Music Together ® with Music and Me in Glendale began offering a bilingual music class, Music Together ® con Español, for toddlers ages younger than 5 years old this April. In the class, parents and children sing, dance, move, and play to a variety of music and play with props. This allows kids to absorb Spanish in their own way and at their own rate. The class is suited for families who do and do not already speak Spanish, as long as they are excited about immersing their kids in a different language. Wendy DeAngelis, the owner and director of Music Together ® with Music and Me, says the class is all about exposure.
“Music Together ® is about immersing the grown ups and the children in a wall to wall music experience. It’s major grown up and child participation. We sing, dance, move, play, and learn using a variety of instruments and props,” she says. “What we have done is added this element of Spanish language. The teacher still speaks in English–it’s that the songs are sung in more Spanish.”
The Music Together ® program is taught in more than 40 countries and over 3,000 communities around the globe. The goal of each class is the same no matter where parents and kids are located or what language they speak. According to DeAngelis, music helps kids pick up a variety of other skills and supports all kinds of learning. The bilingual class will be offered again at the Glendale location this fall, and she hopes to also offer it at Music Together’s ® Astoria and Forest Hills locations.
“Our goal is always to create a community of music makers which supports children in all of their life learning skills, while having fun,” says DeAngelis.
Main Image: Children at Music Together ® learn through song, dance, and instrument play
Image credit Eric Westphelling
