Little Maestros is Music to Moms Ears

My kids have no expererience with Little Maestros and I can only echo that they liked Music Together. I was most amused at the comment that Sherri makes about resume building for a pre schooler.

For those of you on the East Side check out the St Vartan's Park Playgroup. It's a public park parent playgroup cooperative meaning parents lead the classes in an adorable one room schoolhouse situated in St. Vartan's Park just off First Ave between East 35th and East 36th Streets. We used to live South of that area and both my kids went to this group. It is worth checking out as its less expensive money wide but does require moms / caregivers/ or dads to be involved.

As for Music for Aadvarks we love his CDs as well but no experience with his classes.

I'm a music together fan as well. Little Maestros sounds like it would be way too much for my daughter (who will often clutch me the first few sessions of just a regular Gymboree class.) She loves the Music Together CD, and they seem to take seriously the idea of actually introducing kids to music theory, not just having lots of entertainment.

Also--forgot to add that Music Together includes lots of opportunities for the kids to play their own instruments--it's not just recorded music. In fact in our first class with them, the teacher played the guitar and let all the toddlers touch it at the end of class.

I am a fan of Music Together. You are right that the music comes from a recording BUT the instructors always engage the kids AND the care givers in form of movements, dances, music instruments, props, etc. I like the more traditional kind of music that is played in MT classes.

Little Maestros, IMHO, is way over the top. It's loud, it's noisy, it's hectic. Unless things changed drastically over the last couple years I think it is more for the parents than it is for the kids.

[...] Last week's post about Little Maestros got a bunch of interesting comments which shows how individual choosing classes for your child can be. Everybody has their particular likes and dislikes, another reason to be thankful we live in NYC where there are so many choices that we can find classes that suit our own tastes. [...]

You forgot to mention how much Little Maestros costs... around $800

Wow.

It looks like music together is doing their normal hit piece on a competitor. They are the Hillary Clinton of the music world.
They will do anything to destroy their competitors, thus as send in chills to bad mouth other people's programs.
Music together is just a well promoted music program that is run with mother's off the street.

"Just like everyone else in Manhattan."

Ms. Margulies should speak for herself.

"I learned quickly that I needed to register my little one for some classes in order to get her resume going to get into a good preschool."

This is sick. Typical of this socialist city to dump a two or three year old into a preschool because the parents can't be bothered teaching/spending time with their kids.

Dump them off and assume that "system" will teach them instead of the family.

Preschool and daycare destroys the child. Makes them part of the collective before they have even had a chance to develop a sense of being a unique individual.

The result: a conformist drone that needs constant reinforcement by the group, as apposed to:

Strong, rugged, confident individualist who could care less what the "collective" thinks of them.

"We will get your Children." Alan Ginsburg

Well, in NYC, they have!

Pathetic.

I'm a cheapo parent who doesn't like to spend a lot on activities for their daughter -- especially now that I'm staying at home and with husband's salary freeze and bonus cut. A new transplant from the UWS to the Park Slope Area, I wanted to find something for my daughter to entertain her and to help me find other mommies. We had demo'd a Little Maestro's class when my now 18 month old was 4 months old. I found it overwhelming for her at that age. However, now it is something we both really look forward to every week. It is exciting, entertaining, and educational. We sing, dance, learn words, letters, new musical instruments, play with bubbles, and her favorite -- the puppet show. I find it's worth it's weight in gold. The musicians are all amazing and probably will be on broadway or performing in some major show some day (if they already haven't). That being said, it is pricey. We can't afford to do anything else so it is our one big splurge. But, along with our membership to Kidville comes the opportunity for free play in the indoor play space (depending on your membership). This has really gotten us through the winter months. We love it and will continue cutting back on certain luxuries in order to see the joy in her face each week.

We did do a Music Together sampler when we lived on the UWS. It was lovely and very appropriate for her at a younger age. I think it would still be nice for her but it would be hard to give up on the wow factor of Maestros.