What is Music Together®?
  • Music Together is an internationally recognized music and movement program for children and their families.
  • There are nine collections of 25 songs each. They are musically rich, diverse in their rhythms and tonalities, and feature high-quality recordings that are enjoyable for the whole family.
  • Music Together values and models the importance of making music together—of being active participants in the music-making process—and of parent education.
  • In a Music Together class everyone is welcome, and children are accepted and celebrated at every stage of their development.

What is Music Together Within Therapy®?

Music Together Within Therapy
  • Music Together Within Therapy offers music therapists, speech-language pathologists, and other professionals the chance to use Music Together’s song collections, books, and clinical materials to support the development of the special populations they serve. At Unison Speech-Language Pathology, that means working on speech, language, and communication skills within the structure of a Music Together class, and with the support and strategies your child needs to succeed.
  • In a typical Music Together family class, the teacher’s focus is on your child’s music development, but that's not all that's going on!  One study showed that children who participated in a Music Together Preschool program made significantly greater progress in cognitive, language, and physical learning than children who did not participate in the program (Cohen and Frank, 2009).. In a MTWT group at Unison, our focus will be on speech and language development, but the backdrop of a rich environment for learning music, movement, and cognitive and social emotional skills will remain.
  • If you are interested in having your child in a community music and movement class, but feel they could use some practice first, MTWT may be a good first step!  By starting in a smaller class with supports for transitions and participation, your child will learn what to expect of a Music Together class.  When they're ready, you'll find that the structure of the class, routines, and transitions are the same in a Music Together family class (offered in several locations in Edmonton and surrounding area) as they are in MTWT, making for a smooth transition.

Who is this for?  What are possible goal areas?

  • Children birth–6 years old who have been diagnosed with a speech or language delay or disorder or who are late talkers.
  • Some examples of goal areas would be expressive or receptive language (i.e., using or understanding words and sentences), social communication or play skills (e.g., engagement, turn-taking, etc.), or early speech sound development (e.g., expanding speech sound repertoire, copying sounds, etc.).

​About MTWT groups with Unison:

  • MTWT groups are led by a registered speech-language pathologist, and have a maximum of four families.
  • Each child attends with at least one parent or guardian.
  • Siblings (up to 5 years old) are welcome!
  • Tuition includes one 45 minute home visit, 10 hour-long group sessions, professionally recorded CD, digital download code, song book, and exclusive access to the Family Music Zone.  
  • You will also receive a consult note after each session to help you apply new skills and strategies at home, and a brief treatment summary at the end of the semester. 

Rates:

  • Tuition is $650.  Siblings over 8 months may attend for $200/semester.  Siblings 8 months and younger may attend at no extra cost.  Tuition for children who are receiving therapy through this program may be eligible for reimbursement through employer benefit plans.
  • If you would like to register your child and they do not have a speech-language delay or diagnosis, they may attend as a "peer model", and will be charged the $200/semester sibling rate.

References
  • ​Cohen, M and Frank, M. (2009). Total learning initiative research summary: formative research summary, pre-school Music Together, embedded professional development program. (Action for Bridgeport Community Development Inc.). New York, NY: Michael Cohen Group, LLC.