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About Toddle Tunes

The ingratiating, welcoming learning environment is the the first thing that strikes most visitors to Toddle Tunes. Every element is thoughtfully crafted to introduce infants and toddlers to music making and is a family run business.

The over 1000 enrolled parents bring their kids here for a myriad of reasons. Some parents- like those who've already determined their child should take up a particular instrument want to take advantage of expert training from conservatory trained and working-musician instructors.

Matthew Mueller, co-owner and musical director is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and has over 20 years of teaching under his belt. Under his direction the school has recruited a staff of the most diverse musicians (who also have experience with young children) under one roof. On any given day you may find a trained classical violinist or jazz saxophonist, studio musicians or band members from the Los Angeles pop-rock scene sharing their talents with children.

Other parents appreciate the unparalleled resources. Toddle Tunes is stocked with nearly every single musical instrument in the orchestra (well, almost; there's no harp yet) and even an array of more obscure instruments familiar to fans of World music. Toddle Tunes® exposes your child to every genre and embraces the concept that exposure to many different "real" instruments (instead of toys) is key to finding out if your child has a particular aptitude for a certain instrument.

There's also the customized, patented rotating curriculum developed by Matthew Mueller. Most of the time a curriculum is not repeated for six months. That along with the talented teaching staff, keeps the learning fresh and fun. But more on fun later. The facts are this confluence of attributes has made Toddle Tunes® one of the most unique childhood learning resources in Los Angeles and in fact won "Best of LA" in 2008 from Los Angeles Magazine.

If you are on the fence about beginning music classes so early, it is the crucial development of your child's mental, social and motor function skills that should be considered. We've always known that playing live music is highly effective in this regard as we see the results everyday but now the scientific community has confirmed this and caught on.

When we first began introducing live music to newborns and infants, some parents would question the utility of that. "My kid will never play Beethoven at this age. Why try?". But that is missing the point. It's the complex activity of music making in a live setting that develops skills. That development is the greatest reward. The coordination of the hand and eye, the experience of watching-and really hearing a live performance, combined with hands-on manipulation, all have hugely beneficial effects on the growing brain, studies have shown. In her ground breaking child development book (Bright From the Start 2008) Dr. Jill Stamm, co-founder of the New Directions Institute for Infant Brain Development writes that infant music training activates the attention system, leading to enhanced learning ability in reading and math as well as social and reasoning skills. Dr. Stamm also notes that the Mozart effect-the recently debunked notion that simply listening to classical music on recorded media can enhance a child's brain function- listening just isn't enough. Hands on music making is key.

These benefits apply to various children with autism and mental and physical challenges, who have been guided to Toddle Tunes® by their physicians for the focus and relief of anxiety that music making provides.

Finally, something that we all take for granted; music making is fun! :) A child having fun equates to an open and engaged mind. That turns into to learning. After all how do we learn most things growing up? By singing or a song like our ABC's and so many other rhymes that we memorize as tools of learning even in our later school years.

Toddle Tunes has mastered the baby music class experience making this a wonderful, warm and stimulating time for you and your child. All of which offers a stress relieving experience for the parents as well.

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