Music Together
The Studio Garden is a licensed Music Together school. We are proud to give the benefit of 30 years of early childhood expertise, as well as the latest developments from their research center to our students.
Music Together is an internationally recognized music program for children from birth through age 7—and the grownups who love them. Parents, primary caregivers, early childhood professionals—everyone is involved in the educational process. First offered to the public in 1987, Music Together has always been a pioneer in the field of early childhood music with truly innovative, high-quality music education and outreach programs that redefine what musical means. Music Together is research-based, but also down to earth, accessible, and all about having a good time. It’s a balance that makes the music and our teaching style both serious and fun.
A Research-based Program
When creating the program, coauthors Kenneth K. Guilmartin and Dr. Lili M. Levinowitz, examined the field of music education—and then reached beyond it into the realm of early childhood learning. They realized that even the best song they could discover or compose would miss the mark if not presented in ways children can receive readily and process meaningfully.
So, the pair turned to the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and early childhood learning for valuable insights into how the brain processes and organizes musical material, how children learn, and how the surrounding environment can support this learning. Then they distilled their findings into four basic principles, which remain the cornerstones of Music Together’s philosophy today and are incorporated in every classroom – including The Studio Garden – in which Music Together is taught.
Music Together’s Basic Philosophic Principles
- All children are musical.
- All children can achieve basic music competence—the ability to sing in tune and move with accurate rhythm.
- The participation and modeling of parents and caregivers—regardless of their musical ability—are essential to a child’s musical growth.
- Young children’s musical growth occurs best in a playful, musically rich, and developmentally appropriate setting.
Music Together in The Studio Garden
Every class at The Studio Garden includes 30-45 minutes of music and movement, and school year we work through 3 Music Together collections. In addition to music in class, every family receives a CD and Songbook of all the songs in the current collection, so the whole family can enjoy the music at home. Each song book has beautiful illustrations that a fabulous tools for exploring the stories within the songs, and gives children further opportunities to build literacy skills, as well as the knowledge about the songs.
Consistent with The Studio Garden’s approach to curriculum design, we seamlessly integrate the music and the content within the songs into the lessons and classroom materials. Children explore topics and concepts that emerge directly from the music, and they also more deeply experience what they are learning in class through the music. Through this approach, our students are not only enriched by music in class, but the adults and children experience music being central to learning itself – a love for learning becomes intertwined with the joyful experience of music.
Arts Integrated Curriculum | Montessori Foundations | Music Together | Nature Exploration | Adult Supported Learning