Music Together believes all children—regardless of their circumstances or walks of life—should have the opportunity to experience the joy of family music-making. Through outreach initiatives organized at both the national and local levels, we seek to serve families who, due to poverty, special needs, or challenging circumstances, might not otherwise be able to experience our program.
We actively encourage our professionals to envision outreach initiatives and offer in-house support (including discounts to eligible programs) so they can bring their projects to fruition. Outreach classes are held in both school and parent-child settings.
Populations served by Music Together Preschool outreach programs include:
- children in low-income areas
- at-risk families
- Head Start families
- children with special needs, including those with autism, physical disabilities, and developmental delays
- intergenerational populations
Music Together LLC offers discounts to eligible programs.
Where to Find Music Together Preschool Outreach
Music Together Preschool is part of the core curriculum at Head Start centers and schools serving at-risk families all across the country. Programs can be found at schools in in Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.
Examples of Music Together Preschool Outreach
Serving at-risk children in low-income areas:
Music for the Very Young is a collaborative project of the Trenton [NJ] Community Music School and Music Together LLC, serving thousands of families in community-based preschools and in the Trenton Public Schools.
The Dodge Foundation, which partially funds the program, has emphasized Music Together’s extensive teacher training and support, and has commended the program for its “incandescent mission and inspired action,” noting that,
“Your service to the children and their families, teachers and preschools in Trenton helps us imagine the promise of public education to respond to the needs of a complex and perpetually changing world.”
Serving children with special needs:
Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf [Trenton, NJ] Preschool students who are deaf or hard of hearing enjoy weekly Music Together classes.
“It is wonderful,” says Ann Fajgier, principal of early childhood programs at the school. “It helps with rhythm and developing good speech and rhythmic intonations, and the movement aspects, as well. This is the type of program that encourages the use of voice and is a wonderful experience. We are all thrilled.”
Serving children in Head Start classrooms:
Total Learning Initiative [Bridgeport, CT] This multi-year federal and state funded project for children 0-9 years old offers Music Together Preschool for first-phase participants in eight Head Start preschool classrooms as well as parent-child classes to the highest-risk families with children 6-24 months old.
Second-year results affirm that preschool classes who used the Music Together music and movement program showed statistically significant gains on the Cognitive Change, Language, and Physical Development domains of the Head Start Creative Curriculum Assessment. In the socio-emotional domain, Music Together children made greater gains than controls, which approached but did not meet the level of statistical significance.
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Click here to read more about the gains in language, cognitive, physical, and social-emotional development for children in this program. |
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Why Funding Providers Support Music Together Preschool Outreach for Children in Need
Public and private funding bodies have long recognized the importance of the fundamental premise of Music Together Preschool, that music learning supports all learning, including language cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development. Our research-based program is aligned with the NAEYC and Head Start standards, and lends itself to the tools used to measure outcomes.
Because Music Together Preschool includes a strong parent participation and parent education component, funding providers know that the program helps families to bond at home and makes parents active participants in their children’s education.
We are proud that Music Together Preschool is supported by a wide range of funding sources that wish to provide music education to low-income and at-risk families and special needs populations. Since 1989, Music Together Preschool outreach programs have been supported by many public and private foundation grants, including:
- US Department of Education [Arts Education Model Development and Dissemination (AEMDD) grant]
- Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
- Connecticut State Department of Education
- State of California First Five Initiative
- Mattel Foundation’s Early Childhood National Award
- PNC’s Grow-up-Great Initiative
- Target
- Early Childhood Foundation
To learn more about Music Together® Preschool outreach programs contact the In-School Services Department (800) 728-2692 x353 or email
in-school@musictogether.com.
