Levine School of Music

[Anonymous]

I am thinking of enrolling my 2-year-old to one of Levine's group toddler music classes this fall. Anyone have experience? Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Levine's classes, while age-appropriate and sweet, are somewhat more "serious" than those you would find at Kindermusik, MusicTogether, etc.

Levine's Early Childhood classes are designed with principles of how young children acquire knowledge and a feel for playing music (someday; obviously, not when they're 2). But that goal is kept in mind, and IMO you see that during the class.

So, for one example, when DC was at Kindermusik, there was a lot more jumping around and banging tambourines and waving scarves than there was when we enrolled at Levine. It's not that there is NO tambourine banging for the sake of making noise -- but there's less of it during any given 45 minutes.

Instead, at Levine, there might be a quick demonstration of a "fast note" vs. a "short note" or something similar. But it's not dwelled on.

[Anonymous]

I first enrolled my two children in Levine Early Childhood and Elementary Music classes when they were a little over a year old. They are 4 years old now and we continue to take classes regularly. My upbringing involved piano and music lessons and I wanted to expose my kids to music. If they liked it, great; if not, we would try something else. As it turns out, they have really enjoyed the classes and have matured in them over the years. We maintained the same instructor (Miss Anna -- she's wonderful!!), which probably helped.

The instruction is, indeed, more formal than music classes for toddlers offered by other organizations. That is one reason I chose Levine, so if the kids took an interest in music, they would start out on a solid foundation. Instructors are generally well educated in music and childhood education and they always come prepared for class. The classes we have taken are conducted in a circle fashion (including caregiver for kids under 3) on the floor and the activities range from singing, bouncing to a beat, dancing, using musical instruments, and most recently performing as a group for mom/dad/caregiver audience at the end of each class. My little boy and girl now recognize a whole range of musical instruments and how they are played, they both sing all the time, and they love to listen to music (preferring to listen to the music at the beginning or end of a video, rather than watching the show itself). In fact, the other day my little guy grabbed a set of instrument "shakers," exclaimed "Let's Mambo!" and went dancing through the house shaking the shakers to a mambo beat, so I know they are getting alot out of the classes (egg-shakers are used in class).

If you are looking for quality instruction and some calm, structured, musical fun, Levine provides it.

[Anonymous]

Should your child be very active, I might look elsewhere until they are older. Many of the boys (my son included) had a more difficult time sitting still due to the class structure and some of the teachers' approaches/music choices.

[Anonymous]

Aha! I was looking for an opportunity to recommend the Dalcroze Eurythmics classes at Levine! I think they call them "Musikinesis" now. We're big Levine fans in this house. DD did Eurythmics as well as traditional classes as a pre-schooler (agree that Miss Anna is great, btw) and now takes private instrument lessons at Levine.

I especially like Eurythmics/Musikinesis because it gets the kids up and moving to participate in different aspects of the music! It's pretty physical, which is great for wiggly little kids, and DD's instructor paced the class very well.

All of Levine's Early Childhood programs are presented thoughtfully and really use best practices in music education for little kids.

[Anonymous]

Ooops: "Eurhythmics"

I guess it pays to proofread.