Supporting Early Learning
Curricula, Philosophies, andStandards© 2022 Music Together LLC.

Supporting Early Learning Curricula,
Philosophies, and Standards
High-quality early care and education programs require and seek alignment among principal
educational ideas, standards, philosophies, and curricula. Offered in a variety of earlylearning settings, including preschool and kindergarten classrooms, Music Together® isan adaptable music and movement curriculum which incorporates and supports various
prominent approaches within the early childhood education arena.
Music Together is a music and movement curriculum dedicated to nurturing every child’s
innate musicality. While making music is a joyful activity valuable for its own sake, it alsooffers benefits that can be especially welcome in an early learning setting. Children inMusic Together have shown gains in cognitive, physical, language, social, and emotional
development, reinforcing that Music Learning Supports All Learning.® Music Together also
supports family engagement and classroom teacher professional development. Versatileand rooted in developmentally appropriate practice, the Music Together curriculum isparticularly well suited to a variety of early childhood programs and curricula.

NAEYC 			

3Head Start Performance Standards 			

6

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (Infants/Toddlers) 			

8

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (Preschool) 			

13

The Creative Curriculum 			

18

Montessori 			

20

Reggio Emilia 			22

HighScope 			

25

IB Primary Years Programme 			27

NAfME 			

29CLASS 			

31ECERS/ITERS 			

36

Music Together Supports
NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards
Standard 1: Relationships
The program promotes positive relationships among all children and adults. It encourages each child’ssense of individual worth and belonging as part of a community and fosters each child’s ability tocontribute as a responsible community member.
•Music Together creates group music experiences that solidify bonds among children, andbetween children and teachers, promoting a sense of community in the classroom.

•

With a comprehensive home component, Music Together can also promote positive relationships
between children and their parents or other family members.

•

School-wide Music Together music-making events unite the entire school community, including
family members, through a shared activity and a shared repertoire of songs.

•

Music Together’s supportive classroom and take-home materials give classroom teachers andfamily members musical tools, knowledge, and a platform through which to interact with children
in sensitive and responsive ways.

•

The group music-making experience during Music Together activities supports children’s
leadership and turn-taking skills, their ability to follow and respect peer leaders, and their capacity
to work with others as an ensemble, all in a playful environment.

•

Music Together activities extend beyond the music experience and provide a platform forteachers to engage in warm, friendly conversations with children and to recognize their work andaccomplishments.

Standard 2: Curriculum
The program implements a curriculum that is consistent with its goals for children and promotes
learning and development in each of the following areas: social, emotional, physical, language, andcognitive.
•

Music Together programs are comprehensive, research-based, and developmentally appropriate
with the goal of consistently providing young children with a rich environment of music learningthat sparks their interest to get better at reasoning, solving problems, getting along with others,
using language, and developing other skills.

•

With the belief that Music Learning Supports All Learning®, Music Together supports the physical,
social, emotional, cognitive, and language development of each child, all while having fun withengaging and playful music activities that foster creative expression. For more information on
how Music Together supports Standard 2, see “Music Learning Supports All Learning,®” available
by contacting in-school@musictogether.com.

•

Music Together programs include activities and materials that encourage music participation
through exploration and play among young children of all ages and their teachers.

•

The use of developmentally appropriate instruments and other materials (that “do something”
musical) spark children’s interest and encourage them to experiment and learn.

3Standard 3: Teaching
The program uses developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate and effective teachingapproaches that enhance each child’s learning and development in the context of the curriculum goals.
•

Understanding that young children learn best in a playful yet responsive learning environment,
Music Together class experiences are grounded in a developmental and participatory approach tomusic education rather than a performance-oriented approach.

•Music Together activities reflect and activate the variety of learning modalities (e.g., visual,auditory, kinesthetic, tactile) and are designed to respect and nurture all children’s needs,
capacities, interests, and backgrounds.

•

Music Together activities can be extended into the daily classroom routine. Music Together
programs provide professional development opportunities and digital resources to helpclassroom professionals incorporate music into daily classroom routines to enhance all learning.

•

Music Together includes songs from many cultures as well as original compositions that reflect a
multicultural world.

Standard 4: Assessment of Child Progress
The program is informed by ongoing systematic, formal, and informal assessment approaches toprovide information on children’s learning and development. These assessments occur within thecontext of reciprocal communications with families and with sensitivity to the cultural contexts inwhich children develop.
•

Music Together includes guidance to help classroom professionals assess young children’s
music making behaviors and the trajectory of their music development. (Assessment with
developmentally appropriate music measures (i.e., methods for observation, checklists, and rating
scales) are available as an additional service through Music Together LLC.)•

Music Together includes professional development workshops, materials, and mentoring todeepen specialists’ and classroom professionals’ understanding of children’s music development,
and how to tailor music and movement activities to respond to children’s diverse learning styles
and developmental needs.

•

Regular communications with families is an integral part of the program, providing parents withguidance on how to recognize their child’s musical growth and how to use music in the home tosupport this growth.

•Music Together programs are consistently assessed and informed by ongoing review of new
knowledge in the field of child development and education, as well as feedback from practitioners
and families.

Standard 5: HealthThe program promotes the nutrition and health of children and protects children and staff from illness
and injury.
•

All movement activities are designed to be safe and developmentally appropriate for the growing
bodies of young children, even infants.

•

Ensuring there is enough space for children to move freely and safely is an integral part of Music
Together program guidelines.

•

Music Together activities can be used to encourage daily movement and exercise, even whenindoors. The activities and emphasis on adult modeling of movement also promotes children’s
disposition to become life-long movers.

4

Standard 6: Staff Competencies, Preparation, and Support

The program employs and supports a teaching staff that has the educational qualifications, knowledge,
and professional commitment necessary to promote children’s learning and development and tosupport families’ diverse needs and interests.
•

Music Together offerings include online teacher orientation, implementation support, andresources to support staff knowledge and skills, regardless of their own music education
background. Ongoing professional development opportunities for continuing education are alsoavailable.

•

For those programs seeking Music Together’s fully integrated music curriculum, a comprehensive
training designed to give a qualified music specialist the specialized knowing about children’s
music development and how to support it is included.

Standard 7: Families
The program establishes and maintains collaborative relationships with each child’s family to foster
children’s development in all settings. These relationships are sensitive to family composition,
language, and culture. To support children’s optimal learning and development, programs needto establish relationships with families based on mutual trust and respect, involve families in theirchildren’s educational growth, and encourage families to fully participate in the program.
•Music Together’s supportive home materials allow families to participate at home in the sameactivities children share with their teachers in school, strengthening the home-school connection
and helping families to feel involved in their child’s learning.

•

The rich repertoire of songs in every collection represents the diversity in music and culture thatexists across the globe. Translations of supportive materials can be found in multiple languages.

•

All illustrated materials are designed to embrace diversity in race, ethnicity, culture, family
composition, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and living environment so that all children andfamilies feel included.

Standard 8: Community Relationships
The program establishes relationships with and uses the resources of the children’s communities tosupport the achievement of program goals.
•

Music Together has had success in a variety of settings (e.g. school, day care, community center)
and with a range of organizations and support services that work with children and families facing
a wide array of obstacles and in need of various types of support.

•

Music Together has locations in every state. Where available and desired, schools can work witha local Music Together center in their community, providing another way to connect with families
and local musicians to meet the needs and interests of their children.

Standard 9: Physical Environment
The program has a safe and healthful environment that provides appropriate and well-maintainedindoor and outdoor physical environments. The environment includes facilities, equipment, andmaterials to facilitate child and staff learning and development.
•

Selected Music Together activities include opportunities for children to play with a variety
of instruments and props to accompany music and movement which enhances the physicalenvironment of the classroom and facilitates children’s learning and development.

•

A guide for creating a music-making area is available to classroom professionals who desire tocreate a station with developmentally appropriate instruments for children to use during free playor center time.
*Note: Standard 10 relates to areas not directly relevant toMusic Together in school and childcare settings.
5Music Together Aligns with
Head Start Program Performance Standards
1302.31 Teaching and the Learning Environment
The Music Together curriculum and enrichment resources:•

Support effective teaching that aligns with the Head Start Early Learning Framework. [1302.31(a)]•Include all children, both typically abled and those with special needs. [1302.31(a)]•Emphasize nurturing and responsive practices, interactions, and environments that foster trustand emotional security through the music teaching processes. [1302.31(b)(i)]•Incorporate language-rich songs and chants. [1302.31(b)(i)]•Support social, emotional, behavioral, and language development through music.
[1302.31(b)(i)(ii)]•Support all children’s engagement in learning experiences and activities through music.
[1302.31(b)(i)]•Include movement activities that can be integrated into daily routines to foster physical activities.

1302.32 Curricula
The Music Together curriculum and enrichment resources:•

Are based in, and strongly committed to, developmentally appropriate practice. [1302.32(a)]•Are based on research in music education and child development.

•

Include materials such as recordings, an illustrated Family Songbook, and other print materials to
support curriculum implementation. [1302.32(a)(i)]•Are aligned with the Head Start Early Learning Framework and are sufficiently content rich topromote measurable progress toward development and learning therein. [1302.32(a)(iii)]•

Have an organized developmental scope and sequence based on how children learn music.
[1302.32(a)(iii)]•

Include ready-made lesson plans for teachers’ use and provide for flexibility for teachers to plan
their own integration of music into their curriculum. [1302.32(a)(2)]•

Include professional development opportunities to support teachers in their continuous
improvement efforts. [1302.32(a)(2)]1302.34 Parent and Family Engagement in Education and Child Development
Services
The Music Together curriculum and enrichment resources:•

Include recordings and songbooks which are sent home with every child to create an excellent
opportunity for fostering parent and family engagement. (1302.34)•

Include parents as an integral part of the program and encourage them to engage in their child’smusic education by providing them home recordings and print materials. [1302.34(a)]•Include print materials for teachers to regularly communicate with parents to ensure they are
well-informed about the Music Together music curriculum. [1302.34(b)(2)]6

1302.45 Child Mental Health and Social and Emotional Well-being
Research has shown that regular music-making can decrease depression, and that singing canreduce anxiety in children and adults. The mitigating effects of music-making on these major mental
health problems make participation in music an excellent supplement to appropriate mental healthintervention. Consistent use of Music Together in the classroom can:•Create a joyful, light-hearted atmosphere that supports a program-wide culture that promotes
children’s mental health, social and emotional well-being, and overall health. [1302.45(a)]•Provide support for effective classroom management and positive learning environments usingmusic. [1302.45(1)]1302.50 Family Engagement
The Music Together curriculum and enrichment resources:•

Recognize parents as their children’s primary teachers and provides intentional strategies toengage parents in their children’s learning and development through family music making.
[1302.50(b)(1)]•

Provide opportunities using music to support parent-child relationships. [1302.50(b)(1)]•

Provide family engagement strategies, including two-generation approaches and father
engagement, through their recordings and materials that are sent home with every child.
[1302.50(b)(1)]•

Provide guidance on hosting family music events that are fun and build a community which
welcomes all families with their unique cultural, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds.
[1302.50(b)(2)]•

Provide opportunities for two-way communication between staff and parents regarding children’s
music interests and development. [1302.50(b)(2)]•

Provide a unique opportunity to leverage community partnerships and other funding sources
because Music Learning Supports All Learning ™. [1302.509(a)]1302.53 Community Partnerships and Coordination with Other Early
Childhood and Education Programs•

The mission of Music Together is to provide the highest quality music and movement experiences
to as many young children as possible, and to involve their parents and other adult caregivers,
including early childhood professionals. Music Together is an ideal partner to fulfill Head Start’s
mandate to connect with organizations or businesses that provide support and resources tofamilies. [1302.53(2)]•Provided activity adaptations and support for educators working with neurodiverse learners aid
the work of music therapists, occupational therapists, and speech and language pathologists intheir interventions with children and families. [1302.53(2)(i)]7

Music Together Supports the Head Start
Early Learning Outcomes Framework
Infants/Toddlers
Music Together is rooted in Developmentally Appropriate Practice and the importance of the adult asa model for the young child; therefore, the teaching approach and activities provide early childhood
educators with teaching processes that support and deepen positive adult-child interactions in theearly childhood classroom.
*Music Together is the only music offering that has a mutually agreed upon Crosswalk Alignment to
The Classroom Assessment Scoring System developed by Teachstone.
*The official Music Together/CLASS Crosswalk alignment is available upon request.

Central Domain 1: Approaches to Learning
Sub-Domain: Emotional and Behavioral Self-Regulation•

Certain Music Together songs, such as lullabies and songs with slow tempi, create opportunities
for infants and toddlers to manage their feelings and emotions through singing and movementwith the help of caring adults.

•

The Music Together repertoire provides classroom teachers with proactive and positive ways tohelp infants and toddlers manage their feelings and emotions in a developmentally appropriate
way through music.

Sub-Domain: Cognitive Self-Regulation: (Executive Functioning)•

Music Together activities provide opportunities for infant and toddlers to maintain and sustain
attention with support of a caring adult.

•

Select Music Together songs support infants’ and toddlers’ attention-shifting and flexibility inactions by substituting different lyrics to familiar melodies.

•Music Together class time is a fun way to help infants and toddlers demonstrate persistence intheir actions and behaviors.

Sub-Domain: Initiative and Curiosity•

Music Together employs materials and processes that maintain and encourage infant andtoddler curiosity, such as recordings and songbooks with songs and illustrations that can beused both in the classroom and individually.

•

Music Together activities encourage infant and toddler curiosity and initiative through selfexpression and creative independence.

•

Select Music Together activities include instrument play where children can experiment withthem in their own way.

Sub-Domain: Creativity•

Music Together links songs with movement so that infants and toddlers can engage in creative
movement as a form of expression to increase understanding and learning.

•

The Music Together repertoire and class processes support infants’ and toddlers’ imagination tocreate their own movement.
8•Music Together includes opportunities for infants and toddlers to improvise body movement
and rhythmic accompaniment with instruments to a variety of songs that show imagination inplay and interactions with others.

•

Some Music Together songs and processes prompt and encourage infant and toddler creativity
and imagination by inviting, accepting, and including their suggestions into music andmovement class activities.

Central Domain 2: Social and Emotional Development
Sub-Domain: Relationships with Adults•

Music Together creates positive group music experiences that solidify bonds between infants/
toddlers and teachers, promoting a sense of community in the classroom.

•

With a comprehensive home component, Music Together music activities can also support
positive relationships between infants/toddlers and their parents or other family members.

•

The Music Together repertoire broadens the classroom professional’s opportunities andmethods for positive interactions that support secure relationships.

•

Music Together’s take-home materials (recordings and songbooks) give adults in the infants’ andtoddlers’ lives musical tools, knowledge, and a platform through which to interact in sensitiveand responsive ways.

Sub-Domain: Relationships with Other Children•

The Music Together repertoire and class processes create a joyful atmosphere in the classroom,
which promotes positive affect and supports infant/toddler relationships with others.

•

The group music-making at the core of Music Together enables infants’ and toddlers’interactions with others, which supports imitation and play.

•

Music Together creates group music experiences that solidify bonds among infants andtoddlers promoting a sense of community.

Sub-Domain: Emotional Functioning•

Music Together classes naturally support healthy emotion expression by giving infants andtoddlers an alternative avenue through which to express themselves.

•

Various Music Together songs and song variations support infant’s and toddler’s development ofemotion knowledge with the support of a familiar adult.

•Music Together activities support the prosocial skills of care and concern among infants andtoddlers.

Sub-Domain: Sense of Identity and Belonging•

Music Together uses the developmentally appropriate practice of “accept and include” wheremusic and movement activity variations are developed by following the lead of infants andtoddlers, honoring and respecting their creative contributions.

•Music Together activities incorporate group processes using infants’ and toddlers’ interestsand fascinations as a primary vehicle for becoming aware of oneself and showing confidence intheir own abilities.

•

The Music Together approach is designed to include all children, both typically abled and thosewith special needs, which can promote an understanding of characteristics of self and others.

•

The Music Together repertoire and processes create a joyful atmosphere in the classroom,
which promotes positive climate and fosters a sense of belonging.

•

Music Together songs are inclusive of the variety of cultures, communities, and families that exist
in the world, supporting identity and an overall sense of belonging in the school community.
9Central Domain 3: Language and Literacy (Language and Communication)
Sub-Domain: Attending and Understanding•

Music Together employs processes that maintain and encourage infants’ and toddlers’ interest
which fosters an understanding using a musical form of communication.

•

Music Together classroom materials support attention and understanding by allowing infants
and toddlers to be visually and tactilely involved as they manipulate them as part of the Music
Together class or in their free play.

•

Music Together songs offer infants and toddlers repetition and intentional opportunities for language
communication because the elements of words are more available when sung than spoken.

•

Music Together activities can be adapted for general use in the classroom, enabling teachers tocommunicate and foster language experiences through music.

Sub-Domain: Communicating and Speaking•

The coordination of movement and music in the Music Together repertoire provides infants
and toddlers a non-verbal vehicle to communicate interest for engagement in music to gain
information from their peers and caring adults.

•

By communicating an interest in immediate music making through rudimentary singing andcoordinated movement, infants and toddlers foster interaction among peers.

•Music Together’s “songs without words” (songs sung on specific vocables, or phonemes)
provide opportunities for a teacher to accept and include sounds or words that an infant or
toddler initiates, offering novelty for continued repetition that supports infants’ and toddlers’communication and language skills.

•

Music Together’s technique of singing with an infant when they coo and gurgle by imitating andvarying the lyrics of the song to include the sounds the baby is making can support an infant’s
emerging communication skills.

Sub-Domain: Vocabulary•Music Together songs expose infants and toddlers to words in increasing number incommunication using music.

•

Music Together’s technique of coordinating movement with lyrics, supports infants’ andtoddlers’ understanding of words without yet being able to speak them.

•Music Together’s songbook supports infants’ and toddlers’ vocabulary by connecting pictureswith the words in a song’s lyrics.

Sub-Domain: Emergent Literacy•

Music Together songs and chants provide opportunities for infants and toddlers to attend,
repeat, and use rhymes, phrases, or refrains from them.

•Music Together’s songbook provides infants and toddlers an opportunity to appreciate andhandle a book.

•

The Music Together songbook allows infants and toddlers to relate the music activities topictures in the book.

•

By using the Music Together songbook, an infant or toddler can show their recognition of aparticular song by finding and identifying the coordinating picture.

Central Domain 4: Cognition
Sub-Domain: Exploration and Discovery•

Select Music Together songs are accompanied by rhythm instruments, providing infants andtoddlers with opportunities for active exploration and understanding through multiple senses.
10•Music Together activities incorporate infants’ and toddlers’ interests and fascinations as a
primary vehicle to explore people and objects that support understanding of self, others, andobjects.

•

The Music Together songbooks and instruments allow infants and toddlers to be visuallyand tactilely involved as they manipulate them in class or in their free play, enhancing
experimentation to discover “what, why, and how.”

Sub-Domain: Memory•

Music Together’s home component provides opportunities to repeat the diverse music activitiesin school and at home allowing infants and toddlers an opportunity to recognize similarities anddifferences among them.

•Music Together’s ritual activities and processes help infants and toddlers recognitize thestability of music content and process along with the people that engage in them.

•

The repetition of Music Together music activities creates memories as a foundation for more
complex actions and thoughts.

•

The Music Together repetoire and process initiates the circle of learning between school andhome to create memories for infants and toddlers of positive nurturance through music making.

Sub-Domain: Reasoning and Problem-Solving•

Select Music Together activities involving instrument play support reasoning and problemsolving in infants and toddlers as they explore multiple ways to use them.

•

Select Music Together songs prompt and encourage child-directed reasoning and opportunities
to plan ahead through inviting, accepting, and including children’s suggestions into music andmovement activities.

Sub-Domain: Emergent Mathematical Thinking•

Some Music Together songs incorporate numbers, counting, and quantity, giving infants andtoddlers a fun and different way to explore math concepts.

•

Music Together’s songs and rhythmic chants in varied meters, tonality, and musical formand style provide infants and toddlers an opportunity to understand similar and different
characteristics.

•

Music Together movement activities provide opportunities to develop spatial awareness.

Sub-Domain: Imitation and Symbolic Representation and Play•

The Music Together songbook includes the written word, images, and musical notation for thesongs they are singing which supports understanding that symbols have meaning.

•

Many Music Together songs introduce infants and toddlers to characteristics and properties ofvarious things in their environment.

•

Music Together songs are inclusive of the variety of cultures, communities, and families thatexist in the world.

•

Music Together activities provide infants and toddlers opportunities to symbolically represent
sounds, gestures, actions, and behaviors through connection with song lyrics.

•

Integral to Music Together processes are the participation and modeling of caring adults which
fosters opportunities for imitation through positive interaction.

Central Domain 5: Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development
Sub-Domain: Perception•

Music Together rhythm instruments and props provide opportunities for infants and toddlers
to understand them through observation, holding, handling, and experimenting to gain
understanding of cause and effect relationships.
11•Music Together’s non-formal approach allows children to direct their own actions, experiences,and interactions within a music context.

Sub Domain: Gross Motor•

Some Music Together songs incorporate large-movement activities that support infants’and toddlers’ body awareness, effective and efficient use of large muscles, and position in
relationship to their environment.

Sub-Domain: Fine Motor•

Music Together’s instrument play-alongs foster coordination of hand-eye movement while they
explore and play them.

•Music Together’s fingerplays support infants’ and toddlers’ hand and finger dexterity.

Sub-domain: Health, Safety, and Nutrition•

Music Together music activities provide group process experiences where infants and toddlers
practice safe behaviors with the support of adults.

•

Select Music Together songs have lyrics that include health, safety, and nutrition themes which
provide infants and toddlers opportunities to increase their interest and understanding of theirimportance.

12Music Together Supports the Head Start
Early Learning Outcomes Framework
Preschool Children
Music Together is rooted in Developmentally Appropriate Practice and the importance of the adult asa model for the young child; therefore, the teaching approach and activities provide early childhood
educators with teaching processes that support and deepen positive adult-child interactions in theearly childhood classroom.
*Music Together is the only music offering that has a mutually agreed upon Crosswalk Alignment to
The Classroom Assessment Scoring System developed by Teachstone.
*The official Music Together/CLASS Crosswalk alignment is available upon request.

Central Domain 1: Approaches to Learning
Sub-Domain: Emotional and Behavioral Self-Regulation•

Some Music Together songs provide strategies for young children to independently managestrong emotions through music.

•

The Music Together repertoire provides classroom teachers with proactive and positive ways tohelp young children manage their feelings and emotions in a developmentally appropriate way
through music.

•

The processes for the Music Together class include routines that support young children as theylearn to follow rules, routines, and manage actions and behaviors in a music-making context.

Sub-Domain: Cognitive Self-Regulation: (Executive Functioning)•

Music Together activities provide opportunities to increase a young child’s ability to control
impulses and learn how to take turns.

•

Music Together activities provide opportunities for young children to maintain and sustain
attention.

•

Select Music Together songs support young children’s attention-shifting and flexibility in actions
by substituting different lyrics to familiar melodies.

•Music Together class time is a fun way to help young children demonstrate persistence in theiractions and behaviors.

•

Many songs from the Music Together repetoire require children to hold information in mind to
perform it from beginning to end.

•

Using the Music Together songbook provides young children an opportunity to take care of abook.

Sub-Domain: Initiative and Curiosity•

Music Together employs materials and processes, such as recordings and songbooks with
illustrations, that encourage and maintain young children’s curiosity.

•

Music Together activities encourage young children’s curiosity and initiative through selfexpression and creative independence.

•

Select Music Together activities include instrument play, where young children can experimentwith them in their own way.

13

Sub-Domain: Creativity•

Music Together links songs with movement so that young children can plan and engage increative movement as a form of self-expression.

•

The Music Together repertoire and class processes support young children’s imagination tocreate their own songs, movement, and accompaniments with instruments and props.

•

Music Together music activities include opportunities for young children to improvise lyrics,
melody, body movement, and rhythmic accompaniment that show imagination in both play andinteractions with others.

•

Some Music Together songs and processes prompt and encourage young children’s creativity
and imagination by inviting, accepting, and including their suggestions into music andmovement class activities.

Central Domain 2: Social and Emotional Development
Sub-Domain: Relationships with Adults•

Music Together creates positive group music experiences with participatory adults that support
engagement and maintain positive relationships and interactions with adults in the music
context.

•

With a comprehensive home component, Music Together activities can support positive
relationships between young children and their parents or other family members.

•

The Music Together repertoire broadens the classroom professional’s opportunities andmethods for positive interactions that support secure relationships.

•

Music Together processes support young children’s prosocial and cooperative behaviors withadults both in the classroom and at home.

Sub-Domain: Relationships with Other Children•

The Music Together repertoire and processes create a joyful atmosphere in the classroom,
which promotes positive affect and allows young children to engage in, and maintain, positive
interactions and relationships with other children.

•

Music Together activities provide opportunities for young children to engage in cooperative
play with other children in the music context.

•

Music Together creates group music experiences that solidify bonds among young children
promoting a sense of community.

Sub-Domain: Emotional Functioning•

Music Together classes naturally support healthy emotion expression by giving young children
an alternative avenue through which to express themselves.

•

Select songs and song variations found in the Music Together repetoire support young
children’s development of emotion knowledge.

•

Select Music Together activities support the prosocial skills of care and concern among young
children.

•

When using Music Together songs, young children acquire musical methods to manage theiremotions independently.

Sub-Domain: Sense of Identity and Belonging•

Music Together uses the developmentally appropriate practice of “accept and include” wheremusic and movement activity variations are developed by following the lead of young children,
fostering a sense of self as a unique individual.

14•The Music Together approach is designed to include all young children, both typically abled andthose with special needs, which can promote an understanding of characteristics of self andothers.

•The Music Together repertoire and processes create a joyful atmosphere in the classroom,
which promotes positive climate and fosters a sense of belonging.

•

Music Together songs are inclusive of the variety of cultures, communities, and families
that exist in the world, supporting identity and an overall sense of belonging in the schoolcommunity.

Central Domain 3: Language and Literacy (Language and Communication)
Sub-Domain: Attending and Understanding•

Music Together employs processes that allow young children to attend to the communicationand language of others in the music context.

•

Select Music Together songs offer young children an opportunity to respond to suggestions
for movement and lyric improvisation which may include increasingly complex language andcommunication from others.

•

Music Together activities can be adapted for general use in the classroom, enabling teachers tocommunicate non-verbally and foster language experiences through music.

Sub-Domain: Communicating and Speaking•

A variety of contrasting music activities support young children in using appropriate social rules
while engaging in music making.

•Music Together print materials for classroom and home use serve as a platform for extending
songs to “story songs” that provide young children an opportunity for increasingly long,detailed, and sophisticated means of communication through music.

Sub-Domain: Vocabulary•Music Together songs provide opportunities for young children to understand and use a wide
variety of words that serve a multitude of purposes.

•

Music Together’s word-substitution activities support young children’s understanding of word
categories.

•

Music Together’s songbook visually supports young children’s growing vocabulary byconnecting pictures with the words in a song’s lyrics.

Sub-Domain: Phonological Awareness•Music Together’s “songs without words” (songs sung on specific vocables, or phonemes) help
children to understand that words are composed of smaller segments of sounds.

•

Music Together songs offer young children repetition and intentional opportunities for language
communication through singing because the elements of words are more available when sungthan spoken.

Sub-Domain: Print and Alphabet Knowledge•

Music Together songbooks help to familiarize children with print materials and provide
opportunities for creative storytelling through music. The songbooks can be used
independently or for shared literacy activities with other children and with adults.

•

Music Together songbooks help children recognize that the musical note represents sunglanguage and that notes grouped together form musical phrasing, or a tune. The songbooks
also support children’s understanding that print conveys meaning, that letters are grouped toform words, and that written words represent spoken language.
15

Sub-Domain: Comprehension and Text Structure•

The Music Together print materials serve as a platform for extending songs to “story songs” thatprovide young children an opportunity for understanding of narrative structure through musicalstorytelling.

•

Teachers can ask questions about a Music Together song to understand their comprehension of
the story in the lyrics.

Central Domain 4: Cognition
Sub-Domain: Counting and Cardinality•

Some Music Together songs incorporate numbers, counting, and quantity, giving young
children a fun and different way to explore number names and the count sequence.

•

Select songs in the Music Together songbooks provide an opportunity for young children tocompare numbers and recognize the number of objects in a small set.

Sub-Domain: Operations and Algebraic Thinking•

Fingerplays and other small movement that accompany select Music Together songs visuallyfacilitate young children’s understanding of addition and subtraction.

•

Music Together’s songs and rhythmic chants in varied meters familiarize children with conceptsof patterns in an auditory way.

Sub-Domain: Measurement•

Music Together songs are composed in varying lengths, providing young children an
opportunity to compare the attributes of differences in length through auditory means andmake comparisons among them.

Sub-Domain: Geometry and Spatial Sense•

Music Together movement activities provide opportunities to develop spatial awareness andunderstand how to position oneself in relationship to others while moving.

•

Music Together instrument play and props provide opportunities to develop spatial awarenessin the context of a small circle and understand how to position oneself in relationship to others
while using them to accompany a song.

Sub-Domain: Scientific Inquiry•

Many Music Together songs introduce young children to characteristics and properties ofvarious things around them, such as animals, vehicles, or seasons. Opportunities for song
substitutions and variations also allow young children to give their own descriptions of things in
the world around them.

Sub-Domain: Reasoning and Problem-Solving•

Instrument play accompanies select Music Together songs and exposes young children
to cause-and-effect relationships, as well as provides them with opportunities to gather
information about the instrument and experiment with them or make predictions about them.

•Music Together activities, processes, and songbooks provide opportunities for young children
to gather information about the theme of the lyrics and sing about them.

•Music Together songs provide opportunities for young children to ask questions about thecontent of the lyrics to better understand the world around them.

16Central Domain 5: Perceptual, Motor, and Physical Development
Sub Domain: Gross Motor•

Music Together incorporates large-movement activities that involve coordination and strengthof large muscles.

•

Selected Music Together movement activities include circle games and rudimentary folkdance
steps that support children in guiding their motions as they interact with objects and otherpeople.

Sub-Domain: Fine Motor•

Music Together’s fingerplays and instrument play-alongs create opportunities for young children
to demonstrate—with increasing control—strength and coordination of small muscles.

•

When using the Music Together songbook, young children experience opportunities to use theirsmall muscles with increasing control and coordination.

Sub-domain: Health, Safety, and Nutrition•

Music Together’s engaging movement activities provide exercise opportunities.

•

Select Music Together songs have lyrics that include health, safety, and nutrition themes which
provide young children with fun opportunities to develop knowledge, skills, and routines forhealth, safety, and nutrition through singing and moving.

17

Music Together Supports
The Creative Curriculum for Preschool
As a non-performance oriented, playful approach to early childhood music education, the Music
Together curriculum aligns with key components of The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool, including
the belief that discovery and exploration are integral to learning. Accessible to all learning styles
and abilities, the Music Together curriculum also naturally fosters children’s critical thinking skills,
creativity, and confidence.

Teaching Strategies GOLD™ Objectives for Development and Learning
The Music Together curriculum supports the Teaching Strategies GOLD™ Objectives for Development
and Learning. In addition to Objectives 34 (music concepts) and 35 (movement concepts), Music
Together can support these other objectives:

Social-Emotional: Objectives 1–3. Regulates own emotions and behavior;
Establishes and sustains positive relationships; Participates cooperatively
and constructively in group situations•

Music Together activities provide children with opportunities to explore how to manage andexpress their feelings through music and movement.

•

As the participation of adults, regardless of music ability, is an integral component of the Music
Together program model, classes and activities naturally foster positive relationships between
children and adults.

•

The group music-making experience solidifies bonds between children and supports children’s
prosocial and turn-taking skills.

Physical: Objectives 4–7. Demonstrates traveling skills, balancing skills,
gross-motor manipulative skills, fine-motor strength, and coordination•

Music Together’s large movement activities support body awareness, coordination, and balance.

•

Instrument play and fingerplays help children to develop fine-motor skills and hand and finger strength.

Language: Objectives 8–10. Listens to and understands increasingly complex
language; Uses language to express thoughts and needs; Uses appropriate
conversational and other communication skills•

Music Together song activities support children’s active listening skills, vocabulary development,
and ability to recognize and discriminate sounds.

•

Songbooks provide opportunities for musical storytelling.

Cognitive: Objectives 11–12, 14. Demonstrates positive approaches tolearning; Remembers and connects experiences; Uses symbols and images
to represent something not present•

Music Together naturally supports children’s approaches to learning through activities that foster
curiosity, inventiveness, and a disposition to explore and experiment. Activities also exercise
children’s attention skills, cognitive flexibility and persistence.

•

Since music-making is so much fun, Music Together classes can help children become moreengaged in the classroom, and more motivated to learn.
18•

Suggestions on how to incorporate music-making into daily classroom activities outside of musicclass and at home are an integral part of the Music Together program model such that musicmaking in different settings can help children to connect different experiences.

•

Symbolic representation in the Music Together songbooks and “SongCards” allow children toform correlations between the written word, images, musical notation, and the songs they are
singing.

Literacy: Objectives 15–17. Demonstrates phonological awareness,knowledge of the alphabet, knowledge of print and its uses•

Music Together songs without words (sung on specific vocables or phonemes), songs withrhymes, and repetition of these songs support children’s phonological development.

•

Various Music Together songs and rhymes help children practice the manipulation of sounds inlanguage and expose them to alliteration and variation in syllable stress.

•

Children’s alphabet knowledge is developed through Music Together songs, rhymes, chants, and
SongCard materials that expose children to distinct sounds associated with specific letters.

•Music Together songbooks and song cards help familiarize children with print materials, andactivities that specifically support pre-literacy skills are highlighted in the teacher materials.

Mathematics: Objectives 20 and 23. Uses number concepts and operations;
Demonstrates knowledge of patterns•

Some Music Together songs can incorporate numbers, counting, and quantity, giving children
a fun and different way to explore math concepts. The SongCard Guide includes activity
suggestions for teachers that addresses numerical awareness.

•

Music Together’s rhythmic chants in varied meters familiarize children with concepts of patterningand proportion.

Science and Technology: Objectives 25 and 27. Demonstrates knowledgeof the characteristics of living things; Demonstrates knowledge of Earth’s
environment•

Learning about living things and the environment happens in the subject matter of many Music
Together songs.

Social Studies: Objectives 29–31. Demonstrates knowledge about self;
Shows basic understanding of people and how they live; Explores change
related to familiar people or places•Music Together songs are inclusive of the variety of cultures, communities, and families that exist
in the world, and provide children with a fun way to learn to identify, appreciate, and respectdifferences among people.

•

Many Music Together songs explore common elements of children’s surroundings, providing a fun
way for children to learn about the environment and people in their lives.

•

The family songbook includes “Musical Memories” pages that can assist teachers and caregivers
in helping children to connect music to themselves, people in their lives, and to their experiences.

English Language Acquisition: Objectives 37 and 38. Demonstrates progressin listening to and understanding English; Demonstrates progress inspeaking English•

Music Together’s supportive materials for teachers provide suggestions on how to use songactivities to support learning for the English Language Learner.
19

Music Together Supports theMontessori Philosophy
A young child absorbs his environment effortlessly and without fatigue andbecomes one with the environment in which he finds himself.
•

Music Together understands that the most important time for music learning is between the agesof birth and six. This is the period of primary music development, a time when children's growing
brains are most open to musical influence and growth. Exposure to a variety of music andmovement experiences is crucial during this period, when the child learns so fast and so well.

•

All children can achieve basic music competence—that is, learn to sing in tune and move withaccurate rhythm—provided they have a sufficiently rich musical environment to stimulate music
learning. With exposure and experimentation, the child's natural music aptitude can blossom andflourish.

•

In cultures where group singing and dancing is still part of daily life, children typically achieve
basic music competence around the same time they become competent in language—by age
three or four. In our culture, however, because so many children lack the kind of active family
music-making experiences that stimulate music learning, they often don't sing in tune or movewith accurate rhythm until age five or six. Many never learn at all.

The power of the adult role model•Music Together realizes that the participation and modeling of teachers, parents, and caregivers
is essential to a child’s musical growth. Participating adults are able to present the music andmovements with enthusiasm because it is so much fun for them, too. The children absorb theadults’ passion and joy.

•

The music specialist comes to the classroom once a week to lead music, movement, andinstrument activities. The guide and assistant participate fully, becoming musical models for thechildren during class and throughout the week, as they use Music Together activities in their dailyclassroom lives.

•

Children "bring the music home" to their families with the Music Together CD, songbook, andParent Guide DVD and booklet. Parents, too, become music-making role models—and knowing
the same songs creates a profound sense of community among the children, their families, andtheir school.

•

The Music Together program recommends having two all-school family events each semester. By
participating and experiencing the joy of singing, moving, dancing, and playing instruments with
their children, parents can be inspired to make music at home, too.

Belief in the child’s inner guide•

The Music Together approach is non-performance-oriented, with each child participating at his or
her own developmental level. With a sufficiently rich music environment, all children can learn tosing in tune and move with accurate rhythm as naturally and joyfully as they learn to talk and to
walk.

•

In the Music Together class, children experience an assortment of musical activities designed tostimulate exploration and discovery. Children's natural learning cycle of play, discovery, repetition
and mastery is engaged.

20Children’s sensitive period for movement•

Because movement is an essential developmental tool for children, all levels of movement
are found in the Music Together experience. Fingerplays, small movement, large movement,
movement in place and through space (locomotor), group dances, movement that crosses the
midline of the body, and movement involved in using rhythm instruments such as egg shakers
and rhythm sticks are all utilized.

•

Maria Montessori realized movement needs purpose. Moving to songs and chants both stimulates
physical development and feeds the sensitive period for socialization. Movement enables children
to communicate with others through song, have a sense of belonging in the culture, and explore
and master physical expression at their own level of interest and ability.

The child’s universal desire to belong•

Music Together activities are designed to be accessible and interesting for all styles of learning.
The visual learner, the auditory learner, and the kinesthetic learner are all appreciated, respected,
and supported, allowing each to feel a sense of belonging.

•Children's ideas and movements are "accepted and included" by the specialist. When a threeyear-old sees his movement incorporated into a song activity—or leads the next movement for thewhole class!—the feeling that "I belong" is affirmed.

Actions, not instructions
The children learn music through watching, listening, absorbing, and—when they are ready—participating. The Music Together specialist therefore introduces song activities simply by moving
and singing, with no spoken instruction or directives.

Experiencing the whole first
A song is introduced by being sung in its entirety, with children free to join in at any time and in any
way they wish. This allows children to respond according to their own developmental level. Music
Together does not break songs into pieces and teach them a piece at a time.

Children’s need for repetition
The music specialist recognizes children's need for repetition, yet will also introduce incremental
variation—differences in tempo and dynamics, as well as simple substitutions—to provide experience
over time with musical principles and improvisation.

Children’s sensitive period for order
The music class provides certain ritual moments: the opening “Hello Song,” the lullaby, and theclosing song, "Goodbye, So Long, Farewell." These ritual activities provide a comforting predictability
within the changing components of the week-to-week lesson plan.

What the young child experiences and takes in remains a part of the child,within his unconscious and conscious mind and memory for life!
•

Music Together provides a rich musical experience, with twenty-five songs offered in each songcollection. Children gain a repertoire of fifty to seventy-five songs a year—what a wonderfulfoundation for a life-long love of music and music-making!

•

The Music Together curriculum builds a foundation for future music learning.

Musical comparing and contrasting•

Each Music Together collection includes a mix of original songs and traditional tunes from thefolk, jazz, and world music traditions. This range of musical styles provides children with a richmusic experience that stimulates and supports their growing music skills and understanding.
21Music Together Preschool Aligns with
Reggio Emilia Principles
The Image of the Child
Music Together views children as highly competent learners, co-creators of their own learning,
innovators of new possibilities, naturally joyful and expressive, open to suggestions, emulators of
all that surrounds them, and significant influencers of each other and of adults in their lives. Music
Together’s image of the child forms a basis for all planning; problem-solving; work with children,
teachers, and parents; assessment of progress; and continuous improvements.

Partnership with Children•

Music Together gently works with children as caring and skillful partners in musical samplings,
explorations, and expressions and allows for and accommodates differences in learning styles,
personalities, and individual readiness.

•

Music Together includes children’s interests, ideas, cultures, and contributions and helps to build
self-confidence, self-sufficiency, and high self-esteem.

Joy in Everything•

Music Together offers joyful experiences in music and movement throughout the program. The
guidelines, encouragements, and modeling are all designed to be positive in every aspect of thesessions.

•

Music Together provides guidance for extending the Music Together elements into the flow of
the school day and using them in a variety of ways. Some are for musical transitions between
activities and for arriving in class and going home; augmenting dramatic play, group andindividual explorations, and projects; and for revisiting the experiences that the children had
during the Music Together sessions.

The Image of the Teacher•

Music Together views the music teachers and the classroom teachers as competent and caring
professionals who are supportive and significant contributors to children’s musical growth when
given adequate information and opportunities. They also serve as powerful role models whenparticipating with children in musical learning activities.

The Processes of Exploring and Expressing•

Music Together assists adults and children in collaborating to explore new areas of learning,
revisit known areas for reinforcement and new discoveries, and to find new ways for expressing
ideas, feelings, and possibilities for enhanced relationships.

•

Music Together provides songbooks, song cards, and music CDs for each collection for use in
the classroom to support explorations and extending the learning outside of the Music Together
sessions.

The Role of TimeMusic Together provides music and movement experiences that are compatible with the rhythms ofchildren at different ages and guides teachers in adapting to the receptivity of each learning groupand the sustainability of each musical activity.

22

A Community of Learners•

Music Together builds a compelling learning environment of music, movement, and thematic
treatments that are engaging for children.

•

Music Together supports each individual child’s needs for being accepted, understood, andappreciated; having influence with their peers and adults; and accomplishing wonderful things
with their learning group through music and movement.

•

Music Together guides and supports productive group processes and assists children in taking
leadership and in learning how to become effective group members.

The Role of the Environment
Music Together structures a learning environment that is compelling and reinforces an energetic,
joyful, and productive experience for children and adults. It includes musical instruments and, on
occasion, supportive materials, such as scarves, kitchen utensils, teddy bears, dramatic play items,
and toys of various kinds. It also provides for equitable participation by all children, a communal
experience while making music and moving with the songs, and opportunities to play along with
instruments.

An Emergent Curriculum•

Music Together incorporates children’s interests and fascinations into the Music Together sessions
as a primary vehicle for immediate, complex, comprehensive, and sustained learning.

•

Music Together invites children to contribute ideas, lyrics, gestures, large movement ideas, andmusical instrument play as valued influences for the group.

A Project Approach
Music Together supports a project approach through its structure of musical activities that engage
children and their classroom teachers in revisiting songs each session, stimulating further interest
and research into elements that relate to the Music Together experiences, inspiring children to add on
to the musical experiences during Music Together sessions, encouraging children to expand on theirinterests and incorporate the Music Together music into their classroom activities, and stimulating
children to continue with various in-depth explorations and expressions.

The 100 Languages of Children•

Music Together provides immersion in several of the over 100 languages that children experienceand can develop as part of their multiple intelligences. A few that Music Together provides that
support holistic and comprehensive learning and development are singing; rhyming; chanting;tones, pitches, and scales; storytelling; various musical instruments; dancing; gestures; facial
expressions; emotions; graphic illustration; musical notation; math; speaking; and reading.

•Music Together employs many materials and processes to encourage and support learning,such as CDs with songs, chants, instrumentals, tonal patterns, and poems; songbooks withsongs, illustrations, and guidelines for teachers and family members; a wide array of musicalinstruments; supporting items, such as scarves, toys, and things from home; small, medium, andlarge gestures; facial expressions; large body movements; moving around and dancing; dramatic
play; counting; reading; introduction of new words, animals, and diverse characters; song cards
to reinforce and extend the musical experience and bridge to other learning domains; andtreatment of diverse cultural elements.

23

The Image of the Parent and Family•

Music Together views parents, family members, and extended family members as essential
partners in comprehensive collaboration to build and sustain a dynamic and rich musical learningand development environment for their children.

•

Music Together believes that parents and family members are often a child’s first and strongest
educational influences and supporters of ongoing learning and development.

•

Music Together provides songbooks; music CDs for home and travel; DVDs for orientation on
how children develop musical appreciation and competence; newsletters; an online musicalinstrument store; and opportunities to participate in their child’s weekly Music Together sessions
and periodic sing-alongs at school.

The Importance of Relationships•

Music Together believes in and establishes relationships with children, staff members, parents,and family members that are friendly, safe, and supportive and are the basis for effective learningand development.

•

Music Together develops and nourishes relationships that are respectful, gentle, caring,collaborative, invigorating, diverse, imaginative, and adventurous.

•

Music Together conducts its sessions so that there is mutual and equitable support among all
participants, and mutual influence is invited and encouraged to flow in all directions, including
among children, teachers, parents, and family members.

The Image of the School•

Music Together views the school as an essential community institution where diverse influences
can support optimal learning and development for children, their families, and the community.

•

Music Together augments and supports the curriculum with unique music and movement
experiences that contribute to enhancing all learning throughout the school program.

The Image of the Community•

Music Together views the community and context in which the school is situated as an important
influence and potential contributor to learning and development in school and in the Music
Together sessions and related activities.

•

Music Together incorporates community and cultural influences in its lesson plans and in its
activities with children and teachers.

24Music Together Supports
HighScope Preschool Curriculum
Research-based, Developmental Approach
The Music Together curriculum and HighScope derive from the same principles—namely adevelopmental rather than instructional approach to early education based on active, participatory learning.
The following principles are integral to both program models:•

The modeling of parents, caregivers, and teachers to support children’s active learning
experiences.

•

Developmentally appropriate content that is presented through engaging materials and activities.

•

Children’s participation in shaping the flow of activity that is facilitated by teachers and parents.

•

A research-based approach to learning and education that is continually developed and validated.

The harmony of HighScope and Music Together also lies in the people behind the program
development. Dr. Lyn Ransom, coauthor of Music Together Preschool with Kenneth K. Guilmartin and
Dr. Lili Levinowitz, also created the original music program for David Weikhart and HighScope. She
served as a HighScope author and teacher trainer before joining the Music Together staff.

Partners in Learning
Music Together clarifies teachers’ roles as music catalysts (as opposed to music instructors) throughthe articulation of teaching principles that align with, and support, HighScope’s adult-child interaction
approach to education and development. These teaching principles help to guide classroom staff
in leading music experiences that engage and delight children, offer ample opportunity for active
learning, and help teachers to find a sense of playfulness while they teach. For example:•“Accept and include,” which refers to incorporating a child’s movement or music suggestion intoa song or movement activity. This teaching principle helps all children learn that they have valid
music and movement ideas, and encourages children—and teachers—to experiment and play
freely with music without concerns about making a “mistake.”•“Build relationships through music and movement,” which refers to interacting through the arts
rather than just learning about them. This teaching principle enhances the relationship between
teachers and children by giving the teacher ways to use music and movement as a means ofcommunication that is nonverbal and direct, yet playful.

Curriculum Content Areas
The Music Together curriculum can support many of the Key Developmental Indicators (KDI’s) in
HighScope’s curriculum content areas, such as: engagement in learning, problem-solving, socialand emotional development, physical development, and language and literacy. Music Together also
directly supports the Creative Arts curriculum content area for HighScope’s Movement and Music
curriculum, which can be enhanced by Music Together activities and materials.

HighScope Classroom and Daily Routine
The HighScope Classroom and Daily Routine can be enriched through the Music Together curriculum,
which includes the following key program model components:•

Each semester, children, teachers, primary caregivers, and parents are exposed to a songcollection that is research-based and artistically conceived and produced. Supplemental
25

materials (classroom teacher guide, family songbook, SongCards) enhance and extend thelearning experience for the children by providing teachers and parents with a variety of music andmovement activities designed to stimulate and support music learning.
•

Led by a trained music specialist and based on an activity template or routine, each session
includes a variety of music and movement activities and opportunities for instrument-play. Song
materials, movement activities, and instruments are also available for children and teachers toplay with throughout the day, at circle time, and during transitions, to enrich learning in othercurricular areas, as well as in the classroom’s music-making area.

•

Music Together provides each family with a CD and songbook that includes the same songs
children and teachers are singing and moving to at school, which can help to create a tangible
connection between the home and the classroom. Teachers are encouraged to facilitate
at-home music-making, which promotes fun and family bonding and also supports music,
language, physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development at home. Song activities
suggested in the family songbook can be facilitated during family-school events, helping todeepen the parents’ connection to the school and to their child’s classroom.

Relationships: Central to Learning
Like HighScope, Music Together emphasizes the importance of the adult-child interaction andrelationship. Music Together trainings, in-service workshops, and supportive materials provide
teachers with guidance on how to interact musically with children, regardless of music training or
skill, giving them the tools they need to form a music-learning relationship with each child. Also,
through singing, moving, and responding to the rhythm patterns and tonal patterns on the CDs,classroom teachers may find that they, too, are developing musically along with the children andparents.

Monitoring and Maintaining Quality
The music and movement section of High Scope’s Child Observation Record can be used in any
classroom with Music Together. In addition, the music specialists who teach weekly can assesschildren’s development in tonal and rhythm competency by using the Music Together Observation
Record. This record can also be used to document music areas and circle areas, materials, activities,
equipment, teacher-child interactions, and support for music at home. This checklist is designed
to make roles, teaching principles, and materials specific, so understanding can be shared andimprovements made.

Training Model
Music Together supports an active teaching and learning community through:•Online videos, webinars, and interactive teacher websites.

•

In-person workshops held nationwide throughout the year.

•

Ongoing teacher development in the classroom during the weekly active music-making visits by
the Music Together specialist, along with post-class discussions, regular in-service workshops,
and individual mentoring embedded in the program model.

•

Nationally, internationally, and locally, teachers share ideas, concerns, breakthroughs, and songpresenting techniques, thus raising the general level of teaching.

26

®

Music Together Supports the
IB Primary Years ProgrammeMusic Together is rooted in a child-centered, research-based, developmentally appropriate approach toearly childhood music education that involves children’s primary caregivers in their music development
journey. With the mission to make the world a better place by making it more musical, Music Together alsoseeks to build community through music. The Music Together approach to education positions children
as agents of their own learning, and supports learning through participatory and active music experiencesthat support the development of the whole child.
Music Together aligns with and supports the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) for children(ages 3–5) in the following ways:
Music Together fosters children’s intercultural understanding and respect.
Music Together’s music represents a diverse range of music traditions, styles, cultures, and genres that
help to foster children’s international-mindedness. All decisions regarding the songs chosen as a partof Music Together’s offerings are informed by recommendations, guidance, and counsel from a rotating
panel of experts in ethnomusicology, music history, music education, and culture. These experts provide
information and guidance on the appropriateness of songs for families in a diverse, global community.
Music Together supports all 10 IB learner profile attributes.
Inquirers••

Activities naturally support children’s inquiry skills and their curiosity.
When integrated with other subjects, music can also enhance enthusiasm and love of learning, inaddition to helping children to become life-long music-makers.

Knowledgeable• Many songs and chants support concept and content knowledge.
Thinkers• Songs and chants with word, verse, and movement variation opportunities support critical andcreative thinking skills.
Communicators• Songs and chants with word, verse, and movement variation opportunities support one’s own
creative expression and respect for others’ ideas.
Principled• Research1 has shown that group music-making (like in Music Together classes) supports groupcohesion, cooperation, and prosocial behavior.
Open-minded• Music Together is committed to including music from other cultures and traditions, and to authenticallyand accurately present that music in ways that support cultural appreciation and respect.
Caring• Music Together is committed to including music from other cultures and traditions, and to authenticallyand accurately present that music in ways that support cultural appreciation and respect.
• Research2 has shown that group music-making (like in Music Together classes) supports increased
empathy among preschool children.
Kirschner, S. & M. Tomasello. (2009). Joint drumming: Social context facilitates synchronization in preschool children.
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 102, pp. 299-314.
1

2

Kirschner & Tomasello. (2009)27

Risk-takers•

Songs and chants with word, verse, and movement variation opportunities support children’s
comfort and determination with trying new things and putting themselves in challenging situations(e.g., sharing with the group).

Balanced• Music and movement activities simultaneously nurture and develop a child’s mind, body, and spirit.
Reflective• Music Together activities engage children’s natural learning cycle of play, discovery, reflection,
repetition, and mastery.
Music Together supports children’s developing Approaches to Learning.
•

Thinking Skills: Activities with word substitution, verse variation, and movement variation
opportunities support children’s creative thinking skills.

•

Research Skills: Songs and rhythmic chants in different meters, as well as Music Together’s
inclusion of rhythm and tonal patterns, provide opportunities for comparing and contrasting.

•Communication Skills: Participatory music experiences with substitution and variation
opportunities support the development of active listening skills.

•

Social Skills: Group music-making supports children’s social skill development.

•

Self-management skills: Active music-making can support children’s executive function skills,
including working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control, all of which are important toself-management.

28

Music Together Curriculum Supports the
National Association for Music Education (NAfME)
Program Standards
PreK-K
Creating
Common Anchor #1: Imagine•

Includes a non-formal approach that is developmentally appropriate for young children so thatthey can participate freely in music and movement activities. (MU:Cr1.1.PKa/ MU:Cr1.1.Ka)•

Supports children’s disposition to create their own songs, movement, and accompaniments.
(MU:Cr1.1.Kb)

Common Anchor #2: Plan and Make•

Includes opportunities for improvisation of lyrics, melody, body movement and rhythmic
accompaniment to a variety of songs and movement activities. (MU:Cr2.1.PKa/ MU:Cr2.1.Ka)•

Includes opportunities for creating and improvising tonal and rhythm patterns. (MU:Cr2.1.PKa/
MU:Cr2.1.Ka)•

Includes recordings that serve as a home support for creating music and improvising.
(MU:Cr2.1.PKa/ MU:Cr2.1.Ka)•

Includes an adult education component to support and encourage the adults in children’s lives toextend improvisation and creation to the home or classroom. (MU:Cr2.1.PKa/ MU:Cr2.1.Ka)•

Provides a songbook that includes engaging, child-friendly illustrations, ideas for the adult to use
the songs at home, and pages where children can invent and use their own original graphic orsymbolic systems to represent vocal and instrumental sounds and musical ideas. (MU:Cr2.1.PKb/
MU:Cr2.1.Kb)

Common Anchor #3: Evaluate and Refine•

The Music Together Teacher Training prepares early childhood music specialists to facilitate
developmentally appropriate music classes that engage children in active decision-making
processes to demonstrate and refine their music ideas and in understanding how to informallyevaluate children’s rhythm and tonal development so that they can offer scaffolding
opportunities. (MU:Cr3.1.PKa/ MU:Cr3.1.Ka)

Performing
Common Anchor #4: Select•Includes American folk, multicultural, and newly composed songs in various tonalities, metersand musical styles. Early Childhood Music Specialists are trained to honor and include children’s
ideas for lesson planning and music activity development. (MU:Pr4.1.PKa/ MU:Pr4.1.Ka)•

Includes activities where children can select and experiment with a variety of instruments andother sound sources such as “kitchen equipment” while accompanying singing and recorded
music. (MU:Pr4.1.PKa/ MU:Pr4.1.Ka)

29

Common Anchor #4: Interpret•

Includes song, chants, and speaking activities that encourage children to use their voices
expressively. (MU:Pr4.3.PKa/ MU:Pr4.3.Ka)•

Includes opportunities to sing, play instruments, move, or verbalize to demonstrate awareness ofthe expressive elements of music such as rhythm, dynamics, tempo and mood. (MU:Pr4.3.PKa/
MU:Pr4.3.Ka)

Responding
Common Anchor #7: Analyze•

Includes opportunities to identify and create sources of a wide variety of sounds such as a guitar,car horn, etc. while singing, moving, and playing instruments. (MU:Re7.2.PKa)•

Includes opportunities for children to play accompaniments that are based on the “levels of beat”[macro/micro/elongation/diminution]. (MU:Re7.2.Ka)•

Includes a songbook where children can identify the instruments and environmental sounds thatthey hear on the recording with the illustrations. (MU:Re7.2.PKa/MU:Re7.2.Ka)

Common Anchor #8: Interpret•

Includes opportunities to use their own ideas to create a wide variety of sounds such as a guitar,car horn while singing, moving, and playing instruments. (MU:Re8.1.PKa)•

Includes opportunities for children to use their own vocabulary, and standard music vocabulary,
to describe voices and instruments from diverse cultures. (MU:Re8.1.Ka)

Connecting
Common Anchor #10: Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal
experiences to make music•

Includes opportunities to demonstrate a disposition to use music as part of daily life bycoordinating and making music and movement relationships. (MU:Cn10.0.PKa/ MU:Cn10.0.Ka)

Common Anchor #11: Relate musical ideas and works with varied context todeepen understanding•

Includes a songbook that has engaging illustrations and has ideas for grownups on how to use themusic and movement activities in their daily lives. (MU:Cn11.0.PKa/ MU:Cn11.0.Ka)•

Includes opportunities to demonstrate a disposition to use music as part of daily life bycoordinating and making music and movement relationships. (MU:Cn11.0.PKa/ MU:Cn11.0.Ka)•

Includes recordings that are artistically conceived and support and encourage children andgrownups alike to make music as part of their daily lives. (MU:Cn11.0.PKa/ MU:Cn11.0.Ka)•

Includes an adult education component to support and encourage the adults in children’s lives
to extend their growing understanding of music to the home or classroom. (MU:Cn11.0.PKa/
MU:Cn11.0.Ka)•

Includes “Take Home Flyers” for parents of children participating in the Music Together In School
curriculum that connect how music supports learning in other domains such as language,
cognitive, social-emotional, physical, and approaches to learning. (MU:Cn11.0.PKa/ MU:Cn11.0.Ka)•

Includes an on-line Family Music Zone where parents can find song activities, inspiring videos,
informative articles, helpful tips and how-to’s, coloring pages, concert clips with the Music
Together “family” heard on the recordings, and more. (MU:Cn11.0.PKa/ MU:Cn11.0.Ka)•

Singalong Storybooks that are beautifully illustrated picture books that bring favorite Music
Together songs to life and inspire bonding, pre-literacy skill development, and imaginative play
between children and their favorite adults. (MU:Cn11.0.PKa/ MU:Cn11.0.Ka)
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®

Music Together Supports CLASS(Classroom Assessment Scoring System)
Music Together is a research-based music and movement curriculum dedicated to nurturing every
child’s innate musicality. The Music Together curriculum is rooted in Developmentally Appropriate
Practice and the importance of the adult as a model for the young child, therefore the teachingapproach, activities, and curriculum content provide early childhood educators with teachingprocesses that support and deepen positive adult-child interactions in the early childhood classroom.
The Classroom Assessment Scoring System® (Infant, Toddler, and Pre-K) is a research-based
measurement system that captures effective teacher-child interactions that support children’s socialemotional, behavioral, and cognitive development.
Music Together supports the following domains and dimensions in the CLASS Pre-K-3rd 2nd Edition:

Emotional Support Domain
Positive Climate Dimension
Direct Link to Selected Indicators: Relationships / Enjoyment / Respect• Music Together creates group music experiences that solidify bonds among children andbetween children and teachers, promoting a sense of community.
• The Music Together repertoire and processes create a joyful atmosphere in the classroom, which
promotes positive affect in the classroom.
Indirect Link to Selected Indicators: Positive Communication• Music Together repertoire broadens the classroom professional’s opportunities and methods for
positive communication for Staff-Child Interactions.
Teacher Sensitivity Dimension
Direct Link to Selected Indicators: Awareness / Responsiveness• Music Together includes an non-performance-oriented approach that is responsive to children’s
needs and interests so that young children can be comfortable to participate freely in music andmovement activities without performance pressure.
Indirect Link to Selected Indicators: Problem Resolution / Student Comfort• The Music Together approach is designed to include all children, both typically abled and thosewith special needs, which can promote student comfort in the classroom and provide teacherswith a new method through which to support student comfort.
• Music Together activities provide opportunities for children to express their own musical ideas
and have those ideas validated by their class, providing teachers with an opportunity to support
each individual child’s needs to be accepted, understood, and appreciated, contributing tostudent comfort in the classroom.
Regard for Child Perspectives Dimension
Direct Link to Selected Indicators: Child-Centered / Support for Autonomy and Leadership /Child Expression / Allows Movement• Music Together includes variation and substitution opportunities for student-focused improvisationof lyrics, melody, body movement, and rhythmic accompaniment to a variety of songs andmovement activities, supporting children’s autonomy, leadership, self-expression, and choice.
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Selected Music Together activities elicit student-focused opportunities for children to select andexperiment with a variety of instruments and other sound sources accompanying singing andrecorded music, which fosters autonomy and leadership.
Music Together includes opportunities for children to move freely, and express themselves
through instruments and verbalization.
Music Together repertoire includes activities that support children’s interests, ideas, andcontributions, helping to build self-confidence, self-sufficiency, and high self-esteem, allcontributing to student comfort in the classroom.
Some Music Together songs and processes prompt and encourage child-directed thought andlearning by inviting, accepting, and including children’s suggestions into music and movementclass activities.

Classroom Organization Domain
Behavior Management Dimension
Direct Link to Selected Indicators: Proactive• Certain songs and song variations found in the Music Together repertoire provide classroom
teachers with proactive ways to prevent children’s misbehaviors in a developmentally
appropriate way through music.
Indirect Link to Selected Indicators: Child Behavior• Certain songs and song variations found in the Music Together repertoire support children’sdevelopment of impulse and inhibitory control, emotion knowledge, attention-shifting skills, andthe ability to follow simple directions.
Productivity Dimension
Direct Link to Selected Indicators: Opportunities for Learning / Routines / Transitions / Preparation• Music Together builds routines and smooth transitions into each class lesson plan, andprovides classroom teachers with music-based strategies that enhance daily class routines andtransitions, as well as providing learning opportunities within them.
• The Music Together curriculum maximizes learning time by having planned activities fromthe start to the finish of each music session that support children’s early learning and music
development.
Instructional Learning Format Dimension
Direct Link to Selected Indicators: Effective Facilitation / Variation in Approach / Child Interest• Music Together’s approach to teaching supports effective facilitation through adult modelling.
• Music Together naturally supports children’s approaches to learning through multi-modal
activities and hands-on materials such as instruments and props. Because music-making is somuch fun, Music Together activities can help children become more engaged in the classroom
and more motivated to learn.
• Music Together employs materials and processes that maintain and encourage student interest,
such as recordings and songbooks with songs and illustrations that can be used in the classroom
to integrate music and movement into daily lives and to support children’s learning.
• Music Together recognizes that the participation and modeling of teachers and caregivers isessential to a child’s musical growth; their participation provides facilitation for a young child as
they learn and develop through music activities.
• Music Together provides guidance for extending the Music Together music activities into theflow of the school day. Classroom teachers learn to use the Music Together repertoire in a variety
of ways, such as transitions, arriving in class/going home, augmenting dramatic play, group andindividual explorations, and projects.
Indirect Link to Selected Indicators: Clarity of Learning Objectives• Music Together’s songbook for teachers includes information on how to develop music activities
that support the planning of learning objectives that integrate music and movement to support
learning goals.
32Instructional Support Domain
Concept Development Dimension
Direct Link to Selected Indicators: Creativity / Integration / Connections to Everyday Lives• Select Music Together activities involving instrument play support reasoning and problemsolving, and expose children to cause-and-effect relationships.
• Music Together songs that include real world connections support conceptual knowledge of thenatural and physical world.
• Music Together supports children’s disposition to create their own songs, movements, andaccompaniments.
Language Modeling Dimension
Direct Link to Selected Indicators: Advanced Language• Music Together song activities support children’s vocabulary development.
Music Together supports the following domains and dimensions in the CLASS Toddler (15–36 months) Tool:

Emotional and Behavioral Support Domain
Positive Climate Dimension
Direct Link to Selected Indicators: Relationships / Positive Affect/ Respect• Music Together creates group music experiences that solidify peer connections among toddlers,and between toddlers and teachers, promoting a sense of community.
• Music Together repertoire includes songs, chants, and movement activities that represent
varying energy levels that allow for rich reciprocal interaction among toddlers and teachers.
• The Music Together repertoire and processes create a joyful atmosphere in the classroom, which
promotes positive climate in the classroom.
Teacher Sensitivity Dimension
Indirect Link to Selected Indicators: Awareness / Responsiveness / Child Comfort• The Music Together approach is designed to include all children, both typically abled and thosewith special needs, which can promote student comfort in the classroom and provide teacherswith a new method through which to support student comfort.
• Music Together’s supportive classroom materials (recordings and songbooks) give classroom
teachers musical tools, knowledge, and a platform through which to interact and communicate
with their toddlers in positive, sensitive, and responsive ways.
Regard for Student Perspectives Dimension
Direct Link to Selected Indicators: Child Focus / Flexibility / Support for Independence• Music Together uses the developmentally appropriate practice of “accept and include” wheremusic and movement activity variations are developed by following the lead of toddlers,honoring and respecting their creative contributions.
• Music Together activities incorporate toddlers’ interests and fascinations as a primary vehicle for
immediate, complex, comprehensive, and sustained learning.
Behavior Guidance Dimension
Indirect Link to Selected Indicators: Supporting Positive Behavior / Problem Behavior• Various songs and song variations found in the Music Together repertoire support toddlers’development of impulse and inhibitory control, emotion knowledge, attention-shifting skills, andthe ability to follow simple directions, while providing classroom teachers with positive ways toredirect behaviors.

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Engaged Support for Learning Domain
Facilitation of Learning and Development Dimension
Direct Link to Selected Indicators: Active Facilitation / Children’s Active Engagement• Music Together recognizes that Music Learning Supports All Learning®, which provides teacherswith unique ways to actively facilitate activities that support toddlers’ social-emotional,
cognitive, language, and physical development.
• Music Together classroom materials allow toddlers to be visually and tactilely involved as they
manipulate them as part of the Music Together class or in their free play.
• Since music-making is so much fun, Music Together activities can help toddlers become moreengaged in the classroom.
• Music Together recognizes that the participation and modeling of teachers and caregivers isessential to a child’s musical growth. Their participation provides scaffolding, encouragement,
and affirmation for a young child as they learn and develop.
Language Modeling Dimension
Direct Link to Selected Indicators: Advanced Language• Music Together activities support labelling of words and concepts through the lyrics of the songs
and chants.
• Music Together song activities support children’s vocabulary development.
Music Together supports the following domains and dimensions in the CLASS Infant (0–18 months) Tool:

Responsive Caregiving Domain
Relational Climate Dimension
Direct Link to Selected Indicators: Proximity / Eye contact / Joint attention• The Music Together activities and approach to teaching include:• Moving with an infant, such as rocking for a lullaby, gently bouncing, or moving across theroom.
• Dyadic focus between a caregiver and an infant with accompanying movement that fosters
eye contact and joint attention.
• Movement and singing for an infant using a calm voice and gentle movement all the while
making eye contact.
Teacher Sensitivity Dimension
Selected Indicators: Responsiveness / Infant Comfort• The Music Together approach and design of activities shows classroom teachers how to use
music to respond to infants’ emotions and needs.
Facilitated Exploration Dimension
Direct Link to Selected Indicators: Involvement / Infant Focused / Expansion of Infants’ Experience• Music Together activities enable the teacher to initiate interactions that mirror the infant’s
behavior all the while joining in the joyful music experience.
• The flexibility in the development of Music Together activities allows the teacher to follow thechild’s lead by accepting and including infant’s choices for rudimentary song development.
Early Language Support
Direct Link to Selected Indicators: Teacher Talk / Communication Support• The Music Together activities can be adapted for general use in the classroom, enabling teachers
to describe classroom events through music.
• The lyrics to selected Music Together songs provide opportunities to label objects throughsinging.

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•

Music Together songs provide a rich language experience that includes complete and varied
sentences while singing.
Music Together’s “songs without words” (songs sung on specific vocables, or phonemes) provide
opportunities for a teacher to accept and include sounds or words that an infant initiates,
offering novelty for continued repetition that supports infants’ natural learning cycle of play,
discovery, repetition, and mastery.
Music Together’s technique of singing with an infant when they coo and gurgle by imitating andvarying the lyrics of the song to include the sounds the baby is making can support an infant’s
emerging communication skills.

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Music Together Supports the Early Childhood
Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-3) and Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS-3)
Music Together is a music and movement curriculum dedicated to nurturing every child’s innate
musicality. The Music Together curriculum is rooted in Developmentally Appropriate Practice specificto the music classroom and hence the teaching approach, activities, and curriculum content provide
early childhood educators with teaching processes that support and deepen positive adult-childinteractions in the early childhood classroom.
The Music Together curriculum supports the following subscales in the ECERS-3 and ITERS-3
Environment Rating Scales:

Space and Furnishings Subscale
Room Arrangement
Music Together professionals can provide guidance for creating a rich music area that encourages
both children’s group and individual exploration of music to extend the elements of the music
activities in the class experience.
Display for Children
Music Together curriculum includes developmentally appropriate materials for use by children thatenhance the music making experience and the classroom environment; they can be left for children
to play with during free time.

Language and Books (ITERS-3)/Language and Literacy (ECERS-3) Subscales
Encouraging Vocabulary Development• English Language Development: Dual-language learners can benefit from the English language
experiences provided through music, since elements of words may be more available to a childwhen sung than when spoken. This is due to both the repetition and the slightly slower overalltempo of singing compared to speech.
• Receptive Language: Music Together song activities support children’s listening skills, vocabularydevelopment, and the ability to recognize and discriminate sounds.
• Expressive Language: Many Music Together songs allow children to practice the manipulation ofsounds in language, and expose them to alliteration and variation in syllable stress. The Music
Together songbooks provide opportunities for musical storytelling.
• Symbolic representation in the Music Together songbooks (in terms of words, illustrations, andmusical notes) allow children to form correlations between the written word, images, musicalnotation, and the songs they are singing.
Staff Use of Books with Children• Each child receives a songbook, and they are encouraged to explore and interact with the
songbook independently or as a group.
• There are Music Together Singalong Storybooks available to supplement the music activities.
They are beautifully illustrated picture books that bring favorite Music Together Songs to life
and inspire bonding, pre-literacy development, and imaginative play between children and theirfavorite adults.
• Music Together songbooks and Singalong Storybooks help to familiarize children with printmaterials through music. The songbooks can be used independently or for shared literacy
activities between adults and children.

36Encouraging Children’s Use of Books• Each child receives a songbook, and they are encouraged to explore and interact with the
songbook independently.
• Music Together Singalong Storybooks are available as board books, which young children can use
on their own to foster their natural learning cycle of play, discovery, repetition, and mastery.

Activities (ITERS-3)/Learning Activities (ECER-3) Subscales
Fine Motor• Music Together includes fingerplays and instrument play alongs that foster hand-eye coordination
as well as hand and finger dexterity.
Music and Movement• Classroom teachers are guided in ways to incorporate music into the daily classroom routine andon how music can inform and enhance learning in other disciplines.
• Music Together includes opportunities to sing, play instruments, move, and verbalize todemonstrate awareness of the expressive element of music such as rhythm, dynamics, tempo,
and mood.
• Music Together is aligned with principal educational ideas, standards, philosophies, and curricula.
Dramatic Play• Music Together repertoire includes engaging songs and chants that create opportunities forstorytelling and dramatic play.
Math/number• Some Music Together songs incorporate numbers, counting, and quantity, which give children a
fun and different way to explore math concepts.
• Music Together’s songs and rhythmic chants familiarize children with concepts of pattern,sequencing, and proportion, all reinforced through repetition.
Appropriate Use of Technology• Music Together includes award-winning recordings that are artistically conceived and support andencourage children to make music through singing, improvisation, and creative movement as partof their daily lives in the classroom and at home.
Promoting Acceptance of Diversity• Music Together repertoire includes songs from many different cultures, some in different
languages, as well as newly composed songs in various tonalities, meters and musical styles.
Gross Motor• The Music Together curriculum incorporates large movement activities that support motor
coordination, body awareness, body control, and balance.

Interaction Subscale
Peer Interaction• Music Together includes songs, chants, and movement activities that can be developed as
partner activities that adults can model during class and subsequently can be replicated while
playing with others.
Staff-Child Interaction• Music Together repertoire broadens the classroom professional’s content for Staff-ChildInteractions.

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Program Structure Subscale
Schedule and Transitions• Music Together builds routines and smooth transitions into each class lesson plan, and provides
classroom teachers with music-based strategies that enhance daily class routines and transitions.
Free Play• The participatory Music Together class experience encourages creative expression andimprovisation, and the use of music and movement during free play is encouraged andsupported.
• Music Together activities include opportunities for children to select and experiment with avariety of instruments and other sound sources while accompanying singing and recorded music,
which extends to free play.
Group Play Activities• By its very nature, music is fun and engaging for young children. Group music-making is the focusof the Music Together class and serves as the foundation for small group and individual creative
expression and improvisation during free play opportunities.

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Music Together LLC
Hopewell NJ USA—
www.musictogether.com(800) 728-2692 x399
in-school@musictogether.com