Multi-age, multi-child, family environment

Beginning Saturday, Jan. 12 Tryon Fine Arts Center will offer a new musical learning program for families with children ages newborn and up

— Family Time. The new curriculum, created by Kindermusik, is designed to apply musical and developmental learning in a multi-age, multi-child, family environment.

Bryant Belin, Kindermusik educator, will teach the program created exclusively for Kindermusik by a team of music and child development experts. In a “one room schoolhouse” environment, Family Time helps children develop musical skills, as well as the social skills necessary to share, take turns and strengthen the emotional bond among family members.

“This is a great way for parents with children of various ages to spend time together, doing one activity as a family,” said Belin. “The little ones watch the older ones, and learn from them.”

The program Belin will present is called “Our Kind of Day,” which teaches that Music Time isn’t just at music class, it’s all day long.

The curriculum strengthens bonds between family members by sprinkling music and movement throughout playtime, mealtime, clean-up time, bath time and nighttime.

At each lesson, parents are given ideas for creativity and insights into their child’s development. Each family will receive a set of take home materials that will include “Parenting becomes easier and a lot more fun!”

Over the course of nine weeks, each 45-minute lesson is packed with singing, listening, story time, puppet play, creative movement, instrument play, family jams and sharing.

The Family Time class includes a set of at home materials, which features two children’s books, two instruments, two CDs of songs and activities from class, one family activity book, as well as two puppets that are featured characters in the class.

Partial funding for the Saturday Kindermusik classes at Tryon fine Arts Center is provided by a grant from the Rotary Club of Tryon Foundation.

For more information or to register, contact Marianne Carruth at Tryon Fine Arts Center, 828-859-8322 ext. 21, email marianne@tryonarts.org or visit www.tryonarts.org.

– article submitted by Marianne Carruth