Free Music Together Trial Classes coming up!

Its that time again!  We're gearing up for the start of our 11 week fall Music Together semester and will be offering FREE trial classes at our Northeast Baltimore location as well as our new White Marsh location!

Music Together at the Evergreen Academy of Talent Education is a fun, research-based family music education program for parents and their children aged newborn - kindergarten.  Based on the philosophy that ALL children are musical, Music Together classes encourage children of mixed ages to participate at their own level with no performance pressure.  Parental participation, regardless of musical ability is a key component to creating a rich environment for children to develop their musical intelligence.  Classes consist of singing, instrument play, and both large and small movement activities.  A great first step to music instruction and a life long love of music making!  For more information about the program please visit www.evergreen-academy.com

Free trial classes at our Northeast Baltimore location:
Maryland State Boy Choir Center for the Arts 3400 Norman Ave, Baltimore MD 21213

Monday, August 30 at 10:30am
Wednesday, September 1 at 9:30am
Friday, September 3 at 10:30am
Saturday, September 4 at 9:30am

Free trial classes at our new White Marsh location:
White Marsh Ballet Academy 5022 Campbell ave, Baltimore MD 21236
Tuesday August 31 at 9:30am
Thursday, September 2 at 10:30am

RSVP is required!  Please contact the Evergreen Academy office at 410.419.9260 or via email at contact@evergreen-academy.com to save your spot.

Summer 2010 Music Together® Trial Classes!

Registration for Evergreen Academy's seven week Summer session of Music Together® is open and we'll be having FREE trial classes for interested families!  Music Together is a fun, research-based family music education program for parents and their children ages newborn - kindergarten. Based on the philosophy that ALL children are musical, Music Together classes encourage children of mixed ages to participate at their own level with no performance pressure. Parental participation, regardless of musical ability is a key component to creating a rich environment for children to develop their musical intelligence. Classes consist of singing, instrument play, and both large and small movement activities.

Free classes at Maryland State Boy Choir Center for the Arts

3400 Norman Ave

Baltimore MD 21213

Saturday May 22 10:30

Monday May 24 9:30

Wednesday May 26 9:30

Thursday May 27 10:30

Free Classes at Timonium United Methodist Church

2300 Pot Spring Road

Timonium MD 21093

Tuesday May 25 at 10:30 AND 12:30

For more information about the program and schedule, please visit www.evergreen-academy.com

RSVP is REQUIRED to attend, spaces are limited so please let us know you're coming at 410 - 419 - 9260 or zjohnstone (at) gmail (dot) com.  Leave your name, email address, phone number and the name/age of your child or children.

Viral video Parent Ed moment

Like many others, I was impressed and delighted by "ukulele boy" doing Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours"



As a music educator, I see a very powerful example of musical development.  Lets set aside this child's excellent ukelele playing abilities and focus on his singing....what we hear is a child singing with extremely good intonation (i.e. singing in tune)  but NOT using real words.  There's a recognizable word here and there but generally, he uses vocables of his own invention to imitate Mr. Mraz.   Its this precise reason that Music Together®'s song collections include many songs without words.  Focusing on the syntactic meaning of the text can be distracting to kids that may not have developed their language skills completely...therefore singing on "la" or even a single word repeated "clapping clapping clapping... etc" will allow them to tune in to the pitches with more clarity.

There are always a few examples of "songs without words" in every MT class.  These songs are also great for parents to make their own outside of class; its easy to replace your child's name, favorite food, etc. as the "words" to the song to have be a special musical moment for your child.

Spring Music Together Semester off to a great start!

We're almost done with the second week of the Spring Music Together® semester and off to a great start! A big welcome to the families registered for the first time and as well as our returning families.  The biggest news of this semester is that I am officially moved in to the gorgeous Maryland State Boy Choir Center for the Arts in a newly renovated room...now that the finishing touches are in place I think its come together beautifully for our Baltimore City classes!

The classes currently running for the Spring are

At Maryland State Boy Choir Center for the Arts
3400 Norman Ave, Baltimore MD 21213

Sundays 9:30
Saturdays 9:30
Thursdays 9:30

At Timonium United Methodist Church Nursery School
2300 Pot Spring Road, Timonium MD 21093

Tuesdays 10:30

Spring Semester continues until the week of May 16 - 22nd with no class March 30 - April 4 for spring break.  Happy Music-making everyone!

FREE Trial Classes at Evergreen Academy!

I'm thrilled to announce Evergreen Academy's FREE Music Together® spring trial classes! For those of you who know me from the Red Canoe sing a long, come see what my music classes for young children and their parents are all about! Music Together is a fun, research-based family music education program for parents and their children ages newborn - kindergarten. Based on the philosophy that ALL children are musical, Music Together classes encourage children of mixed ages to participate at their own level with no performance pressure. Parental participation, regardless of musical ability is a key component to creating a rich environment for children to develop their musical intelligence. Classes consist of singing, instrument play, and both large and small movement activities.

For more information about my upcoming Music Together semester and guitar program, please visit www.evergreen-academy.com

Free trial classes at our NEW Northeast Baltimore Location: Maryland State Boy Choir Center for the Arts: 3400 Norman Ave Baltimore MD 21213

Monday, February 22 10:30
Wednesday, February 24 9:30
Thursday, February 25 10:30
Saturday, February 27 9:30

Free trial classes at our Timonium Location: Timonium United Methodist Church, 2300 Pot Spring Road, Timonium MD 21093

Tuesday, February 23 10:30
Friday, February 26, 9:30

RSVP is required! Please call 410.419.9260 or email zjohnstone@evergreen-academy.com Please provide email address, phone number, your full name, and the names and ages of your children.

Classes without adequate registration will not run, so make sure we know you're planning to come!

Shout out from Baltimore's Child!

Hey Everyone!  My fabulous Thursday MT families told me about this article in Baltimore's Child on  the sing-a-long I do every Wednesday morning at 10:30 at the Red Canoe Cafe and Bookstore.  The Red Canoe is such a great asset to Northeast Baltimore Community, and Nicole and Peter's support of me and my music education programs has been really wonderful.  Wednesday mornings are always great fun, stop in to 4337 Harford road some time for a great cup of coffee, great food, and all your favorite kids tunes!

Parent Education Moment #1

In between songs in our Music Together classes, you'll hear your teacher singing "thank you" or "clean up"....this is not because she thinks she's in an opera :). There are a few reasons the teacher (and parents) should sing even between songs.

First, the particular notes we sing are the first and the fifth scale degree of the song we just finished...those are the most important pitches to establish the key. By singing those pitches we're letting the children hear the "bare bones" of the melody. Each Music Together class (and each song collection) is designed to have songs in many different keys. Young children have the capacity to develop excellent if not perfect pitch if it is developed properly, and providing an easily repeatable tonal pattern is a great first step.

Second, part of the educational philosophy of Music Together, and a key to its success, is to foster a super-rich musical environment that kids can respond to spontaneously. Continuing musical sounds even between the songs in the lesson plan helps create the environment that will allow your children to get the most out of class.

Shout out from Urbanite Magazine!

Hi Everyone! There's a little blurb mentioning me in January issue of Urbanite Magazine in a larger article about our the Red Canoe, our favorite Northeast Baltimore cafe & bookstore as well as the Golden West Cafe, the legendary Hampden eatery owned and operated by an Evergreen Academy family. Check it out!

Article