What to expect at a Riverside Music Together class for children and parents

While looking for different things to do with my daughter, an option I hadn’t heard of that came up was Riverside Music Together. My child is literally an extension of me in terms of loving music and singing along even though we get 60% of the words right. So, after looking into the classes, it piqued our interest and we signed up for a class.

Before we go on, what is Riverside Music Together? It’s best I let them tell the story, so here’s what their website says:

At Riverside Music Together, we are proud to offer the early childhood music program Music Together. Since 1987, Music Together has introduced millions of children, parents, and teachers around the world to the joys of family music-making and the powerful benefits of having music in their lives. Today, classes for children ages birth through grade two are found around the world—including right here in Wichita, Kansas.

From babyhood through the early elementary years, Music Together nurtures each child’s natural musicality in a playful, musically rich learning environment. Our research-based music classes are designed to be non-formal and non-performance oriented, so your child can learn at his or her pace, in a way that’s developmentally appropriate.

By enrolling in our children’s music program, you’ll experience a whole semester of classes led by one of our trained teachers. No matter what music class you take at Riverside Music Together, you’re guaranteed to learn new songs and music activities to inspire you to bring music into your family’s everyday life.

I signed up for one of the demo classes, which are free to one per family. It was nice to experience the class to see which one would work for us. I invited a couple of Emery’s friends to join in the fun. After all, music is all about community as well.

Riverside Music Together offers classes at different locations around town, such as Kelcy’s Dance Studio, Kidron Bethel Village, Dyck Arborteum and, in our instance, First Church of Brethren in Riverside.

Our class took place on Saturday morning and was a mixed ages class.

It started off sitting in a circle and singing introductions to everyone, including the parents. It’s the first time in my life I’ve walked into a room and been accepted by 100% of the crowd.

The classes are 45 minutes long. After the introductions, the rest of the class was spent singing songs together (including the parents), playing instruments, learning different songs and putting the kids in an environment to be themselves.

All the kids were able to interact with each, dance, and just enjoy the music. At one point, instruments were placed in the middle of the group and kids spent time playing with whichever instruments they chose.

During a different moment in the class, they were given little scarves to waive them side to side as they moved to the music. Admittedly, the kids were quiet, timid, and shy into the first 5 minutes. But soon after, they immersed themselves in the class and enjoyed it.

Then it was my daughter’s favorite part of the class. Towards the end of the class, many of the kids got up and started dancing. The room was lit up with smiles during the dancing. Parents bobbing their heads, infants trying their best to stand and shake their body from side to side, and the older kids moving around with much energy. It was a great way to end the class.

I had no idea what to expect going into the class, but walked away with a big smile on our face. Anytime my daughter has fun, it’s always worth it. It was playful and enriching.

The classes can then build on from there. Parents can choose to sign up for additional classes based on what suits them best. Then each week for 10 weeks, one of the trained Music Together teachers leads the class. From there, it’s more singing and dancing to songs ranging from tender lullabies to boisterous jams.

To learn more about Riverside Music Together, check out a demo class, or even enroll your child into one of the many fun classes available, RiversideMusicTogether.com.