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| Jaxson got to “pet” Nancy’s guitar after the class. Don’t you love that smile? |
My toddler has better rhythm than me. Seriously. So much that my parents bought him a kid sized drum set for Christmas. Yes. I gave my parents permission to buy the drums. Jaxson actually sounded pretty good. Of course, his interest lasted less than 6 months. Now the drum set sits in a corner gathering dust.
Still my little guy loves music. He turns everything into a drum: empty box, a pot, the table top, even our stair railing. That’s why we’re taking our first parent-child class together with Music Together Montgomery. A couple of weeks ago, Nancy Nuttle, who owns and operates MTM, gave a mini-class after our library’s story time session. Jaxson was a little shy at first but once Nancy handed out those egg shakers, he was dancing his heart out.
The mini-class reminded me that Sophia and I took a Music Together Montgomery class when she was 2 years old. Some friends gifted us with the class and I’m glad they did. Our teacher Liz connected with the kids and the parents. The class felt very organic. The kids were allowed to move around as they pleased. They could participate or they could sit and observe. The children (and their parents) absorbed the music.
For those of you not familiar with Music Together, their philosophy is that all children are musical and as parents, we can give our children a love and confidence in their musical abilities. That means two year old Rosie isn’t going to learn how to read sheet music. Instead she’ll love the process of creating and moving music. Their music. Music Together offers mixed aged parent-child classes, which means their might be crawlers in your class and there might be 4 year olds in your class.
I’m really excited that I ran into Nancy Nuttle at our library. I used to work in one of the spaces where she held her classes. There were so many happy sounds coming out of that classroom! I could hear it from my desk. I’m glad that Sophia and I took the a Music Together class together. At first I wasn’t very keen on the parent participation part of the class, but that was mainly because I didn’t feel confident in my musical skills. I don’t have a good sense of rhythm (don’t ask me to line dance) and even have a hard time clapping with the beat. Eventually I learned that I can still bang on a drum or play the triangle (Sophia’s favorite instrument during the class).
Jaxson and I will be starting classes with Music Together Montgomery next week. Actually I’ll be out of town so it will be Jaxson and hubby. I know Jaxson will have a blast and I might even find myself humming the songs outside of class.
If you’re in Montgomery County and have kids 5 years old and younger, I highly recommend taking a class with Music Together Montgomery. They offer classes almost everyday of the week in various locations throughout the county. But hurry, some of them are already sold out! Fall classes run for 10 weeks and there’s even a discount for siblings taking the same class.
You can also try a demo class for free! Just head to the website to sign up for your free class. Tell Nancy I sent you!
I’ll report back later this fall about our progress. Though I highly doubt the class will make me a better line dancer.
In exchange for sharing our family’s experiences with Music Together, Jaxson and I are taking the fall session compliments of Music Together Montgomery. All opinions are my own.