Triangles, Tambourines, Bells, Shakers and Rhythm sticks. The reason for unpitched instruments is so that the children will never feel they are playing a "wrong" note and can join in however they like. You too will be playing along on these instruments! We also use chime bars pitched to match the songs and we dance with scarves and giant elastic bands! The teachers play keyboard, guitar, flute, recorder etc to accompany the songs as well as using some recorded selections. |
My child probably won't sit still for 45 minutes........ |
Music Together classes maintain an informal atmosphere in the classroom and we do not expect children of this young age to sit still throughout the whole class. Normally we have about 3 or 4 activities during the class where we all get up and move around the room. Also children are free to wander about the circle or around the room during the class as long as they are obviously still mentally engaged in the activities. Parents are free to take the activity over to their child to engage them or try to bring them back to the circle. |
Can I bring my husband/grandma/aunt etc? |
Yes. Any number of adults can attend. |
Do you do the same songs every week? |
No, each week we do about 12 or 13 songs from the 25-30 session collection. So each week we do mostly familiar songs with 3 or 4 new ones till we have covered the whole session's collection. |
Do you have the same songs each session? |
No, There are 9 nine different sessions of material so families can take the course for 3 years and not repeat the material. |
Can I pay by credit card? |
Yes, we accept credit cards online through Pay Pal. |
How can I find out more about Music Together ? |
For Music Together nationally, you may call the Main office at the Center for Music and Young Children in Princeton on 1-800-728-2692 or look up their website at www.musictogether.com. |
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