Why Music FunTime?

Music FunTime is a theory based music program for children as young as 18 months of age. Not like other music/playtime programs, Music FunTime actually teaches children to recognize music symbols, name the notes of the treble and bass clef and start reading music before they can even read a book!

Impossible you say? No, not really. Based on research, young children can learn to recognize music symbols, name the parts of and note of the staff and all before they can even read a book! It is a lot like teaching the young child how to recognize colors, number and recite the alphabet. It is all very easy when in the right environment and with the right teachers.

Music fun time is also filled with musical games and crafts to take home! Each child receives their own personal rhythm instruments to take home and bring back each week. The cost of all of this fun is included in the monthly tuition!

Parents will be amazed when their child asks, "mommy do you know how many beats are in a whole note?" We even have two year olds right now that recognize a whole note, half note and quarter note!

Yes, Music FunTime is an educational program that is fun. It also is a program that can prepare your child for private lessons and start them to recognized letters, counting, and much more.

Progressive parents will recognize the value in this program. We are pleased to be a Music FunTime provider for the Woodward and Enid areas! Register early!

New Classes This Fall

New classes will be added to the fall schedule to accommodate students that are homeschooler, virtual schooled or in our Learning Coach Service program. These classes will be held in the early afternoon ( and possibly in the mornings).

Classes we are planning on offering this fall are Ballet I and II, Ballet Technique Class, Jazz I and II, Tap I and II. Pre-Tumble and Dance will also be offered for our Preschool and Pre-K students that are registered in the Move-N-Learn Academy. By offering earlier classes, these student will be able to blend their training into their school day and receive many benefits of physical activity and more.

Also offered in the earlier class periods will be group music and vocal as well as art.

Those interested in the classes need to pre-register by May 1st to be assured the class will be held. A delay in registration could mean the class could be filled or dropped from the schedule.

Registration for the Learning Coach Services is also due by May 1st.

Mean Mary James To Visit Academy of Fine Arts Students

In case you have not heard, Mean Mary James will be visiting our school on March 28th to have a meet and great with our students. All students, no matter what department they are in at our school, can attend this event at 6:00 pm in our Woodward location.


The purpose of the meet and greet is to allow our students to meet a professional performer! Mary James is a musician and vocalist with a great story that has led her to where she is today. Follow and accident that damaged her vocal chords, Mary James knows that it takes a love for what you do, dedication and commitment, and never giving up when times seem hard to achieve your dream.


Although she performs under the name of Mean Mary James, there is absolutely nothing mean about her but her fast banjo picking! Mary plays eleven different instruments, has co-authored books and written her own music and songs.


After the meet and greet, Mary will be forming a small concert venue at the Josie Adams Cultural Center. We hope that all our parents will want to attend with family and friends since this is also a fundraiser to purchase more equipment for our school. the concert starts at 7:00 pm with food and beverages first. (Students can stay at our school for a movie, pizza and popcorn for only $10 per person! Now that is a cheap baby sitter!)


We think that you will be amazed by Mary James journey and her music and hope you will plan to purchase tickets and attend.

I Can't Get Her/Him To Practice

Well, of course you cannot! No child ever wants to do what their parent's want them to. Right?
As director of Academy of Fine Arts, I do understand you wanting them to practice their art of music, dance, gymnastics, etc. a good thirty minutes a day. But believe me, as a parent also, it just is not going to happen!

At least it is not going to happen at the day, time and moment you want it to. I too struggled with the idea that my child (or even grandchild) should be working out every day and practicing what we are paying for. Even though I own the school, I still had to pay the teachers that my family members took under and wanted to be sure that I got what I was paying for! Reasonable, right? Not really when you stop and think about it.

I finally realized that I was not paying tuition for my child to practice. I was actually paying tuition for my child to "take a weekly lesson" and that practicing at home just did not fit into the mix at all.
So this meant that I had to re-focus my intentions and re-direct my children (and grandchildren) to a whole new idea of what practice might be.

Ever wonder why on weekends that your child "plays school" when they have already been in school all week?  You would think they would be tired of school, right? When in fact what they are doing is not practicing their school work, but actually putting what they had learned during the week into action. Playing school is not work, it is a fun project!

So why not allow practicing dance or music, stretching for gymnastics or writing choreography and theatrical movements be play? Why not allow them to take what they have learned from class this week and teach it back to imaginary friends, dolls, stuffed animals or siblings?

I can remember parents in the past asking how my children became accomplished dancers, gymnasts, athletes and musicians (yes they all played instruments as well as danced, tumbled, played softball and basketball and even  cheered). How many hours a week did I make them practice? My answer? ZERO. Not even when they were in the high school band. Why? Because I did not want to push them towards "I want to give up".

Instead of practicing at home, we played. They played "dance teacher", "gymnastic coach", " cheer coach". "music teacher", "band director" to their siblings, friends from across the street, their dolls and stuffed bears, and yes even to family members that were over for dinner or adult friends that had stopped by.

Every weekend was a time that they worked on putting together a new performance, The performance was usually unveiled on Sunday evenings in its full array of music, movement, singing and playing instruments! I actually miss those performances. They were creative, colorful, cooperative and insightful. They changed with the seasons. They changed with the weather. But they were all wonderful!

There was no scheduled practice time at home. Ever. But once in high school and having a playing test the next week, the instruments did come out. They came out for practice on their own, because now there was something at risk. Grades.

Once in Junior and Senior High, you would find them stretching and working out on their own. Why? Because now there was competition dance team, cheer squad, basketball team, softball team and skills they wanted to get down for class.

Practice is something that I believe a child has to grow into. Before age 12 years, it is best to leave it up to play. After all, all of the current personal development coaches say, "If you want to become an expert at something, first learn to teach it."

So let the young child teach what they have learned to other, imaginary and real. And keep the classes there on a weekly basis so that they can teach something new each week. Let them grow into their art methods. Let them grow as a teacher. Let them grow into a wonderful, accomplished sons and daughters. Let them play.

The Connection Between Arts Education and Academic Achievement

"If they're worried about their test scores and want a way to get them higher, they need to give kids more arts, not less," says Tom Horne, Arizona's state superintendent of public instruction. "There's lots of evidence that kids immersed in the arts do better on their academic tests."

For more on this article, click this link  http://www.edutopia.org/arts-music-curriculum-child-development

Then call us to find out how you can help your child take a step forward in their academics by adding the arts to their after school activities. 580-256-3262 (Woodward) 580-747-4799

Can Music Lessons Make Your Child Smarter?

This is an interesting article on the benefits of music for your young child. We though it might be informative and that you would enjoy it! More information id available from the website that we borrowed this from at  http://www.raisesmartkid.com/all-ages/1-articles/16-the-effect-of-music-on-childrens-intelligence


Studies after studies are showing that learning music can make kids smart.  When your child learns to play a musical instrument, not only does he learn how to make tunes, but he also enhances other capabilities of his brain as well:

• A 10 year study involving 25,000 students show that music-making improves test scores in standardized tests, as well as in reading proficiency exams (Source: James Catterall, UCLA, 1997). 
• High school music students score higher on the math and verbal portion of SAT, compared to their peers (Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, compiled by Music Educators Conference, 2001). 
• The IQ’s of young students who had nine months of weekly training in piano or voice rose nearly three points more than their untrained peers (Study by E. Glenn Schellenberg, of the University of Toronto at Mississauga, 2004.)
• Piano students can understand mathematical and scientific concepts more readily.  Children who received piano training performed 34 percent higher on tests measuring proportional reasoning – ratios, fractions, proportions, and thinking in space and time (Neurological Research, 1997). 
• Pattern recognition and mental representation scores improved significantly in students who were given a 3-year piano instruction (Dr. Eugenia Costa-Giomi study presented at the meeting of the Music Educators National Conference, Phoenix, AZ, 1998).
• Music students received more academic honors and awards than non-music students.  These music students also have more A and B grades compared to non-music students (National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 First Follow-Up, U.S. Department of Education). 
• More music majors who applied for medical school were admitted compared to those in other majors including English, biology, chemistry and math. (“The Comparative Academic Abilites of Students in Education and in Other Areas of a Multi-focus University,” Peter H. Wood, ERIC Document No. ED327480; “The Case for Music in Schools”, Phi Delta Kappan, 1994)
• Another study has found that music lessons for kids make their minds sharper when they grow older. According to study researcher Brenda Hanna-Pladdy, a neurologist at the Emory University School of Medicine,"Musical activity throughout life may serve as a challenging cognitive exercise, making your brain fitter and more capable of accommodating the challenges of aging. Since studying an instrument requires years of practice and learning, it may create alternate connections in the brain that could compensate for cognitive declines as we get older."

New Computer Lab in Woodward Location

Be sure to check out the new computer lab in the Woodward location. Here students from the Move-N-Learn Academy, as well as our music students in the Woodward Academy of Music Department, will use specialized software to enhance their learning! It also makes learning fun and improves their com puter skills for the future.

Coming soon will be dance sotware to assist our company dancers!

Band Instrument Rentals Woodward and Enid Area

We are now offering band instrument rentals in the Woodward and Enid areas. Rent to own. We offer probably the best rental program in the western half of Oklahoma! Check it out on our website! We can even come to your school to show you our great program!