My Daughter's First Baby Music Class

When my son was 1 year old we had fun going to baby classes together. Now that my he is in preschool, it is my daughter's turn. We signed up for Music Together at the Flynn Space. The timing of the class worked out perfectly and was one the only baby class I found that didn't interfere with preschool pickup. Flynn Space staff were especially accommodating and let us in the early class even though it was already full since I told them it was the only section that fit our schedule.

My 17 month old daughter wasn't so sure when we first walked in the room, but as soon as she saw the box of musical instruments in the middle of the rug on the floor she changed her mind. She grabbed a stick and an egg shaker and didn't let go. We had arrived early and all the other kids and moms (plus a dad) trickled in. The kids ranged in age from 1 to 3 years old. The teacher, Alison, was very warm and friendly. Half of the class was children she had already taught in a previous class, and half of us were newbies. Alison was very understanding of each child and their stage of development. She didn't mind if kids were wandering around the room, or refusing to give up a musical stick even when everyone else had already turned theirs in (that was my daughter on more than one occasion). She understands that kids learn in different ways and participate at different levels, but they are all still learning.

Alison, Music Together

The class started with a welcome song where each child's name was sung. Each child was given a nametag to wear, or for the parent to wear if the child was unwilling (once again this was my daughter). The class was nonstop action with songs with hand and finger movements. Then we would get up and walk, run, and tiptoe in a circle while singing. It was a combination of Alison singing a capella, and singing with recordings. She brought out percussion instruments for the kids to bang and shake, and scarves to dance and wiggle with.

My daughter loved it. She laughed and danced and participated to the best of her ability shaking percussion instruments in a rudimentary rhythm. Alison even noticed one of her actions during a song and incorporated it for the whole group to copy. By the time we got to the scarves dancing, she was getting hungry though. She picked up some scarves at first and waved them around. Then suddenly she dropped them and both signed and verbalized "all done."  "You're all done? Ok." I said, and picked her up to try and keep her scarf dancing a little longer. She was not impressed and ripped her nametag off my shirt, tossed it on the floor, and repeated her sign for "all done" followed by her sign for "hungry, eat!"

We muddled through the last few minutes of class, which ended with lights out and some quiet time while Alison sang a lullaby while accompanying herself with guitar, then a goodbye song. "Eat! Eat!" my daughter signed while making loud smacking noises with her mouth. "Ok, we're really all done now." I conceded.

Alison provided us all with books and a cd of the songs she teaches during class to bring home and learn. I think it's going to be a great class. Next time I will just be sure to make sure my daughter has a bigger snack beforehand.

Music materials provided by Music Together