Meadowlark Music Together

Spring semester starts next week! We'll sing, dance, and "Skip to My Lou," engage in a little dramatic play with "Meow!" and create jazzy rounds with "Hey, Ho, Nobody Home," just to name a few of the 25 songs and chants in the Triangle Song Collection. In addition to your weekly classes, your tuition includes a songbook and music recordings for you to use at home, and access to the online Family Music Zone, a family newsletter full of resources and music-making ideas!

Register now for ten weeks of family bonding and musical fun with your little ones age 0-5. We'd love to have you join our musical community!

https://meadowlarkmusictogether.com

Winter semester starts this week, and it's not too late to sign up and join us!

Music Together isn't just a fun way to spend time with your kids and make friends with other families (though it sure is a ton of fun). It's also a research-based educational program that focuses on teaching basic musical competence; that is, the ability to sing in tune and move in rhythm. Our song choices, lesson plans, and activities are all carefully designed to give kids the opportunity to hear, see, and play with different rhythms, tonalities, and musical styles. Over multiple semesters in class, kids cycle between receiving musical information and experimenting with it, slowly learning how to sing the notes they hear, move in time with the actions they see, and even improvise in-key and on-beat.

With these skills under their belt, older kids can go on to make the most of formal lessons in instruments or dance, able to focus on learning specific techniques rather than the absolute basics of music. They can also just feel confident participating in regular, cultural music-making, like school dances or karaoke with their friends! Giving your children the chance to learn the basics when they're young opens up a whole world of opportunity, ensuring they can pursue whatever sorts of musical activities interest them for the rest of their lives.

Plus, musical learning supports all learning! Music Together classes encourage your growing child's linguistic development by giving them chances to experiment with everything from the basic syllabic and tonal building blocks of language, to rhymes and meter, to story-telling, to non-English languages. Our classes include a variety of fine and large motor activities, with special attention given to tricky tasks like crossing the midline, using your non-dominant hand, and controlling the speed and force of your movements. Our songs encourage dramatic play and can be used to teach children about tasks, emotions, animal actions, and any other topic that's currently relevent to their lives. Since our classes are play-based but still structured, they're also a great opportunity for young kids to practice the social skills they'll need when they move to more-formal classroom environments: things like taking turns, being careful of yourself and others, sharing, re-focusing attention, and self-regulation.

When kids grow up in this kind of encouraging, musical environment, their musical talents can blossom alongside other developmental areas, each skill strengthening the others. When they get to play with other families and children of other ages, they can learn from each other and become natural collaborators and leaders. Music Together is such an amazing program that benefits kids and parents in so many different ways! I'm so honored that I get to share it with other families in my community, and I would love to be able to share it with you this semester.

If you're interested in making music with us for the next 10 weeks, now's the time to register on our website! If you've never been to a Meadowlark Music Together class before and you'd like to experience it before you commit to signing up, you're welcome to visit on week one with no obligation to continue; just email me at [email protected] and let me know which class you want to visit and I'll make sure there's space for you. If the cost of tuition is preventing you from registering, please feel free to reach out and ask about our scholarships; we have a scholarship fund that I'm happy to use to make sure that every family who wants to join us gets the chance to do so, regardless of income level.

Have a wonderful winter! Let's make some music together this year!

https://meadowlarkmusictogether.com/register.aspx

We're running a winter holiday sing-along today, Monday 18th! It's at the library auditorium at 10:30am, and it's free and open to anyone with kids ages 0-7. Hope to see you there!

Music Together was the first early childhood music program to offer music classes for mixed ages. Child development researchers have known for a long time that the natural, family-style environment of mixed-age classes is the best way for young children to learn. In our experience, it works! In Mixed-Age classes, the older children love to show what they know, and the younger ones love to watch and imitate. The relaxed, no-pressure environment lets all kids learn at their own pace.

Join us at Meadowlark Music Together for our fall classes, starting this week! https://meadowlarkmusictogether.com/register.aspx

Fall classes start in just a couple days! Register now for 10 weeks of musical fun with your little ones age 0-5. https://meadowlarkmusictogether.com/register.aspx

Each week, a trained Music Together teacher leads the class in singing, dancing, and playing songs that range from tender lullabies to boisterous jams using child-friendly percussion instruments. Our award-winning music, illustrated songbook, and other print and online resources will help you continue the music-making fun at home and nurture your child's musical growth—even if you don't think of yourself as a great singer or dancer. Like parenting, making music requires no previous experience or expertise, just a willingness to get down on the floor and get silly with your child!

Music Together's mixed age family classes are such a special experience! From the youngest infant to the oldest grandparent, the entire family can make music together. The class is built for ages 0-5, but at Meadowlark Music Together, older kids can join their younger siblings with no extra fees, as long as they're willing to participate in class just like the grown-ups. It's such a wonderful bonding time, 45 minutes of pure fun singing and dancing with your family!

Fall semester starts next week! Register now to join us for ten weeks of beautiful music, engaging activities, and fun with other families in your community! This collection has some wonderful songs that I'm so excited to share with you all. 😊

https://meadowlarkmusictogether.com/register.aspx

Big kids have such a special role in Music Together's mixed-age classes. They're the leaders, the idea-havers, the helpers, and the teachers – but they're not done learning yet either!

Once they've got a handle on basic motor skills, they can start to experiment more. Sure, now I know how to bang the drum along to the beat with a drumstick, but what if I bang the drum on the side instead? What if I put it upside down? What if I put it on my head? Music Together gives them a chance to act out these impulses and explore the physical properties of music, the ways that shape and position and material affect the the tone and volume of a sound.

Once they can sing in tune, they can focus on other properties of their voice. Can I whisper this verse? Can I shout it? Can I make my voice sound gentle and smooth, or choppy and bouncy? Can I come up my own fun ideas? Can I tell a story? Can I keep singing one line steadily, even while I can hear other people singing a different line? Music Together will continue to challenge them, giving them the space to attempt new techniques as they feel ready.

Younger kids learn about social interaction from older kids, but the older kids also continue learning, exploring the same dynamics from the other direction. If I lead a move, will the other kids want to follow me? Can a baby march around the room with us, or do they need help? Can I be the one to help them? What do we do when a toddler cries? Can I help them laugh instead? In mixed age classes, grown-ups can demonstrate how we interact with younger kids from other families, in a safe environment where parents are right there to help.

As they grow through their preschool years, big kids may start to be ready for formal music lessons in addition to family classes – but Music Together will continue to give them a place to practice basic skills and build them into something more complex, not to mention a place where music-making is joyful, exploratory, and community-focused!

You may wonder if young babies can truly learn anything in a mixed-age class, but they may actually be learning the most out of anyone in the room!

Infants' brains are wired to learn. They're figuring how to understand what they see and hear, and then how to place that sensory information within a wider context, and how to copy it themselves. Surrounded by sights and sounds and the people they love, Music Together classes are the perfect place for an infant to learn the absolute basics of how music and movement work!

Not to mention, they're 45 minutes of focused interaction between parent and child, full of purposeful touch and direct responses. This type of bonding is so important for social-emotional regulation, executive function skill-building, and brain development. Most of the activities we do in class are easy to replicate at home as well, leaving you full of ideas and inspiration. Given how busy and loud our society is, full of obligations and chores and distractions, it's more important than ever to make sure you're setting aside time in which you are absolutely focused on joyful interactions with your child. Music Together can help you make that space!

Learn more about how Music Together supports early brain development here:https://www.musictogether.com/content/media-files/MTOutreach-MTSupportsEarlyBrainDevelopment1.pdf

Hello, Meadowlark families! Did you know that if a new family signs up for their first semester at Meadowlark Music Together using your referral code, they'll get $20 off, and you'll get a $20 credit towards your next semester? So inviting your friends doesn't just mean more fun in class, it also means you both to get to save a little! Find your referral code and link on your account page at the Meadowlark Music Together website after logging in, here: https://meadowlarkmusictogether.com/myaccount.aspx?src=p

Your young child may not be ready for piano lessons or ballet class, but they can start getting ready! Music Together's mixed age family classes teach important foundational skills, like singing in tune and moving to the beat. Even more vitally, they teach how to interact with music!

At Music Together, kids learn that music is fun. They learn that music is something they can create, with their own voice and hands and feet. They learn how to improvise and experiment, exploring a song to see what they can do with it. They learn how to listen to a song and watch a movement, then hold that sound and picture in their head, then repeat it. They learn how to coordinate their voice with their movements. They learn how and when to pay attention, and how and when to show off what they've been practicing. They learn how to learn!



Early childhood music education sets children up for success, whether in formal instrument and dance lessons, informal musical settings, or the rest of their lives.

Music Together classes teach children how to sing in-tune, move in-rhythm, and enjoy music of all kinds – but that's not all! Children in our mixed age classes are also learning how to interact with their peers, participate in a classroom environment, express themselves, move with coordination, understand cause and effect, and more! From infancy to school-age, there's always new skills to practice and explore.

Learn more about how music learning supports all learning here:https://www.musictogether.com/content/media-files/MTflyer56-MusicLearningSupportsAllLearning-noMTISlogo_18.pdf

Can't get enough of class? Why not go twice a week for twice the fun? Use coupon code "TwiceTheFun" to sign your child up for a second fall session at 20% of the usual semester cost. That's just an extra $36 for one child or $61 for two. You'll get one songbook for the semester, but two classes each week – perfect for families who love to stay busy! Multiple classes can also help kids feel even more comfortable and confident making music in class, since they'll get to experience the same lesson plan twice in a row. Children don't just love repetition, they learn from it, too!

This promotion is only available while there's space in class available, so now's the time to sign up! (The code also only works if you signed up for fall semester within the last three months; if it's been longer than that, just let me know and I can send you a custom code.)

Meadowlark Music Together has donated a $180 gift certificate - enough to pay for a full semester of mixed age family music classes for one child - to Cordley Elementary School's silent auction. Anyone can bid, whether or not they're connected to Cordley, at this link: https://www.32auctions.com/organizations/102086/auctions/150565/auction_items/4796686

This is a great opportunity to support both your child's early development and a local elementary school!

Money raised by the auction will be used for the following:
- Classroom funds to help offset teachers spending their own money on classroom supplies and necessities
- Family assistance to cover essentials over the holidays
- Assistance for students experiencing food insecurity
- Teacher and staff appreciation

Cordley Fall Carnival Silent Auction 2023 Silent auction 'Cordley Fall Carnival Silent Auction 2023' hosted online at 32auctions.

The more the merrier!

Our vibrant musical community is one of the best parts of Meadowlark Music Together. To show our appreciation for everyone who helps our community grow, we're now offering referral code discounts! When a family signs up for their first Meadowlark Music Together class using a returning family's referral code, the new family will receive $20 off of their first semester's tuition, and the referring family will receive a $20 credit in thanks. Your unique referral code and link can be found on your account settings page.

Meadowlark Music Together is holding a free pop-up class next week for families with kids ages 0-5!

Don't want to wait all the way until October for your next Music Together class?

Been looking for a good opportunity to try out a class and see what it's all about before you register?

Have some friends you'd like to invite to a class, just for a fun?

Want to ease back in after a couple semesters off?

Then you absolutely won't want to miss this opportunity! We'll sing songs from the Music Together family favorites collection along with some well-known classics, and maybe even a sneak peak of our fall collection. We'll move, dance, and play, making music (and memories!) with our families. We'll see old friends, and meet new ones too. We'll even win prizes - there will be a raffle for semester tuition coupons and family instrument packs!

This event will be held on September 16th in the auditorium at the Lawrence Public Library. It will run from 10:30am to around 11:15, but plan to arrive 5-10 minutes early to sign in and get settled. It's free and open to the public, so no need to pre-register. Just show up with your little ones, your family, and your friends with little ones, to celebrate our community, have some fun, and make some music together!

I hope to see you all there!

(This event is not sponsored by Lawrence Public Library. Any views and opinions expressed are not those of Lawrence Public Library.)

There's still time to sign up for fall! Fall semester's new start date is the first week of October. Join us for ten weeks of family bonding and musical fun! https://meadowlarkmusictogether.com/classes.aspx

Young children are such voracious learners - they're always watching, listening, copying, and participating! Our mixed age classes for ages 0-5 and their caregivers give kids the chance to learn music the way they learn everything else: through play with the grown-ups who love them.

Join us for weekly 45-minute classes where we'll sing and move to a wonderful collection of songs, including familiar classics, delightful originals, and tunes from all over the world. We'll give you plenty of ideas for ways to bring the musical fun home as well!

Fall semester starts next week, so register now on our website: https://www.meadowlarkmusictogether.com

Summer semester starts this week, and it's not too late to enroll! This six week semester is perfect for new families looking for a smaller commitment, or for anyone who wants to bring a bit of song to their summer. Tell your friends to sign up too, so we can all have fun making music together!

Come to our Potluck Picnic!

Hello to Silver, Goodbye to Karen. Former and current families are invited to the Meadowlark Music Together Potluck Picnic at the Park. East shelter at Centennial Park (off 9th St, by the BBQ place), Friday, June 16, 5:30 - 7:00. Bring something edible to share; drinks will be provided. Karen is retiring and Silver is taking over. We'd love to see all of "our" families!
(Photos from our last picnic, just for attention)

Join us for Music this spring! Your kids 0-5 years olds are naturally musical and will love our active and fun classes! You will love them for that, for all the other learning that happens, and for the sense of community that develops in families making Music Together. Enroll now at www.meadowlarkmusictogether.com See you soon.

Grow and Go is a free playgroup for children birth to 5 and caregivers. We invite the early childhood community to join us, showcasing your expertise and services while offering an engaging experience for families. We look forward to partnering with you!

https://www.tykesdc.org/learn/grow-and-go

It's not too late! We start next week, but you can still get in. www.meadowlarkmusictogether.com

Classes start next week! Www.meadowlarkmusictogether.com