North Texas Daily

The College of Music’s Early Childhood Music Program begins its 22nd annual 10-week program on Sept. 7 and 8 at the UNT. The deadline for registration is at noon on Sept. 8.

The program is based on music researcher and professor Edwin Gordon’s Music Learning Theory, a comprehensive method for teaching audiation or hearing and comprehending music in the mind, according to the Gordon Institute of for Music Learning.

“It’s a class that is really a product of a lot of research that shows how important music guidance is for children in their earliest years,” Miller said. “So what the class looks like is a lot of musical play because the children learn a lot through play.”

This fall, the College of Music is expecting 50 families from the Denton community, to join the 10-week class, Early Childhood Music instructor Meghan Miller said. The average amount of participants ranges from 40-50 families per semester. This past summer, a record 70 families were enrolled in the program.

There are three classes held on Friday mornings with Miller as instructor, and five on Saturday mornings taught by Miller and another instructor. Each class is designed to teach a minimum of five students and a maximum of 10, Miller said. 

The prices are $150 for infants and $170 for toddlers, mixed-age and preschoolers for the semester.

Friday classes are listed as:

• Infant (birth-24 months): 9:40–10:10 a.m.
• Toddlers (2-4 years): 10:20–11:00 a.m.
• Mixed Age (0-5 years): 11:10–11:50 a.m.

Saturday classes are listed as:

• Infant: 8:30–9:00 a.m.
• Infant: 9:10–9:40 a.m.
• Toddlers: 9:50–10:30 a.m.
• Mixed Age: 10:40–11:20 a.m.
• Preschool (3-5 years): 11:30–12:10 p.m.

Music development is similar to language development, in that it engages with the syllabus, speech sounds and babbling. In the class, the children will do what is called “musical babel,” during which they are able to experiment with songs, play with the different syllabus and simplify the music, Miller said.

With the parents accompanying their child/children during the course of the class, parents learn how to bring the activities learned in session into their home. Miller said this year she plans on providing the parents with more at-home activities that include more instructions and materials.

Vocal performance junior Cami Everitt said the Early Childhood Music program is a wonderful aspect to the College of Music.

“I believe letting kids learn about music early as possible is very beneficial for the mental development of young children,” Everitt said. “If I had a child and lived in a community that offered a class like this, I would absolutely enroll them in it, regardless of whether or not they grew up to actually become a musician.”

Music education sophomore Stefanie Herrera also said that if she had children, she would enroll them in the 10-week program.

“I [would] want my kids to understand from a young age that music can be fun and that they too can become musicians just like their mother,” Herrera said. “Music has this weird stigma that only musicians can make music, and that’s certainly not true. I want my child to understand from early on that anyone can make and learn about music at any age.”

Featured Image: Courtesy College of Music