I am convinced that the one of the most important education that I can give my baby bean is foreign language education. So I did some research and found a French Mommy and Me class near our house.  See you there!

Alliance Française de Los Angeles
French cultural and language center

10390 Santa Monica Boulevard,  Suite #120
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-652-0306

Classes they offer are:

1. Bebe Musique (newborn to 2 year old)
2. Mommy & Me / Petit a Petit (1 to 2 years old)
3. French Preschool (3 to 5 years old)
4. Mini-Groups (3 to 5 years old)
5. French for American Children (7 to 10 year old)

For pricing and class schedule, visit Alliance Française website.

Sunshine Music, which offers music classes and Spanish music class for children up to age 7 has updated winter enrollment information available. Registration closes on January 24th so if you are thinking of enrolling your little one head over to their website available at Sunshinemusic.org.

On their website, you can learn more about their program, view their schedule, and sign up for demo classes! They offer classes in various locations throughout Los Angeles, so you will be able to find a class near you.

The Pasadena Symphony Association’s Musical Circus at The Americana at Brand in Glendale is great for children 3-8 years of age.

The Circus begins with the instrument “petting zoo” where youngsters can toot flutes, blow trumpets, pluck violins and cellos and bang on percussion instrument.

The Musical Circus is free, so bring the whole family for an afternoon of fun music making!

To view the full schedule, please visit Pasadena Symphony website.

The Americana at Brand
889 Americana Way, Glendale, CA 91210-1555 ( View Map )
2 pm-3:30 pm

I recently heard of “Music Together.” It is a music based mommy and me classes for infants to kindergarteners. If you are interested in this type of activities for you child visit their website and request more information for a class near you!

Garden Concerts for Kids 2009
A FREE outdoor music series for families

Dates: Saturdays and Sundays, August 15 & 16, 22 & 23, and 29 & 30, 2009
Time: 4:00–5:30 p.m.
Location: Getty Center, Central Garden
Admission: Free; no reservations required.

Enjoy the best of children’s music in the great outdoors at Garden Concerts for Kids, offering three weekends of kid-tastic, sing-along fun in the Central Garden. Make it an afternoon—come early to browse the galleries, wander the gardens, and enjoy a picnic on the grass.

For more information visit Getty’s website.

When I sit with my little bean for some playtime, I am always searching for some background music for her to listen to. I bought some children’s music on CDs and transferred them over to my itunes, but the library is still very limited. Most of those CDs have twinkle twinkle on it so I am not having much luck exposing her to variety of styles.  Also, I have noticed that its very hard to find children’s music at stores such as BestBuy.

Parents with same dilemma, head over to Jitterbug. They have tons of children’s music you can listen for free. Click on the radio and you will have music in the background while you stack blocks so your little one can crawl over and knock it down with the biggest smile.

Hollywood Bowl is having SummerSounds 2009 : Music and Art for Kids (ages 3 through 9). This year’s theme is to explore ethnic Los Angeles – its musicians, the neighborhood they reflect and the world music that informs them.

There are 3 different programs running for 6 weeks: Brazil on the Westside, Mexico in East Los Angeles, India Little India in Artesia. There are Music performances and Art workshops each session.

Admission is $7 for Music Performance and $5 for Art Workshop. Group discounts are availab.e for froups of 20 or more.

For more information visit Hollywoodbowl website.

I was at the Hollywood Bowl last night and at their store saw Baby Loves Jazz book series for babies and kids. So this morning I googled for them so I can get them for my Baby-Sprout who is due in 7 weeks, and want to share my findings with you. The ones I saw at the Hollywood Bowl store were books with accompanying CDs, but after today’s research I found that they also have the ones with just the music on CDs.

Here are the titles:

• On the Road (Baby Loves Jazz) (Book)
• Nursery Rhyme Jazz (Baby Loves Jazz) (Book)
• Louis Lion Sings Good Night: Baby Loves Jazz (Book)
• Philly Joe Giraffe’s Jungle Jazz: Baby Loves Jazz (Book)
• Miles the Crocodile Plays the Colors of Jazz: Baby Loves Jazz (Book)
• Ella Elephant Scats Like That: Baby Loves Jazz (Book)
• Duck Ellington Swings Through the Zoo: Baby Loves Jazz (Book)
• Charlie Bird Count to the Beat: Baby Loves Jazz (Book)
• Mingus Mouse Plays Christmastime Jazz (Baby Loves Jazz) (Book)
• Greatest Hits, Vol. 1-2 (Audio CD)
• Baby Loves Jazz: Go Baby Go! (Audio CD)

I’ve been told that studying music develops a child’s brain. I’m conflicted on that opinion. Some of my best friends are musicians many of the are extremely smart and witty, others- not so much. Ah maybe we’ll just play that off to the unusually high amount of drugs the “not so muchers” did. Anyway, this place looks pretty neat, and their prices aren’t too bad. An 8 week course will cost you $225 which is like what $28 per session. They cover Piano, Guitar, Violin, drums and percussion. Their classes are designed to get your child some experience with a variety of instruments before they choose an emphasis. They also provide single instrument classes. If i was going to get my child lessons i would start with piano. My reasoning- it will give them a grasp of pitch. Also- if you have a piano at home- keep it tuned for your kid otherwise you’ll screw up their pitch for years to come.

Check out Music Stars & Masters

They are on the second floor next to Nordstrom

(310) 470-1400