It is amazing what is going on "behind the scenes" in a child's body and brain during a Music Together^® class.

Social Emotional

In Music Together, teachers include children's sounds, movements, interests and ideas, even before they can verbally express them supporting each child's need to be accepted, understood, and appreciated.

Emergent Language and Literacy Development

Music Together's song activities support children's listening skills, vocabulary development, and the ability to recognize, discriminate, and produce sounds. Songs are filled with rhymes, alliterations, and new words, and we often sing on syllables (bah, blah, wah) which provides opportunity for auditory discrimination of different phonemes. Through song, children are exposed to the structure and sequence of sounds involved in languages.

Besides many other benefits, the songbooks support children's understanding that print conveys meaning, that letters are grouped to form words, and that written words represent spoken language. Likewise, the notation on the page helps children to recognize that the musical note represents sung language and that notes grouped together form musical phrases and tunes. And the songbook is so fun and interactive, it reinforces a love of books!

Math Awareness

The experience of songs and chants in various meters (how beats are grouped- like 3/4 v 4/4), and the decoding of the structure of each song happens naturally in your child's brain during Music Together class and while listening at home. Music provides an experience of proportion, patterning, sequencing, and counting.

Children as young as 3 (with sufficient experience) will begin to categorize songs - such as one song in a 3/4 (waltz) meter will remind them of another song in the same meter. That is a high level musical sorting challenge, and our kids are doing it!

Physical Development

Movement is an essential part of a child's learning. From finger plays, small and large movement, movement in place and through space (locomotor), movement that crosses the midline of the body, the use of rhythm instruments and singing itself, class activities support the development of body awareness, coordination and balance, muscle strength, and fine, gross, sensory, and oral motor skills.

The Power of Music

Music is emotion, connection, ritual, and complexity. It's something we turn to again and again to mark important life transitions, to help us cope with loss and celebrate love, and to gather in shared purpose and community. Music is a way of knowing, of learning who we are, expressing feelings when we have no words; and a way to understand things with our hearts when we can't with our minds. And it starts in the first days and years of life.

Music forges unique connections in the brain, integrating mind, body, and emotions. With ongoing music experienc from birth to kindergarten, children develop the ability to sing in tune and keep a beat. With family support, they gain the disposition to be music-makers and learners, setting them up with a solid foundation for formal music or dance instruction. In addition to music skills, immersion in an interactive, musically rich environment like Music Together fosters children's growth and development in many other areas essential to success in school and life, such as creativity, self-expression, and confidence. It helps them have a positive attitude toward learning. We are forever grateful to be a part of your children's lives as one of their first teachers and witness it all!

The next time you pick up your little one and dance around the kitchen, sing a song while changing their diaper, or play in your Music Together class, you can know that big things are happening. Inside that wonderful little body is a brain that's sparking, changing, and learning with every note, wiggle, and bounce.