THE PARENTING BIZ – Let Local Music Professionals And Your Child Make Beautiful Music Together
Learning music can offer numerous benefits to children, both academically and personally.
It enhances brain development and cognitive skills, such as memory, concentration, and problem-solving abilities. And it can help develop social skills when learning music in a group or ensemble, promoting teamwork, communication and leadership.
Music can also improve emotional well-being, providing a source of joy and self-expression, along with developing discipline, perseverance and confidence. And there are many more benefits you will read about throughout this article!
Coinciding with the Biz X music edition, we feature four local businesses and one non-profit organization in the region that specialize in imparting these valuable lifelong skills to children and people of all ages.
B Natural Music School
Since 2016 B Natural Music School has offered private lessons in voice, guitar, piano, drums and ukulele, as well as classes and camps for kids ages three and up.
Their spring classes include ukulele (with an end of the session ukulele beach party) Disney singers, jam nights, music discovery for children under four, and a spring and winter concert.
They also offer dance classes for ages three and up and are bringing in rock band and theatre programs and camps for the summer months.
“Music is the perfect outlet for a child to develop any kind of skill they desire, helping them make beautiful sounds and become beautiful humans,” says Kelly McBride, Owner of B Natural Music School. “We have seen children thrive in so many ways from increasing self-esteem and confidence, managing stress increasing mood and overall happiness, to improving schoolwork, test scores and even improving their relationship with parents and siblings.”
Located at 1203 Faith Drive in Belle River, the studio is a newly renovated church rectory across from the old St. William Church that is now the Urban Field House Arts & Event Centre. The B Natural Music School has six classrooms and a large rehearsal space with instruments in every room.
“We like our studio to feel relaxed and welcoming, with a homelike vibe that encourages everyone to settle in and feel comfortable while jamming out,” McBride describes. “Our studio is surrounded by a path, trees and a river, with large grounds that allow for lots of outdoor classes and learning as well.”
Most of their eight teaching staff have degrees in music, as well as some with extra credentials in education and the arts.
“All our teachers have extensive experience working with children and adults alike and have a background in music and performance,” she explains. “They are also multi-instrumentalists, which allows our students to learn music on different types of instruments and have an understanding of music in general.”
McBride also tells Biz X that music can be anything a child needs it to be.
“It can be a form of expression and a tool for creativity or a reason to learn self-discipline and improve muscle memory and dexterity,” she comments. “Reading music is like learning a new language! Learning note values and rhythm is like practicing math, while writing music gives children a better understanding of how words work and can even increase vocabulary.”
Students also have the opportunity to explore audio and sound recording, while others are improving their growth mindset by taking on new challenges week to week.
Another important life skill students learn is to thrive under pressure by preparing for auditions and examinations!
“At B Natural we are all about community,” McBride expresses. “Many of our clients have been with us from the beginning. We adapt lessons to each individual student’s needs and interests and work toward the different goals of every child; our students often collaborate with different teachers and students at our weekly jam nights and perform for small groups in our bonfire jam nights, ukulele beach parties, community events and bi-yearly concerts.”
If your child is interested in a high quality, fun and uplifting music education, visit their website and find out how to become a part of their community!
Montessori Mozarts Inc. (Mozart Studios)
Founded in 1993, Montessori Mozarts — located at 13831 Riverside Drive, Unit #1 in Tecumseh and 2611 Labelle Street in Windsor (inside Montessori by Bright Path Windsor) — offers piano, violin, guitar, ukulele, vocal, composition, keyboarding, drumming, band instruments, drama, art, performance and glee club to students ages three and up.
“Our mission statement is to instill a lifelong passion for music,” states Maureen Harris, Founder and CVO (Chief Visionary Officer) of Montessori Mozarts. “We believe that musical journeys can start at any age, and our focus is to approach music education in a way that will keep our students inspired for the long term.”
What makes Montessori Mozarts unique is its progressive approach to learning the arts.
Their teaching staff of 10 cater their programs to the unique needs of each student and ensure multiple performance opportunities to develop confidence and mastery of their talent.
Maureen’s daughter, Leah Harris was a past Montessori Mozarts student and is a good example of how the right approach to music learning can lead to a life-long passion.
Leah is now living in New York City and performing regularly as a pianist and vocalist.
She also helps her mother run the business, starting out as a teacher and then becoming the Business Development Manager. Whereas Leah is more contemporary, her mother comes from more of a classical musical background, so together they challenge each other and inspire all kinds of learners.
Their Montessori schools in both Tecumseh (Lakeview Montessori, 13797 Riverside Drive East which also has a music room) and South Windsor, welcome new students from all walks of life, including anyone who wants to have a good time making music.
“Our monthly master classes provide a fun afternoon performing with fellow musicians in a collaborative environment,” Harris says. “Our teacher mentorship program is also exceptional as we guide and nurture young entrepreneurs on how to teach, run a business and consult professionally with parents and fellow business partners.”
The Montessori Mozarts program was designed specifically for younger children and is based on group music and movement classes. Their studios are warm and welcoming with a chill vibe.
“Not everyone is familiar with the Montessori pedagogy, but we believe its ideals are a great foundation to build upon for broader programs,” Harris indicates. “One thing people may not know about our Montessori Mozarts program is that it can even be taught at home by parents. For parents or teachers interested in exploring the program outside the Montessori classroom, we offer a training course.”
Many parents in the post-pandemic world are seeking a more relaxed learning experience for themselves and their children. Often parents take music lessons along with their child and have fun at home making music together.
According to Harris: “One of our biggest realizations during the pandemic is that there is a deep need for music, for all kinds of students, not only Montessori ones. We believe that our values and mission statement can benefit a broader audience, as we saw greater demand for this over recent years. As a business, we have already expanded beyond our Montessori Mozarts program (a research-based group music and movement program for children) into lessons for learners of all ages, and we will soon be releasing more targeted learning journeys for these different audiences beyond Montessori.”
Montessori Mozarts is a second generation music studio that is rebranding to Mozart Studios this summer in order to address the needs of a post-pandemic culture and attract adult students.
“We are innovative, progressive and nimble with the ability to offer our families precisely what they desire — to develop a lifelong passion for the arts,” she says. “From the smallest to the more mature student, from private to group classes, we can tailor our programs to suit each individual need.”
Parenting Biz continues on Page 30
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