What is Music Together^® ?

Music Together is a movement and music approach to early childhood music education for infants, toddlers, preschools and kindergarten children, which is enhanced through playful activities in mixed-age classes.

Music Together is a research based music program conceived and developed in 1985 in order to assist families, caregivers and educators in stimulating and supporting a child's musical environment. Basic music competence is developed through learning experiences rather than through structured musical learning concepts, which promotes and nurtures musical growth. The experience therefore, is a fun, relaxed and exploratory time that can be continued in the home to enhance the natural development of each child. Family participation in spontaneous musical activity rather than traditional musical performance supports musical development in children.

What is the Music Together Philosophy?

1. All Children are musical.

2. All children can achieve basic music competence, which is the ability to sing in tune with accurate rhythm.

3. The participation and role modeling of parents and caregivers is essential to children's musical growth regardless of parental musical abilities.

4. Playful, developmentally appropriate, non performance, yet musically rich environments invite parental and child participation, thereby creating the most beneficial musical setting for promoting children's growth.

What are Music Together Classes Like?

Classes are based on the concept that music is a basic life skill, and therefore can be learned similarly to talking and walking. Between 6 to 12 children from birth to 5 years of age come together with their parents and/or caregivers to experience music through movement activities, singing, chants, jam sessions and listening. Each semester consists of between 6 to 12 weekly classes lasting approximately 45 minutes. The teacher facilitates the class and helps parents to understand how to participate. Classes are non structured, thereby creating an environment in which the child can develop at his or her own pace. Music is absorbed both aggressively and passively, and opportunities for creating and playing music allow children to make up their own rhythm patterns, words and movements.

Each new semester families will receive a beautifully illustrated songbook, two professionally recorded CDs to be used at home in order to carry over the musical environment outside of the classroom. Parents use the tapes long after classes have ended and children remember the songs years later.

"I did just want to take a moment, though, and tell you how much we have enjoyed your class. (My girls) just light up when we pull into the familiar parking lot because they know we're going to sing and dance with 'Carol', as they fondly call you. I too love your approach to music and value the information you share with the families. You also have a sensitivity for the various needs of the children on any given day and I truly appreciate that.
 
N and S ask to listen to "Carol" (the cd) throughout the day and again just before bed time.  The girls sing along with the songs and dance and teach their dad what they've learned. It's such a special time for us as a family."

"My daughter and I think Music Together is great fun and educational. She dances and claps whenever she hears music!"

"My daughter's love of music, musical instruments, and dance blossomed as a direct result of her Music Together experience with Carol Jurs. The songs were easy to learn and fun for the whole family to sing. The CD and cassette tape are in our house and car and are now played constantly, at my daughter's request."