Household Harmony™

where families come together™
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How It's come together
 
Household Harmony began in September, 2006 in Pittsburgh's South Hills.  The idea was that by offering family activities, we could offer families an opportunity to come together.
 
Working as a group establishes and fosters a family culture of cooperation, respect and fun that lasts a lifetime.  Making up and enjoying simple family rituals, routines and projects can go a long way toward making your house a home.
 
With locations on the South Side and in Upper St. Clair and McMurray, we happily support WQED, local radio program The Saturday Light Brigade, and independent radio station WYEP 91.3 FM, as well as a variety of other non-profits.
 
About the Director 

 

Daisy Klaber

 

As one of five children growing up together in a musical Upper St. Clair home, Daisy was always singing.  Studying dance and drama in addition to voice, she performed locally and internationally--formally and informally--from early childhood through young adulthood.

 

While earning a B.A. in philosophy and linguistics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, she taught part-time at a local Montessori school and became fascinated by the lives of young children.

 

Having attended a Montessori school herself at age three, she decided to study its principles and methods by completing Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) training at Washington Montessori Institute and earning an M.Ed. in Montessori Education at Loyola College in Maryland.

 

After directing several classroom environments for 2 1/2- to 6-year olds, Daisy now chairs the Greater Pittsburgh Montessori Society's Board of Directors.

 

She also works as Manager of Communications at The Simplex Group, Inc., a Southside technology consulting firm, and is a member of the women's entrepreneurship association Ladies Who Launch, as well as Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project (PUMP).

 

In addition Daisy volunteers locally with The Samburu Project, helping to support sustainability, self-sufficiency and cultural integrity in developing countries; as well as with the Pittsburgh Chapter of Children's International Summer Villages, an independent, non-political organization promoting peace education and cross-cultural friendship.

 

A contributor to Music Together Teacher Notes, Daisy trained to become a registered Music Together Teacher at the suggestion of Ketti Bottonari, who recognized the harmony between its philosophy and Montessori's and felt sure the common themes would resonate with her sister.  She was right, and now Daisy is happily singing again!

 

You're welcome to inquire about party activities she offers, and also educational presentations she gives to community groups about how collaborative experiences like making music together can enrich family life.

 

 

 

 

Music Together is. . .

 

  • A community of families sharing songs, instrument play, rhythm chants and movement activities in a relaxed, playful, non-performance-oriented setting.

 

  • Music learned through developmentally appropriate activities that support and respect the unique learning styles of very young children.

 

  • Infants, toddlers, preschoolers and kindergarteners participating at their own levels in family-style classes of mixed ages.

 

  • Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles--all caregivers--contributing to the enrichment of their child's music environment, regardless of their own musical abilities.

 

  • A new song collection every session for three years, featuring great arrangements of original and traditional songs in a wide variety of tonalities, meters and cultural styles.

 

45 minutes of PURE FUN

every week!

 

Music Together is an internationally acclaimed early childhood music program for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners and the adults who love them.  First offered to the public in 1987, it pioneered the concept of a research-based, developmentally appropriate early childhood music curriculum that strongly emphasizes and facilitates adult involvement.  Its creators, Ken Guilmartin and Dr. Lili M. Levinowitz, are still teaching Music Together classes at the Center for Music and Young Children in Princeton, New Jersey, and they continue to study, refine and refresh the program.

 

Music Together classes are based on the recognition that all children are musical.  All children can learn to sing in tune, keep a beat and participate with confidence in the music of our culture, provided that their early environment supports such learning.  By emphasizing actual music experiences rather than concepts about music, Music Together introduces children to the pleasures of making music instead of passively receiving it from CDs or TV.

 

Central to the Music Together approach is the principle that young children learn best from the powerful role model of parents/caregivers who are actively making music.  The program brings families together by providing a rich musical environment in the classroom and by facilitating family participation in spontaneous musical activity at home within the context of daily life.

 

A child can attend Music Together from birth through age five, thus experiencing each of the nine song collections.  In step with the recommendations of Dr. Maria Montessori and other child development researchers, Music Together groups children of a variety of ages together in order to foster natural, family-style learning.  Younger children enjoy watching and imitating older ones; older children learn by leading younger ones; and adults are happy because the whole family can go to class together.  Each child participates at his or her own level in singing, moving, chanting, listening, watching, or exploring musical instruments.  Any caregivers--parents, grandparents, nanny--can bring the children.  The whole family is welcome for this important family music experience.

 

Music Together is committed to helping families, caregivers and early childhood professionals rediscover the pleasure and educational value of informal music experiences.  All teachers have successfully completed Music Together's training program.  Music Together applies the latest research in early childhood music development to the program as a curriculum pioneer since 1987.

 

                          

Daisy's May 2008 Safari through Botswana, Zambia and South Africa
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