For the first 9-10 months of motherhood, I felt like I was just in survival mode. The next couple of months were filled with research about food/milk transitions and birthday planning. But now that is all said and done, I recently did one thing that made me feel like a real mom…
I signed up for my first mommy and me class!
Since my family is very much into music, I really wanted Baby Pencil to start early. A friend of mine said Baby Pencil might really like music classes because he was very curious and loved to “dance” and clap. I recently noticed that he seemed intrigued by the kids’ station on my Pandora, particularly “Down By The Bay.”
When I first walked into the music class, I was pleasantly surprised that the class was small. There were only 5 other moms there. The two instructors were super charismatic and obviously love children. When I entered the carpeted area, an instructor held out his hands and said “hey, buddy!” Baby Pencil has some stranger anxiety, but luckily he had a great time!
The babies kind of just roam around while the instructors play music, and it seems like they make up some of the verses on the fly. Baby Pencil took several laps around the room before deciding to join the rest of us. The teachers each play a number of different instruments and they explain them all as they take them out. The best part is that they bring out each instrument to the floor and actually encourage the babies to touch and feel the vibrations! Usually at home, I limit Baby Pencil from interacting with the guitar and ukulele even though I know he’s dying to pluck the strings!
I had never taken Baby Pencil to any classes, but I was pleasantly surprised that he loved being right up and center.
Some of the songs had cute props, like shakers or stuffed animals. They played with the little props and encouraged all the babies to take one or a few. Some of the songs came with “dance” motions all the mommies would do, and the babies would look perplexed and ignore. Other than clapping, some of them were in a little too over their heads, but it was still funny watching their confused little eyes.
I liked how the classes were broken up in age ranges and that this particular music store was very small. Whenever I emailed, I would get an immediate response and they were so kind and professional. I signed up on the spot! Here are the class details:
- Each class is 45 minutes long
- First time special of $90 for 6 classes (typically $120). So about $15-20 per class in the Los Angeles area.
- Each class is broken up into age groups. Baby Pencil’s age group is called Adagio (how adorable is that?) and the age range is 10-18 months old.
What are your music classes like and how much do they cost in your neck of the woods?
guest
I like that it’s instrument focused! I’m in the LA area, could you respond with details re this program? Thank you!!
persimmon / 1121 posts
That looks like such a fun class! I love that they get to explore instruments, I wish we could find something similar here.
grapefruit / 4085 posts
M loves music class! We go to a program called Musical Munchkins and she’s been doing it since about 6 mo or so (she’s almost 2.5 now).
kiwi / 558 posts
We do a local Music Together Class and love it! We are in our 4th 10-week session and couldn’t be happier. LO is 21 months now and starting to sing after some of the songs since we get a CD with each session and they also have a Pandora station! Our local place is run by two parents who are a classically trained violist and the other is an opera singer, which they still do outside of their business!
The kids get to play with various instruments, scarves, bells, shakers, mini drums and yukele! Definitely recommend checking out a local class for free!! https://www.musictogether.com/class-locator
blogger / apricot / 335 posts
@Jen: it’s called Toddle Tunes in LA!
@Aria: So true! I love that they make it a learning experience, even for us mamas.
@fancyfunction: That’s such a cute name for a music class!
@HTownMom: I never thought about asking for their own records! I should definitely ask them!
blogger / apricot / 310 posts
This is so fun! Will LOVES music and will immediately calm when I sing anything (poorly!). I will have to research these in the DC area – thank you!