Enjoy music everywhere - in the home, the car, at public events (e.g., concerts), and online. As parents all over the world know, children absorb information from their surroundings. Language is a great example. As Shinichi Suzuki, the founder of the Suzuki Method (aka Talent Education and the Mother Tongue Approach) noted, children learn the language(s) spoken at home. They do so naturally through listening, trial and error, and constant exposure. They can learn multiple languages and learn to use vocabulary and sentence structures that are remarkably sophisticated. Try making music a fixture of your child’s environment. Encourage their enjoyment of it; enjoy music with them! Here’s how….

Enjoy playlists of your own creation, or ones that you find on any streaming platform.

What style of music is best?

• This is your opportunity to shape your child’s awareness and experience of music. You will also be shaping her/his taste. Think of music that is suitable for your child’s particular listening time - lullabies or classical or jazz collections for children suitable for bedtime. For the playroom, perhaps more lively selections. Don’t shy away from musical styles that you are not personally knowledgeable about. Try selecting a wide range of musical ensembles - orchestras, chamber music ensembles, choirs, folk music, more popular styles, etc… Find music on any streaming platform or online.

Enjoy listening and responding to music with your child

• You need not be very active in listening, just share that you too are enjoying the music and join in with how they are reacting to what they hear. This might include joining them in movement (dancing, jumping, running, twirling), singing/humming, clapping/tapping, or however they are experiencing music. Enjoy and have fun experiencing music with them in an authentically ‘childish’ manner!

Enjoy live music

Find music in your community!

• In Westchester County, NY, Arts Westchester is a wonderful resource for arts events of all sorts, including music. Search their calendar for music events including ones that are specially curated for Music and for Family&Kids. Many events, such as summer outdoor free jazz concerts, are ‘adult’ events that children love. Community events are fun, enriching, and great for deepening your connection to your neighbors.

Keep an eye on the HBMS Calendar…

• …for the HB Artists Faculty Concert Series, masterclasses with visiting teaching artists working with young performers, and concerts featuring our choirs, orchestras, chamber groups, and jazz bands. Another wonderful way to connect to your community and encourage your child’s love for and experience of music.

Bring your children to events that feature children performing!

• Your child, like most children, expects adults to be able to do things that are amazing. But when they see/hear other children playing an instrument, they are oftentimes captivated in a very different way. Perhaps it is that they can more easily imagine themselves playing an instrument or singing one day? At the Hoff-Barthelson Music School in Scarsdale, NY, children of all ages participate in free weekly recitals (Fridays, 6:30pm & 8:00 pm; Saturdays, 2:30 pm & 4:00 pm). Very young musicians (e.g., age 4-6) are often heard playing the piano, violin, cello, or guitar. Older children play an even wider range of instruments including woodwind and brass instruments on these concerts. At any rate, they are free, open to the public, casual, and really wonderful opportunities to enjoy music and perhaps even to discover which instrument your child might wish to play one day!

Carnegie Hall’s Listening Adventures is a remarkable resource!

• View their Resources for Families and Kids which includes creative and joyful step-by-step guides for parents organized by their child’s age, babies through grade 5.

• Check out their Quizzes, Games, Maps, and Videos at the https://listeningadventures.carnegiehall.org/

• Make everything a joyful family adventure and you can’t go wrong!

Finally, schedule a meeting with the dean to discuss your child's musical training and the school's offerings in detail. This meeting will help clarify any remaining questions and outline specific steps for your child's musical education.

Meeting with the dean will provide a comprehensive understanding of the school's philosophy and educational approach, ensuring it aligns with your family's goals.

Use the link on this step to access Dean's availability.

Music classes taught by highly qualified, experienced teachers in a nurturing environment can be immensely valuable in guiding you and your young child (age 9 months - 5 years) in their musical experience and development.

• Hoff-Barthelson Music School’s Early Childhood Program classes taught by our Dalcroze Eurhythmic trained faculty focus on exploring music through movement.

Early Childhood classes support the development of children’s minds and bodies through an approach known as Dalcroze Eurhythmics. Classes are held weekly, incorporating games and exercises to stimulate the senses, feed curiosity and foster love and appreciation of music. Singing, movement, small percussion instruments, colorful balls, hoops, scarves and puppets make the classes lively, fun and engaging for even the youngest children, and helps them to develop: -- Keen inner hearing -- Rhythmic sensibility -- Sensory processing -- Focus -- Spatial awareness -- Fine and gross motor skills -- Social skills -- Sharing and working together

Enjoy classes in an environment where you can grow. Enjoy classes such as these in a school where other musical activities are also available. Such schools, known as Community Schools of the Arts, are devoted to developing children’s abilities through a sequential curriculum that leads naturally from movement and music to exploring the instruments to choosing your first instrument and finally to developing your ability to whatever level you wish.

At Hoff-Barthelson, children and families grow together, moving seamlessly from level to level with the benefit of guidance from our deans and faculty.