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Local Voices

Babies and 100-Year-Olds Making Music Together in Carlsbad

Kate Battenfeld, Neighbor

Around the country and around the world, in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and senior residences, elders are bonding with babies and toddlers through music-making, created by the international award-winning early childhood music program Music Together.®     

In Carlsbad, some of the most successful Music Together “Intergenerational” classes in the country are held each week at Las Villas de Carlsbad and Madonna Hill, where people as old as 100 join Music Together classes with young children on-site at their senior residence. Kate Battenfeld, Director of Joyful Jumping Music Together, explains, “This is a highlight of the week for many senior residents. Some of them simply come to life when they are watching the class. Others love tapping their feet and shaking the instruments along with the kids. And the children love it, too.  There is an instant connection. Many of these seniors grandparents (and great-grandparents!) who have grandchildren living far away and cannot see them as often as they would like. We are happy to give them a chance to watch and participate in a class filled with young children and their parents playing and singing. Music Together directors like myself are very happy to be doing this in Carlsbad and around the world.”  

Helping children and their grownups bond through music, and discover the joy and critical educational value of early music experiences are among the key missions of Music Together.

Battenfeld adds, “Strangers or not, within minutes everyone is part of our music-making family at these classes. The idea that music bonds people is never more obvious and meaningful than during the time we spend at our ‘grandma and grandpa’ homes.”

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Celebrating its 25th Anniversary, Music Together is an internationally recognized early childhood music and movement program for children birth through age seven. The Music Together curriculum was coauthored in 1987 by Kenneth K. Guilmartin (Founder/Director) and Rowan University Professor of Music Education Dr. Lili M. Levinowitz (Director of Research) and offers programs for families; schools; at-risk populations; and children with special needs, in over 2000 communities in 40 countries.. The company is passionately committed to bringing children and their caregivers closer through shared music-making and helping people discover the joy—and educational value—of early music experiences.   

For more information about classes at Joyful Jumping Music Together and to register, call (760) 730 – 1956, or go to www.joyfuljumpingmt.com  

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