It's 7:10 am and my husband has been gone for almost an hour and isn't due back for 12 more. It's me and an 13 month old baby who while adorable and active doesn't say too much. We've been to the park, we've been to the library and we've finger painted for hours, what next?
I discovered Music Together a little over a year ago when my son was just a little over a year old. We haven't skipped a session since. There are a lot of classes for babies and children out there ,dancing, swimming,gymnastics and even toddler yoga! How do you know what is really worth it? Let's face it these classes aren't cheap, you want to make sure you are getting your money's worth. I am pretty hard to impress but Music Together hits the mark.
Music Together classes are multi-age, not only is that beneficial developmentally but it is simply practical for young families, you don't have to worry about what to do with your baby while your preschooler is playing w
ith the maracas , you can have them both right there singing with you.
Each session of classes has a song collection, that is used in some combination each week. You are given 2 separate cds so you can have one in the car and one at home, this is genius! My son adores these Cds and on a road trip from Dallas to San Antonio last March we forgot to pack it. The results were terrible, my husband and I had to sing song everything we said from Waco to San Antonio to the tune of "Hello Everybody" the opening song to every Music Together class. Oh and slap our thighs to keep the beat. My son was calm, my legs were bright red and I have never forgotten to pack at least one Music Together Cd with me since!
Any music class can provide you with 2 cds though so that really isn'tthe heart of why Music Together is such a great program. What makes it great are it's teachers, how they are trained, and the general philosophy they take on music education. The main points stick out at me in their philosophy one being the importance of adults modeling participation and learning being developmentally appropriate and non performance based. Having studied how young children learn and thrive these points are essential, and better yet in my experience they practice what they preach. Young children are not forced to stay at the circle because the teachers know that even when children aren't sitting at the circle they are still absorbing the lesson,they will sit when they are ready and in the meantime seeing the adults and older children model the desired behavior they will eventually join in. The free instrument play and the free dance that is a part of the class every week really allows and encourages children to explore music both making it and moving to it.
Now you don't have to sign up for a class to sample how wonderful Music Together is, they have recently released compilation of the favorite songs from all there song collections. The Cd includes a booklet that talks about each song, and even has activities parents can do with their children for each selection! Family Favorites will become your go to children's Cd, not only are there some zippy songs perfect for the car and unlike some children's music these songs won't make people over 12 want to throw themselves out of the car,quite the opposite you'll be singing a long too ! Trust me I have spent so many years listening to kiddie music that I constantly have it in my head, I am so thankful to now have some good songs stuck in there!
For the Giveaway: Music Together has generously provided me with a copy of Family Favorites to giveaway to one lucky reader. All you have to do is leave a comment telling us what kiddie song you have stuck in your head all day ! There is even more to win over at the Music Together website too, they are celebrating Sing With Your Child Month this month and have some wonderful prizes so don't forget to check it out.
The contest is open to US residents only. Contest closes at 12 am PST on March 19th 2009. Winner will be drawn by random.org, announced on March 20th, and notified by email. The winner has 48 hours to respond to the email or a second winner will be drawn.
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Our current favorites (being exhausted on the car stereo) are "La La Lemon" by Barenaked Ladies and "The Number Two" by They Might Be Giants. We also spend a lot of time working on the good ol' ABC song!
We seem to be into the dinosaur song by Toe Jam Puppet Band lately. Although I had their version of the limbo song stuck in my head all day on Saturday – ugh!
Today we watched Praise Baby so I have "All Creatures of our God and King."
I have serious issues with singing the tune of the Backyardigans AND I DON'T KNOW THE WORDS. The worst part is, my son has only seen the show ONCE! We don't watch much tv around here, happened upon it one time and BAM stuck in my head. Every day. Why???
Both of my boys love Go for G by They Might Be Giants and once I hear it, it is stuck for the whole day! Another one I can't stop singing is the Bushel and a Peck version by Dan Zanes.
Anansi by Raffi and I only know about two lines.
A song we have stuck in our heads quite often is 'Down by the Bay'. We listen to it as we're driving in the car and it just sticks with us throughout the day!