What to Expect   &   FAQs

Every class begins with a welcome song in which each child is named. Most classes proceed to finger plays, poems, listening games, dancing, improvisational movement, instrumental play, scarf play, rocking, bouncing, full vestibular movement, walking, running, trotting, galloping, bubbles and more. Each class is developmentally appropriate for the age of the children. Full benefit is gained by attending class for several years.

Materials may include a CD, Parent Book, and instrument kit containing natural wood rhythm sticks, a wood rattle, and a brightly colored scarf in a hand sewn cloth pouch. Plan to arrive a few minutes early to Musikgarten class. This provides time for your child to acclimate to the classroom while exploring instruments. Please keep toys, drinks, food and pacifiers out of sight (unless absolutely necessary). Be sure to dress comfortably.

During class, the most important thing you can do for your child is be an active participant and role model. It is not uncommon for a child to attend several classes before feeling comfortable. Don't be discouraged–what a child absorbs in class is often evidenced in the comfort of the home environment, rather than during a certain level of classroom participation. The understanding and consistency of the parent or caregiver in class and at home is key to facilitating musical learning and growth and we encourage you to visit with the other adults before and after class. When you are an active, focused, enthusiastic participant in the class activities, your child will follow your actions making the most of the experience.

You and your child will benefit enormously from the music and movement classes, especially if you make active use of your home resources. Frequent reinforcement at home throughout the week makes all the difference in a child's comfort and participation in the classroom.

FAQs

Can my infant really benefit from these classes?
This is such an important question. Research indicates that exposure to music and musical activities can help your baby's brain to develop new neural pathways - it literally helps to build a baby's brain. Music and movement activities help promote motor skills, balance, emotional security, and so many other important aspects of development. Think about the physical skills required to walk in a smooth, even gait; that's rhythm! How about bouncing a basketball or swinging a bat at a baseball? Timing! We recognize speech inflections by recognizing changes in pitch - the musical highness or lowness of a sound. We recognize a question because it ends in an upward inflection, right?

While we obviously don't expect your 2-15 month old child to sing or play in rhythm, it is important for them to hear the melodies and to feel the rhythms as you sing with them, rock with them, and bounce with them. It is important for them to see their caregiver modeling music-making in an active way. In these early classes, we expose babies to the tonal and rhythmic building blocks of music. Just as we speak often to babies even though they can't yet speak back, we sing and play music with them so that they are internalizing a musical language at the same time that they are beginning to internalize a verbal language. Children who are exposed to active music making at an early age develop musical competence and fluency earlier than those who are not. Simply turning on the CD player to provide background music (a passive rather than active experience) is not the same as actually singing, dancing, bouncing, patting, and physically experiencing the music.

I don't think I sing very well. Can my singing really do any good?
First of all, you probably sing better than you think you do! Even if you really can't sing in tune, that's okay! It's more important for your child to see and hear you as an active music maker than for you to do it perfectly. Our classes are completely non-judgmental, so we hope you will freely share your voice with your child in class. We're all in it together!

When can I tell whether or not my child is musically talented?
Actually, we believe that all children are musical! Learning to read and play music was, at one time, just a matter of a well-rounded education, not something one did after demonstrating a special aptitude for it. While there are people who have an unusual talent for music, most of the people who achieve skill at an instrument or singing do so because they were given musical exposure and training at an early age when their young ears and brains were most receptive to it. Your child may or may not turn out to be one of those remarkably talented musicians, but we're convinced that he or she can achieve basic musical skills, and that it will benefit him for a lifetime!

Are these classes just another example of pushing a child too far too fast at too early an age?
Well, there's certainly a lot of that going on out there, and it's unfortunate. Musikgarten shares many philosophies with the Montessori school of thought, and one of them is that we believe in following the child. Children develop musically at their own speed, and we are absolutely not concerned with trying to speed them up, so to speak. We are not trying to turn out three-year-old prodigies who sit down and play Mozart at the piano. What Musikgarten intends to do is to provide musical activities and experiences that are age-appropriate so as to foster the natural musical development of your child. We want to provide the most fertile soil in which your child can grow musically - at his own pace, and we want to give parents the tools to do that at home as well.

Why do we sing the same songs so often?
Children learn through repetition, and they are comforted by familiar rituals. Think of how often a child asks to hear the same bedtime story! We sing the same Hello and Goodbye songs each week to create a comforting sense of order. We do many of the same songs and activities for several weeks because it helps to reinforce the concepts that those songs and activities teach. As the term progresses, we gradually move to new songs and activities until we cover all of the ones for that unit.

What else can I do at home to help my child musically?
When you sign up for Musikgarten, you receive a CD and booklet to use at home. You can do all of our activities at home using the CD. But, don't feel limited to that! Try singing instead of speaking sometimes. Make up your own tunes and sing your way through the rituals of the day! Turn your pots and pans and wooden spoons into your baby or toddler's own rhythm band! If you play an instrument (no matter what your level of expertise) be sure to let your child see you play. They will learn to value the things that you value. Give music an honored place in your life - when you do put on a CD to listen to, listen with intention rather than just having it drone in the background. Talk about what you hear. Sing along and move along - dance, rock, gallop, creep, skip, slide, slither, wave, pat, clap, stomp - whatever the music moves you to do! Listen for high and low sounds, soft and loud sounds, fast and slow sounds, pointy sounds, smooth sounds, crisp sounds, flowing sounds. Point them out.

My toddler sits very quietly and doesn't participate in class. Is she really benefiting? (The flip side of this question is: My toddler likes to explore the perimeter of the room instead of staying engaged in the activities...)
The answer to both of these questions is the same. As long as your child is in the room and can see and hear YOU participating in the class, she is benefiting from it. Every child's temperament is different, and their response to the class may even change from week to week! Even if they don't seem to be actively engaged, they are in receptive mode, and the best teacher in the room for your child is you! They may surprise you at home by spontaneously singing one of our songs or reciting one of our rhymes. For many children, this is their first exposure to a structured class environment. It is natural for babies and toddlers to move in and out of being actively engaged, and we don't expect them to be otherwise!

Your tuition is less than other programs. Does that mean your program is not as good?
No, we're convinced that the quality of the Musikgarten program is superior. But, there are good reasons why our program is reasonably priced. Musikgarten's philosophy is to make quality music education available to as many children as possible. In order to achieve that goal, costs are kept to a minimum and set prices that allow a fair profit without making programs prohibitive. We believe that music is for everyone!