Lakes Region Music Together

This is the essential Music Together class, one that a child can attend from birth through kindergarten and through all nine song collections. This main class follows the recommendations of child development researchers grouping children of different ages in one class. This approach fosters natural, family-style learning where younger children enjoy watching and imitating older ones; older children learn by leading younger ones; and adults are happy because the children in the family can go to class together. Each child takes part at his or her own developmental level in singing, moving, chanting, listening, observing, or exploring musical instruments.

As part of the Music Together Preschool program, Music Together experts teach music and movement classes weekly in cooperation with classroom teachers. Classroom teachers then follow through on the weekly sessions, adapting activities to their curriculum requirements and interests. Recordings, songbooks, and teaching materials are offered to each classroom, and children bring the music home for parent-child musical play, sharing the songs and activities learned in school. Children learn from the model of music participation set by both parents and classroom teachers, and the joy of extended family music in school and at home creates a natural circle of learning that builds parent-child, parent-teacher and parent-school relationships.