Robinsongs For Kids

I placed my initial review because, I have been fortunate enough to have tried three different MT programs to date in the Ann Arbor area and therefore, felt that people would benefit from reading the pros/​cons between them. If I hadn’t taken those other classes (with other teachers), then I might have walked away from the Music Together classes you provided with a much more positive feeling. However, it is only because, I have had the benefit of experiencing other MT teachers that I knew how great they could be and what was lacking in the class you provided.
You as the teacher might feel that 12 children (plus all the parents) in a room is not over-​crowded and uncomfortable. I as the customer disagree. I know several other Moms also felt the same way, as we complained about it together. It may be that the class was within MT guidelines, yet that doesn’t change the fact that I and several other Moms felt that the class was overcrowded to the point were it was uncomfortable to be there. The other two locations and the other 7 MT sessions that I have taken with other teachers in Ann Arbor, have limited their class sizes to 6 – 8 families in approximately, the same classroom space.
It may be that the MT guidelines, only recommend using props two times in a class session however, I know from experience that the children are more engaged and have more fun in a class that has more variety and more props used. Every single class I attended, in which you were the teacher, I witnessed children trying to leave the room repeatedly and walking aimlessly around the perimeter of the classroom getting into things and just not engaged in the class and bored. I have not witnessed this lack of child participation in the other classes that I attended with other teachers.
Regarding your song list, you are being disingenuous when you list that those are the songs that you played and then also include «world music». You and I both know that the songs you chose were written for adult entertainment and NOT for children. Regardless, or not if we disagree that they are appropriate songs or not… my original complaint still stands in that, I paid almost $ 200 to take a MT class so that we could listen to MT songs during the class. I have my own radio at home and could easily get together a group of children and play songs off of it for them for FREE.
I appreciate your response regarding how much time/​energy you put into your classes. I’m sure they do take a lot of work to put together. Again, if it were not for my experiences taking classes with other teachers; I might have walked away from your classes with a more positive impression.
I do however, find it troubling that in your comment you state that you have been teaching in Ann Arbor for over 6 yrs. Yet, I am the first Unilocal reviewer and only upon my leaving this Unilocal review, do 5-​star Unilocal reviews suddenly pop up on here (just check the dates… all those positive reviews are after my initial review). Over 700 families have taken your classes in Ann Arbor, and yet not a single person came on here and left you good feedback… that in itself should have been a signal to you that something was wrong. I also suspect that they are not genuine reviews because, those other reviewers all ONLY reviewed Robinsong. I’m concerned that you contacted your friends and goaded them into opening a Unilocal account so they could leave you 5-​star reviews. That is so insincere. I left honest feedback. I hope you take some of it into account because, I am not the only parent that felt this way.

We love Robin’s music together class! We have 2 young children and have been going since our oldest was 6 months old. We look forward to it every week! We love Robin’s energy and musical talent. Robin provides props and musical instruments for everyone to play. She also gives great ideas to implement the music during our every day routines (using household items as instruments, changing the lyrics, simple hand gestures that even infants can imitate!). We appreciate her creative interpretations of the music together songs and have fun free-​style dancing! Her class is somewhat structured which provides predictability and fosters learning for our little ones. Our kids love the music and admittedly we enjoy most of the songs too! I have and will continue to recommend Robin’s class! She even performed at our son’s 2 year old birthday party… big hit for all the kids… young and old!

We absolutely LOVE this class. I have been taking my 3 young children since the baby was just a few months old, and it is the highlight of the week. My 2 ½ year old twins love Robin and have a blast singing and dancing along to the songs. I know the music together is taught elsewhere, but Robin is by far the best. Her passion for music and children is shown every class, and she always takes care to make each child feel special. She even offers a FREE demo class at the start if each semester so new families can try the class before signing up. If you have young children, music is such an important gift to give them, and Robin is the best teacher around!