Welcome to Music Together^®.  The following guidelines will help you and your child get the most out of your Music Together experience.  Please feel free to discuss any of the guidelines, or any other aspect of your family’s involvement with Music Together, with your teacher.  We welcome and appreciate your feedback!

First Thing to Do:  Be sure to download the free “Music Together App.”  As soon as you get your cd and book, download the music app.  Your unique code and info on how to do that is located inside the front cover of your music book.  If you ever have trouble with your app or downloading the music, please reach out to the email listed in your book near the access code.

Parent Involvement:  Please participate with us as much as you can in class (even though you may feel a little self-conscious at first).  Your child learns mostly from you at this age, even if you don’t feel particularly “musical” yourself.  So please sing, dance, and play instruments, and have a good time in class.  You will be giving your child a positive disposition towards music.

Learning Styles:  This is an informal learning setting rather than a “classroom” with rigid expectations.  Children are free to develop naturally and in their own time and fashion.  Many like to watch for several weeks or even longer, and/or they may feel more comfortable simply observing in class and then participating at home.  As hard as it is to hold back our desires to see our children “perform” in class, it is important to trust that they are actively learning, even when they may not seem to be doing so.

Listening to the Music:  As you know, children learn from repetition.  The more they listen to the Music Together recordings, the more they will enjoy class and participate.  Play your music (app/cd) at home and in the car frequently, especially during the first few weeks of class.  Make it available for your child to listen to while he is playing or before nap or bedtime.  Read the songbook with your child and use it to help you remember the songs or to play them if you play an instrument.  Use the illustrations to help tell the story of the songs.

Wandering Children:  Children find their own way to express themselves musically.  It is not appropriate to expect young children to stay in one place for too long, and some children need to move around more than others do.  However, it is important, for everyone’s safety, that you keep an eye on your child if she is wandering around.  It may be necessary to “shadow” your child wherever she is.

Talking During Class:  Talking during class is distracting to the teacher as well as other families and gives children the unintended message that the music is to be in the background or “talked over.”  Use your singing voice or non-verbal cues instead.  Please use the time before or after class to get acquainted with other families.

Behavior:  We may ask you for intervention, or we may intervene if your child’s behavior is a concern to himself or others in the class, i.e., throwing instruments, wild running, etc.  If your child is being disruptive to the rest of the class, please calmly take her out for a moment.  The goal here is to keep the class safe.

HOUSEKEEPING

Makeup Policy:  If you are unable to attend your regularly scheduled class (due to illness or some other excusable event), you may arrange to make up the class at another time during the session.  Space is limited, so if you know you’re going to miss a class, please visit the Schedule Makeup to schedule a makeup.  If you schedule a makeup and aren’t able to keep that date, it is important that you cancel that makeup in the system so that it can be used by someone else.  Please note that makeups must be scheduled during the current session and cannot be carried over from one session to another.  We are also not able to pro-rate for missed classes that are not made up.  Makeups are offered in five locations, five days per week:  mornings, afternoons and on Saturdays. Feel free to contact us at [email protected] or 978-897-0874 with questions.

Bringing Other Children to Class:  If there is a need to bring an older sibling to class for reasons such as half day of school, professional day, etc., there is a charge of $10 for each child if he/she participates in class.  This allows us to manage class numbers and to keep it fair for those parents who have paid to have their child(ren) participate.  Please let the teacher know ahead of time if you will be bringing additional children.

Cell Phones:  Please turn off cell phones or put on vibrate.  Using cell phones in class can be distracting to other families and also takes away from your participating with your child.

Inclement Weather:  In case of inclement weather, please listen to your local TV or radio station.  If your town does NOT have school (because of inclement weather only), classes will be cancelled for that town.  If there is a delay, classes will be held at the discretion of the center director, in which case you will be notified by email.  It will also be posted on the website by 8 am that morning.  If classes are cancelled, we will do our best to add an additional class at the end of the session.  As always, you can call 978-897-0874 with questions or email us at [email protected].

Eating and Drinking During Class:  Because of the distraction to other children, potential health hazards to some children, and in order to keep the class area “crumb free,” eating is not permitted.  If your child needs to eat because of a medical reason, please let your teacher know.  It’s fine to have a spill-proof sippy cup or bottle during the lullaby, which is sung towards the end of class.  During the rest of the class, drinks should be kept outside the class circle in order to not distract class activity.

Toys:  Because toys may cause distraction to other children, please do not bring them to class.  Stuffed animals and blankets can be brought, if needed, and held during the lullaby.

Sick Children:  Especially during these uncertain times, it is important that you and/or your child not attend class if you are sick with i.e., fever (within 24 hours), cough, cold or runny nose.  Please schedule a makeup class.

Diapers:  If you need to change your child, please remember to take all diapers with you (whether soiled or not), since most of the indoor spaces we rent are not cleaned daily.

Musical Instruments:  We have purchased instruments from the following companies.  This list is provided as a resource:  www.westmusic.com; www.musictogether.com; and mindysmusikids.com.

As always, your comments and feedback are welcome.  Thank you for giving your child the gift of music by participating with us in Music Together.