Last fall, we spoke with Royalton Music Center's President and Chief
Operating Officer, Lauren Haas Amanfoh, whose grandfather opened the store 50
years ago in North Royalton, Ohio. Having always been a family and
community-centered business, Royalton Music Center continues its tradition of
serving the needs of musicians at any age and skill level through its
educational programs. We highlighted Royalton Music Center’s music therapy
program in a previous post that you can read by
following this link. Earlier
this week, we had the chance to catch up with Lauren and find about more about
"The Music Class," which caters to some of the youngest music makers!

Just as Lauren witnessed the power of music therapy first-hand, she has now
had the opportunity to experience "The Music Class" through sessions
with her own 5-month-old son, Aiden.
Lauren told us Royalton Music Center's Store Manager, Megan Malko, first
introduced "The Music Class" program to the store after attending
classes with her child. The Music Class is a national music curriculum for
children up to 5 years
old. The
class appealed to Megan because of its strong theory-based curriculum,
providing a solid foundation of rhythm and pitch. The program has a fresh
collection of songs for each 10-week session, so the sessions grow with the
child rather than being stagnant, and Lauren felt that the program was
especially successful in preparing students if they wanted to continue in music
programs in the schools.
With a solid program structure and engaging materials, one of the aspects of
The Music Class that Lauren felt she could help improve upon for the North
Royalton community was the location. The sessions had been taking place in
various locations such as churches, the library, and the recreation center.
Lauren recognized that making music in a musical environment, especially with
children so young, would help demonstrate to children that there is a real
place for music in their community -- and music can be part of your life at any
age. Lauren had recently expanded the space of Royalton Music Center and could
accommodate the need to create a solid musical environment to match The Music
Class's quality programming.
.jpg)
At Royalton Music Center, The Music Class program includes free monthly
classes for infants (under 1 year of age) and weekly classes that accommodate
children through 5 years of age. There are seven weekly classes with the same
programming for each daily class, so if a family misses one session, they can
easily attend one on a different day. Lauren also mentioned that a family
considering enrolling their child/children can come in and attend a session to
try it out and see if it is right for them. Lauren first experienced one of the
sessions this way, when she sat in with her then 3-month-old son. She was
surprised at how much he enjoyed the class and mentioned that for the full
45-minute duration of the class, he was fully engaged and "did not fuss at
all," which she felt was remarkable for a three--month-old!
The Music Class had been growing and looking to hire a new teacher, and
Royalton Music Center already had a licensed music therapist on staff for the
music therapy program. With a licensed music therapist teaching classes, the
program was then able to accommodate special needs children as well, who are integrated
with the other students in the classes. The classes are also "mixed
age," yet each activity is tailored to the students who are there. Lauren
feels this is quite effective because "the younger kids aspire to do what
the older kids do, and the older kids like to be leaders!" The presence of
parents and other caregivers during the class allows instructors to teach them
not only how to make the activities relevant to their child during class, but
how to use the award winning take-home materials to continue the learning
process all week long.
Once students in the Music Class "age out" of the program, they
can transition into private lessons and additional educational programs at Royalton
Music Center -- and if the child has special needs, s/he can attend the music
therapy classes. Lauren feels that The Music Class has been mutually beneficial
in that she has been able to provide a musical environment for students, and
the program has allowed Lauren to meet new families who can then rely on Royalton
Music Center to meet their musical needs at any level. Lauren says the store's
spirit is to be a member of the community and demonstrate that "music is
for everybody -- anyone can play." And the store's commitment to family
and the community is certainly apparent as Lauren shared, "People who got
their rentals here are now bringing their kids in for The Music Class. It's not
something just for musical families, though -- it's for everyone."