The Community Music & Arts Network is offering free sample classes for the Winter and Spring 2012 Music Together® early childhood mixed age music and movement program. Parents and caregivers and children from birth to age five are welcome to participate in this developmentally appropriate, research based, internationally acclaimed program.
An early demonstration class will be held at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, December 7th at the Hobart Activity Center in Hobart. Thursday, December 8th at 9:30 a.m., there will be an Oneonta demonstration class at the Foothills Performing Arts Center. The Hobart Activity Center is located at 8 Pine Street in Hobart and the Foothills Performing Arts Center is located at 24 Market Street in Oneonta. Pre-registration for these free classes is preferred to ensure space.
Registration for both the ten-week winter and spring sessions are open until the start date for each session. The Winter session classes start Wednesdays in Hobart, running January 4th to March 14th. Thursday sessions in Oneonta run from January 5th to March 15th. Saturday sessions in Hobart run from January 7th to March 17th. Spring session runs March 28th through June 10th. No classes will be held during school vacations.
Discounts are available for siblings and returning families. An infant sibling less than 8 months accompanying an older sibling is free. Registration includes two CDs for home and the car, parent education materials, and an activity songbook. Parents who register their children by January 1st will receive a $25 discount off of the tuition.
In a Music Together class, twelve children and their parents or caregivers (nanny, babysitter, grandparent) meet for 45 minutes each week for ten weeks to experience new songs, chants, movement activities, and instrumental jam sessions. Both adults and children sit in the circle and participate, led by a teacher with early childhood and music skills. The teacher helps adults understand how to participate and the importance of relaxing and enjoying the activities with their children.
Children have many opportunities to create and to play—making up rhythm patterns, making up new words to songs, and making up movements to express a sound. Some children simply stare and “study” the activity as they absorb the musically rich environment. Others sing, play, and dance freely because they know the songs and chants from the songbook and recording they take home. All experience a comfortable, encouraging environment that respects individual temperaments and learning styles. Twelve to fourteen activities are included in each class ranging from free movement to songs in unusual tonalities and unusual meters.
The national Music Together program has been developed in Princeton, NJ by co-authors Kenneth K. Guilmartin and Lili M. Levinowitz. Guilmartin, Founder/Director of Music Together, is active nationally in research and teacher training. He composes and arranges many of the songs and instrumental pieces for the Music Together song collections. “We believe that every child is musical, and that each child needs a stimulating, supportive music environment to enjoy the wonderful human capacity for music-making,” said Guilmartin. “Parents may be surprised to find that they can support their child’s music development regardless of their own background in music.”
Lili M. Levinowitz, Ph.D., a Professor of Music Education at Rowan College of New Jersey, is a national authority on early childhood music. “Many adults are simply not aware of how well infants and toddlers can learn and enjoy music,” said Dr. Levinowitz. “Our parent surveys indicate that families play the Music Together recordings on an average of six times per week and that almost all infants and toddlers express clear preferences for the Music Together recording and for certain songs on each recording. Movement and music are excellent activities for the very young.”
A recent national study conducted at Head Start in Bridgeport, Connecticut has also shown that children who participate in Music Together® over the three years of rotating curriculum show significant gains compared to peers who have not received the program in the areas of cognitive, socio/emotional, physical, and language development.
Music Together is a music and movement approach to early childhood that develops every child’s opportunity for basic music competence by encouraging music experience rather than learning of information about music. Families are encouraged to attend class together, so younger children and older children in the same family can learn music and movement activities to enjoy at home. Parents also enjoy the classes because their skills and appreciation increase, too.
For more information, to reserve a spot in a demonstration class, or to register for Music Together® classes, contact Pamela West-Finkle at 607-652-2330 or email FunMusic4Kids@aol.com. For more information on Music Together®, visit www.musictogether.com.
