kindermusik or music together?

[mommabeehilly]

in the city of music here i have both options....wanted to sign us up for one of these....does anyone have any recommendations??? i am leaning towards music together, based on the mothering recommendation. wondered if anyone had any personal experience with either of these.

thanks!!!

ps if you are not familiar here is more information

kindermusik

music together

[PabloHoneySF]

We've been doing Music Together for almost 3 years now and our boys love it. It's really nurtured a love of music for them. It's nice that all the ages are mixed so families can all attend the class together. The downside though is at the age of 3, our oldest is the oldest in the class and doesn't seem to benefit from it as much (and can get a little bored) while the younger kids love having him around to model. We've also found that finding a good teacher makes all the difference- we've been going to the same teacher for 3 years and the boys practically worship him. The songs have always been seasonally topical which is nice, especially if you practice Waldorf at home. In our classes, there's always a free dance where the kids wave around playsilks .

I'm not familiar with Kindermusik, though there is a program here. I looked at the site and a big red flag went up for me when it made the claim about promoting early literacy and math skills. I guess I just want my boys to have a fun place to go to get their "groove" on . I also think preference/popularity between the two programs could vary city by city.

Will either program let you "test" a class before committing?

[boatbaby]

We did a couple of Kindermusic classes when DS was 2 years old-ish and I was not impressed by any of them. It definitely can make or break your experience depending on the teacher you have, as with anything. I decided I could create the same music fun at home for free!

I have friends who have done Music Together and have had lots of positive things to say about it.

Whatever you go with - hope you have fun.

[yukookoo]

there are a few other threads on mdc about this.

I have tried both and liked music together more. The teacher we have is amazing. I have had teachers that are less good, but I still would prefer music t over kinder even with a teacher that is not amazing

Kinder music was more hokey to me and there was much more cd playing then actual singing, lots of plastic and polyester things as opposed to the wooden instruments and silks in our mt class. But that could vary obviously by teacher and region.

We only did one session/season of kinder and it was ok not horrible, but definitely didnt look fwd to it like mt both dd and I.

[megincl]

Hearty votes for Music Together here. I think my boy has always been a musician at heart, but MT was a fabulous outlet for it and he developed so much in the context of just being with and playing with music that they create in MT classes.

be well,
megin

[h4ppyphant0m]

We LOVED Music Together with our little guy! He started when he was just six months old. The woman that ran it closed down the studio, though, so we're going to look into Kindermusik as an alternative.

[mommabeehilly]

Originally Posted by PabloHoneySF

Will either program let you "test" a class before committing?

Good idea! I thought about that in the middle of the night (always when some of my clearest thoughts come).

I guess I had better get making some phone calls .

[MissSJ]

I definately agree with the PPs that say finding the right teacher makes all the difference. We did Music Together a few years ago and LOVED it, unfortunately the teacher stopped teaching in my area. I have recently been rethinking joining a music class but I am really turned off by the fact that the Kindermusik classes here have a tuition AND a separate materials fee that includes instruments that you HAVE to buy. I already have a big tub of instruments, I definately don't need anymore and their fee for their instruments seems pretty high to me. I am glad to say that there are new Music Together classes starting here this month and I am definately going to try to get my boys into the class.

I forgot to mention, Music Together is for the entire family and out here the Kindermusik classes that are offered are age segregated meaning we would have to go to two separate classes and get babysitters. No thanks.

[Meems]

I think it depends on the teacher. Ours is fantastic and so we love KM. We don't have MT in our area, though I hear great things about it.

[amandaleigh37]

I did Kindermusik with my son when he was around 18 months, and was less than impressed. Seemed overpriced, I didn't really like the music, and the "hands on" stuff was good but was only for short periods of time where each child got a turn and then had to move on to the next thing.

[kghaffar]

DD (and i) LOVE our Music Together classes... They are actually held at the local school that's as close as Dallas has to a Waldorf school. Our MT teacher is the school music teacher.

I LOVE the program.


(also tried a demo class of Kindermusik and was not impressed)

[Eben'sMama]

FWIW, I have a friend who's a Waldorf Mom who is also a Music Together teacher. She's classically trained and a Suzuki Method teacher, as well. I know she told me that she looked at both Kindermusik and Music Together and felt that Music Together gave the teachers more training, and the "curriculum" is also more solid.

ETA: We did Kindermusik for a while when DS1 was very young--was not that impressed.

[KatelynsMomma]

just wanted to thank the OP for the thread! I just signed us up for a MT class that starts this wednesday! I had never heard of it before but have been looking for an acitivity that we could all do together!