early childhood music
about early childhood music
Palaver Music Center is excited to launch our first Family Music Classes open to children ages 0-5 years old and their caregivers. Using elements of the First Steps in Music method as well as Music Learning Theory, we will nurture our singing voices, develop our senses of rhythm, and encourage our self-expression through music and movement.
Featuring folk songs from an array of cultures, movement, play, and a variety of instruments and props, these classes are designed to teach our kiddos and adults how to interact with each other musically and how to be musical people. Over the course of the session, we will build a common repertoire of songs and activities that you can take home with you to continue all the musical fun!
Classes take place across three 8-week sessions on Friday morning from 10:00 - 10:45am at the Palaver Music Center located at 380 Cumberland Ave. Portland, Maine.
Sign up for Early Childhood Music Classes - 10:00-10:45am Fridays! Click here for a full list of class dates.
The cost of classes is offered at a sliding scale where fees are determined by the families annual household income. You can access the sliding scale here.
Early Childhood Music Instructor
As the third of six kids with a musician mother, it was always my job in the family to entertain the younger ones and music was an essential tool with which to do so. This foundation laid early on in my life led to working with children in various capacities and eventually to my work as an early childhood music teacher at various locations in the Boston area, including Rock and Roll Daycare and the Newtowne School. After moving to Maine, I joined the Little Roots team at 317 Main Community Music Center in Yarmouth and am delighted to expand the fun with Palaver Strings!
I hold a BA in Theatre Studies from Emerson College and am certified in Music Together, but I love combining all my past experience and different theories and materials to create playful, diverse, and educational class experiences.
When not making music with little humans, I can be found roaming the woods with my Akita mix Raven and my Siberian Husky mix Dashiell, playing board games with my husband, reading as much as I can, or looking at the sea.
she/her
Emma Wiegand
early childhood music at our partner sites
Palaver is committed to making regular high quality music education accessible to as many kiddos as possible. In addition to offering weekly ECM classes at our site, we offer weekly classes at five trusted child care organizations in Portland: Youth and Family Outreach and The Opportunity Alliance Head Start Program (Bayside Anchor, Riverton, Marshlands and East End locations).
As we build relationships with young families, we encourage parents to get more involved and enroll their children in string instrument lessons at the age of four or five. Click here for more information on our Strings program.
Our classes are based on Music Learning Theory, a methodology developed by Edwin Gordon, who believed that children learn music best through informal exploratory experiences, just as they learn language. Classes include songs, chants, call-and-response games, one-on-one interaction, and tactile activities using scarves, beanbags, shakers, and parachutes.
If you’re interested in bringing Palaver’s Early Childhood Music classes to your school or daycare, please contact Gwendolyn Matias-Ryan at gwendolyn@palaverstrings.org.
