A LOVE OF MUSIC, A LOVE OF CHILDREN

    I grew up in a musical family. My grandmother played the piano, my mother and aunt played piano and organ, and my brothers and I studied piano and other instruments. There was always music in our home. I played the flute in the band and marching band and taught myself to play enough guitar to accompany campfire singing. I was in several choruses and participated in musical theater.

    I remember a visit to my grandmother when I was a little girl. I asked her what heaven was like and she told me it was anything I wanted it to be. At that time I'm sure my heaven included puppies, kittens, horses and chocolate sundaes. But sometime in my adult life I realized that my heaven had changed and had become music and babies.

    At a family gathering several years ago, my daughter-in-law gave a rave review of the music program she attended with our grandbaby. That was the first time I heard of Music Together. It piqued my interest and I started to think about what a perfect fit such a career would be for me.

    The first step to teaching Music Together was to attend teacher training at the Center for Music and Young Children. With years of early childhood experience and a master's degree in education, I admit I went to the training with a bit of skepticism. But I told myself that the worst that would happen is that I'd spend some time and money to learn a few new songs. Instead I was blown away with the research-based professionalism of Music Together. This was a program that I could embrace wholeheartedly and that is what happened. I am convinced that Music Together is the "gold standard" of early childhood music education and I am proud to be a part of it.