- Did you know that all children are musical?
- Have you noticed how attentive your child is when you sing to him/her or when there's music playing?
- Have you ever wondered what you can do to nurture the musical growth of your child, regardless of your own musical ability?
Experience Apple Country Music Together and find out how important--and how fun--your role can be! Music Together classes build on your child's natural enthusiasm for music and movement.
We'll help you provide your child with the basic musical skills needed to enjoy school and social musical activities, and to study an instrument should he or she choose to do so. Our sessions are informal, participatory and fun for the whole family. Our experience shows all children can learn to sing in tune, keep a beat, and participate with confidence in the music of our culture.
Our approach is based on the recognition that all children are musical. By emphasizing actual music experiences rather than concepts about music, Music Together introduces children to the pleasures of making music instead of passively receiving it from CDs or TV. Children learn best from the powerful role model of parents/caregivers who are actively making music.
Apple Country Music Together brings families together by providing a rich musical environment in the classroom and by facilitating family participation in spontaneous musical activity at home within the context of daily life. Read more about Music Together's approach to early childhood music learning
Music is a powerful force in early childhood because young children are highly attuned to the sounds around them. Hearing begins in utero at the fourth month, and most children hear and recognize their parents' voices by the time they are born. In fact, in a recent study, infants were able to pick out minute changes in melodies at the age of one to two months! While six-month olds may not be ready for math, they are acutely attentive to and responsive to musical sounds. Infants coo, gurgle, and flex their torsos in response to music. Toddlers shake rattles, bounce to the beat, and sing occasional notes. Three-year-olds often have favorite songs and instruments to play and can "lose themselves" in music. Four-year-olds like to have an effect on the activity, such as creating new ways to move with the music, or inventing new words to songs. They may play teacher and lead the family (or their stuffed animal pets) in their favorite musical activities at home.
Children learn through play and experimentation, and by mirroring what their primary caregivers do. Music Together classes build on your child's natural enthusiasm for music, movement and experimentation with classes that include playful, age-appropriate musical activities as well as engaging the parents & caregivers in the entire experience.
Music Together began in 1987 as an educational project of the Center for Music and Young Children in Princeton, New Jersey, and now is taught world wide. The approach pioneered the concept of a research-based, developmentally appropriate early childhood music curriculum that strongly emphasizes and facilitates adult involvement. Music Together classes develop every child's birthright of basic music competence by encouraging actual experiences rather than teaching musical concepts and information.
Your child will come up with many new ways to play some of the instruments -- please enjoy and celebrate their exploration and experimentation without expecting (or even forcing) them to play the "right" way. We have enough instruments so you can play your own instrument while your child plays theirs, their own way!
Children learn through observation: Some children prefer to sit and watch -- this is fine (and normal). So long as you are having a good time, your child "learns the lessons" just by being in class and watching your enthusiastic participation.
Children learn with their whole bodies: Some children need to move around during class -- this also fine, so long as it is not disruptive or unsafe (please shadow your child if you feel it is necessary!). Our experience bears out the truth that parents who participate enthusiastically have children who also participate enthusiastically within their own learning style.
Children quite often sing at home only and prefer just to "watch" while in class: This is absolutely okay & normal because of the way children learn music. Young children typically do not "multi-task" -- they are either "doing" or "watching/learning". Our classes offer a smorgasbord of musical experiences, and your child often will want to sample as much as possible while in class, and then go home and "replay" the class again, this time singing or trying out some of the movements we did in class. The more YOU sing in class, the sooner your child will begin to sing in class.
