New Music Therapist at Old Colony Music Together to provide Special Needs Classes

Old Colony Music Together now has a certified music therapist on staff who will be teaching both the signature family classes and classes that are specifically designated as special needs classes.  

The Music Together^® model has always been ideal for differently developing children as each child participates in their own way.  The mixed age model also allows for mixed stages of development.  The relaxed environment of families making music together is warmly inviting for children who may be hesitant in a more formal environment.  Visual learners may choose to sit outside the circle and observe.  Kinesthetic learners may be freely moving around the room and auditory learners may not always show attention through eye contact.  The parents, caregivers and other children are all music making models that create the best possible learning environment for children.  

Music therapist, Ellen Bartos will be able to tailor her lesson plans to better accommodate the needs of the children enrolled in her special needs classes.  Being with other families dealing with similar developmental differences will ideally foster a community beyond the 45 minute a week classes.  

We know that Music Learning Supports All Learning^®.  Making music is a whole brain activity.  When a child learns the words to a song, they are not using just the part of their brain that processes language.  Processing musical notes and passages happens in the same region as processing letters and words, just in the right hemisphere rather than the left, so both hemispheres are working in conjunction. Beat and meter are processed in yet a different region.  Reinforcing the neural pathways formed in making music allows for their use in supporting language, cognitive, spatial and physical development.  

Ellen Bartos will be teaching two free demonstration classes on Friday, August 31st at Old Colony Music Together in Norton at On the Barre Dance Studio, 175 Mansfield Ave in the Great Woods Marketplace. The first class, at 10 AM will be for all children ages 0-5 years old.  The second class, at 11 AM will be tailored for children with special needs, be they developmental delays, physical limitations, autism, downs syndrome or children who would benefit by being in a smaller group.  To register for the free demo, call (508) 838-9815 or sign up online at www.oldcolonymusictogether.com/demos.aspx.  A $50 gift certificate for the fall session beginning September 14th will be raffled off at the demo classes.  Ellen will be teaching in Attleboro on Monday and Tuesday afternoons and in Norton on Friday mornings. 

Classes taught by certified music therapist Ellen Bartos Fall 2012: