MIX IT UP! The Value of Having Mixed-Age Classes and Mixed-Age PLAY

Imagine a group of children getting together to play. . . In your imagination, do you see children mostly about the same age? Or, are there children of different ages mixed together? I am guessing that most people conjure up the first image. Unless you have a large family or extended family nearby, it is often more common to see same-age play as opposed to mixing it up. There has been much recent evidence on the value of MIXING IT UP!

From a recent blog Freedom to Learn in "Psychology Today", Peter Gray shares that mixed-age play is valuable in the zone of proximal development (or "the realm of activities that a child can accomplish in collaboration with more skilled others but cannot accomplish alone or with others at their same age"). This makes sense if we think about an 8-year-old playing ball with a four-year-old. While two 4-year-old children would probably get discouraged trying to pass a ball back and forth; it could be a fun challenge for an 8-year-old to catch the erratic throws of a 4-year-old. In music class, the toddlers often ogle or imitate the sassy dance moves of an energetic 4-year-old. The older child also gets the benefit of being able to be a leader in class.

In Music Together, most of our classes are mixed ages, infants through age 5. One of the things that attracted my family to this program, aside from the crazy fun music, was the fact that I could bring both my daughters to the same class. I couldn't imagine the time or the resources of securing a babysitter for one child to take the other for music and then repeating this for our second child. I really loved that it was both fun and developmentally appropriate for both children!

While we occasionally face challenges of helping everyone feel comfortable with active preschool children and sweet cooing infants mixed together, the benefits are still huge! Here are a few reasons we love mixed-age classes:

• Less comparing. When children are grouped together by age, it is inevitable for adults to notice differences in what they see each child doing. Some parents might worry, "why isn't my child bouncing to the beat yet?" or "why can't my child sing bum-bum like all the other two-year-olds?". There is a huge variance for "normal development" in a child's musical growth.
  
  Just as the early walking child does not relate to being a gifted mover as a teen, achieving basic music competence as a three-year-old also doesn't mean the child is Mozart. It is vital to trust that all children are musical, and, if their musical atmosphere is rich and supported, all children can arrive at basic music competence.
  
• Natural learning. Without performance pressures, learning can happen in a very natural way. Children get to go through their primary rhythm and tonal development at their own pace without being rushed to keep up with peers.
  
• Role-model supported. The mixed-age setting provides a rich learning environment because children of different ages thrive when they interact with each other. Older children in class, if they choose, may play a leadership role such as how to play their sticks, which animal to sing about and they often enjoy helping/sharing with the younger children. Babies are often fascinated by watching the older children make music.
  
• Family-style learning. Families are able to bring one or more siblings together to the same class that is developmentally appropriate for both children. We had an amazing mom come last semester with triplet infants and her almost 3-year-old! She often brought a helper along, but had come solo on more than one occasion!! Daddies, grandmas, and older siblings may come along to share in the joy of making music together. This creates very strong family bonds and beautiful music memories to last for years.

If you are still not convinced that your 3-year-old can prosper if surrounded by toddlers, we will try to find a class that will make you happy! We can never guarantee the ages of a specific class unless you have signed up for one of our "8 month and under" Babies Only classes or the 5-7 year old Big Kids class. A true mixed-age class, with a few babies, a handful of toddlers, and a smattering of preschool age children is my favorite class to teach and can be an amazingly rich environment for all children to thrive!

Who Is Your Child's MOST Important Music Teacher?

YOU are your child's first and MOST important music teacher! Many mommies’ shriek in disbelief: they might say they can't “sing to save the band” or maybe they can't “keep a beat in a bucket.” In reality, even if this was true (and most likely it is NOT), it really doesn't matter. Children get their disposition and LOVE of making-music by seeing the important adults in their lives making music and having fun doing so!


"No intelligence or ability can unfold unless given the appropriate model environments" says Lili Levinowitz, Professor of Music Education, Rowan University and Director of Research, Music Together LLC.

This is why parents/caregivers are their child's first and most important music teacher. Children can learn music skills from a teacher, but they acquire their LOVE of making music from their parents.

Here are a few ways to easily be a great music role-model for your child:
• Sing and dance for your own enjoyment! Sing songs you love and find new songs to love and sing them too. I have just found Pandora, the easy and free online music-station-maker-program that plays songs similar to the ones you already love. Find music that makes you want to move and dance to it. Let your child see you having fun with music and remember little ones are not judgmental or care if it is "in tune" or "on the beat"!
• Be an enthusiastic music maker! When teaching family Music Together classes, I often notice adults coming to class tired; baby hasn't slept or maybe their toddler just had a fit on the way to class. Or it is even possible that the current song is not their favorite. I always encourage parents to take some big relaxing breathes and challenge themselves to have the most fun time in class for their little one (and for themselves, too). Music can really change a disposition like no other activity I can think of.
• Find different and creative ways to enjoy music with your child. There are many fun outdoor FREE venues to experience music as well as cool elevator songs to groove to (just kidding about that last idea).

Sharing the music you love with your child can be like sharing a precious heirloom out lasting any toy in the toy box! As an adult, I am realizing how I crave the Johnny Cash tunes my grandpa sang to me as a child (not so much in my teen years though). When you sing and dance with your little one (or with them near by), you are giving your child a gift: the disposition to be a music-maker and to have a lifelong love of music.

by Kathy Rowe, M.A. in Music Education
teacher and center director @ Music Together in Phoenix
www.musictogetherinphx.com

Nurture Your Child’s Inner Musician, Part 1

All children are musical! It is hard to find a Mommy or Daddy that does not agree with this statement. All children are born with much music-making potential! If this is true, why don’t we see most grown ups making music for fun, playing in bands or dancing for the joy of it?

The ability to make music is our birthright. This ability, however, is not an inborn “talent”. Just as a child who is learning to speak needs lots of reinforcement and an environment rich with language, the process of blossoming into a music-maker also needs an environment that is musically rich with lots of opportunities for babble and play. A child’s budding musical growth needs nurturing to blossom and grow.

Here are a few ways to create a super rich music atmosphere for your child:

· Sing, sing, sing! Sing songs with and to your child. Sing about what you are doing or where you are going. Change the words to songs to make them your own. Sing in the car and at bath time, but most importantly, sing at bedtime. The lullaby can be sweet, calming musical magic.

· Dance party! Put on your favorite music and dance! It is fun to dance with baby, but it is also really awesome for our little ones to see us dancing for our own enjoyment as well!

· Kitchen Jam! Have a kitchen play along by turning plastic bowls upside down and use wooden spoons for mallets. Fill empty plastic water bottles will beans and glue them closed for shakers. Put on fun music and play, play, play!

· Instrument Jam! It is also great to have a basket of assorted child safe instruments; eggs, sticks, drums, tambourine and triangles and create a fun ritual of family jam time. Any music that you and your child enjoy will work.

· Go to a show: attend live music performances, many are outside and free. At the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Art’s Sunday A’Fair, children get to be outside with other music lovers and are free to dance to their little heart’s content. The Phoenix Symphony has a series of child friendly concerts to attend http://www.phoenixsymphony.org/education/family_concert_series.aspx

· Join a weekly music class that is appropriate for little ones!


Making music with your child helps them to grow up as music-makers and creates bonds that last a lifetime.

Kathy Rowe,MA in Music Education, Center Director, Music Together in Phoenix
www.musictogetherinphx.com