The start of a new school year means the distinguished faculty members at NEMPAC are gearing up for another fun-filled year of music education! After releasing our list of fall 2019 arts offerings earlier this summer, we couldn’t be more excited to welcome new and returning students to our private and group music instruction, as well as music education courses. This fall, we’re especially excited to roll out our expanded early childhood music education offerings.
Space is limited, and seats in baby and toddler courses are filling fast! Read on for the top-three reasons to introduce your child to the arts in these creative, playful classes:
1. Child Development
Early childhood music education promotes artistic expression and development during a child’s formative years. NEMPAC’s educational offerings for youth provide mini maestros with the chance to develop language, motor, and social-emotional skills.
For example, in Creative Dance and Movement Junior, toddlers learn choreography through repetitive motion, fostering spatial awareness. In Family Music Makers, young children flex their memory and multitasking muscles as they sing songs with a variety of instruments including castanets, egg shakers, tambourines, and wrist bells.
While describing the skills her students build in First Steps, instructor Amanda Teneriello said, “First Steps triggers the imagination of your young mover, it allows them to start expressing themselves and figure out how to move the body in new and creative ways! Those who study dance and movement are more likely to develop enhanced capabilities of collaboration, perseverance, and creativity.”
2. Caregiver Bonding
Caregivers accompany their infants and toddlers to a few of NEMPAC’s early childhood music education programs. This dual enrollment empowers caregivers to teach their daughters, sons, or grandchildren about the language of music and the power of the arts.
“Our early childhood courses, especially First Steps and Family Music Makers, really provide a way for your families and parents to bond even more with their young ones,” said Allie Meek-Carufel, educational programs director at NEMPAC. “By taking the classes together, parents reinforce musical creativity and see the results that music can have on both their children’s development and in themselves. NEMPAC truly empowers artists of all ages and abilities with early childhood programming by demonstrating how important it is to have music in your life, whether you are an infant or an adult!”
In particular, Family Music Makers offers a unique chance for caregiver bonding inside and outside of class.
Instructor Laura DeGiacomo explained, “Each session includes a CD (or MP3 download of the CD) so that families can listen to the music at home as well as in class. This is such a fun way to explore music at home, and kids get so excited when they hear their current favorite song in class. We rotate in a new CD every session, so there is always new music to explore.”
3. Affordability
One of the ways NEMPAC strives to make music education accessible to families is through affordability. All fall 2019 music education courses for youth ages four and under cost approximately $200 for 10 weeks of instruction.
In an aim to make music an inclusive art form for students of all ages, we also offer a 10 percent sibling discount for music education courses. How does the discount work? Say a family signed their toddler up for Creative Dance and Movement Junior this fall. If the same family enrolled their elementary schooler in Music Theatre – Intermediate as well this fall, the elementary schooler would receive a 10 percent discount on the price of the course. NEMPAC also offers a 50 percent sibling discount for youth ages four and under who enroll in early education programs.
In addition to budget-friendly music education courses, NEMPAC faculty members offer private and group music instruction for youth ages four and above at competitive pricing. From ukulele lessons to vocal coaching to clarinet instruction, private music offerings enrich children’s emotional, intellectual, and social growth.
The prices of private music and vocal lessons are as follows: $33 for a 30-minute lesson, $44 for a 45-minute lesson, and $55 for a 60-minute lesson. NEMPAC recently conducted research to compare its music school’s rates to other organizations in and around the city of Boston. The results of the study concluded that for alike, if not identical services with an equivalent level of faculty accomplishment, NEMPAC charged families approximately 36 percent less than the average rate for a 30-minute private music lesson in the greater-Boston area.
While the three reasons listed above to sign your child up for early childhood music education are certainly compelling, perhaps the foremost reason to do so involves the heart. If you’ve ever seen a baby clap her hands to the beat of a drum or watched a toddler dance to the rhythm of a song, then you’ve witnessed firsthand the pure joy that music brings to children. So this fall, register your babies and toddlers for NEMPAC’s early childhood music education courses to give them a joy that’s measured in smiles from ear-to-ear and endless laughter for the entire family.
What NEMPAC early childhood music education courses are your children most looking forward to this fall?
