Miss Polly's Music Class--Beginning of Session Information Sheet

 (as of 2/26/24)

Thank you for choosing Miss Polly’s Music Class!  We so look forward to working with your child!  

*FRANKLIN LOCATION: All Franklin classes will meet in Miss Polly's Music Class studio space: Alva Neal Community Office Building/also known as the “Johnson County Soil & Water” building:  550 E. Jefferson Street, Suite 311, Franklin, IN 46131. This is the big, red brick building on the north side of Jefferson Street, across from the entrance to Franklin College and located just in front of the Wonder Five Center/Boys & Girls Club.  You will see a large white sign on Jefferson Street that reads: “Johnson County Soil & Water. **Parking is in the parking lot just east of the building.  You will see a door on the east side of the building.  Enter through this door and walk up the two flights of stairs (*) to the 3rd floor.  Miss Polly's Music Class Suite is #311 and is the first room on your right.  There will be Miss Polly’s Music Class signage to guide you! **PLEASE NOTE: Unfortunately, this building DOES NOT have an elevator.  Please keep this in mind. I am so sorry if this poses a challenge for any of my music class families. I am on a waitlist for a first or second floor space. I have a large “mud room” area for any personal belongings/coats/shoes/baby carriers/baby bags.  **If you need to bring in a stroller, you are welcome to leave any strollers tucked inside the main entrance, out of the way of the entryway—just know that the building is not responsible for any lost/stolen items that are left there.

*COLUMBUS LOCATION: New Hope Christian Church: 1404 400 N, Columbus, IN 47203: Park in the large, main parking lot that faces US 31.  Enter through the Main Church Front door (faces US 31).  There will be Miss Polly's Music Class door signs guiding you.  Also, on Week 1, Miss Haley will be positioned at the door so you know where to enter.  There is a ramp to get any strollers up into the Main entrance of the Church.  You can park any strollers just inside that entrance.  The room where we will meet is on the lower level of the main building of the Church.  There will be Miss Polly's Music Class signage guiding you downstairs to the room.  *Please note, there is no elevator to get down the flight of stairs to our Music Room. 

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Wear comfortable clothing—parents and children!  This is an active class.  We will “move and groove” so comfortable is best!  

We have a no-shoes policy.  This helps keep our floor area (carpeted) clean for our non-walkers.    Franklin: there is a "mudroom" area located within our Studio space.  Please put all bags, baby carriers, coats, and shoes in the mudroom.  This will keep our teaching space clean and safe!  Columbus: Upon entry into the room, simply find a place along the wall to stash all of your belongings.

Please use the hand sanitizer provided each time we start class.  That way, we all start out clean.  Our babies love to teethe on anything they can get their mouths on.  That is how they learn and explore!  All instruments start out clean.  All used instruments will be disinfected  immediately after class with alcohol spray. This will help us all stay healthy!

Restrooms: Franklin: There is a Men's and Women's Restroom located just down the hallway from our Suite 311. Turn right, and it is on the right side of the hallway.  *There is a changing table located inside of the Franklin Studio space.  Columbus: there is a bathroom located inside of the space where your Music Class will take place. 

Nursing/Feeding area: Franklin: There is a comfy chair perfect for feeding, located inside of the Mudroom area inside of the Franklin space. Columbus: there is a comfy sitting area inside of the big space near where the Music Class will be held. 

If applicable, please pay any remaining balance upon first class session-or talk to Polly if you have questions or concerns.

Background on Miss Polly and her Music Class:  Miss Polly knew that her background in music education (voice principal) and education administration would lend itself to starting her own Music Class (BM in Music Ed and MS in Ed Admin—both from Butler University).  This skill set has proved successful as she is in her 16th year of owning/operating Miss Polly’s Music Class!  Miss Polly and her husband, Andrew, live in Franklin and are the proud parents of two awesome teens—Oliver (age 16) and Adelaide (age 14). Miss Polly is thrilled to be bringing early childhood music classes to the littlest ones of Franklin and Columbus!

Miss Polly is the Center Director/Owner of Miss Polly’s Music Class, LLC which uses the curriculum of The Music Class (taught all over the U.S. and in several other countries).  Created in Atlanta, GA by Rob Sayer, The Music Class is a highly successful early childhood program that is touching the lives of so many young ones. Visit www.themusicclass.com for more background on Rob Sayer and The Music Class.  TMC just celebrated its 25th year in the business of bringing music into the lives of little ones!

GOAL of the Session: is for your child to reach independent music accuracy—singing in tune and keeping a steady beat. It is truly magical to watch this process unfold within an 8 week session and beyond!  There are 3 years of new music--therefore, if you and your child took Music Class each season for 3 years, you would not ever repeat a curriculum!  There is so much more learning that takes place within one session of Music Class!  Music, language, socialization, fine and gross motor, and much, much more!

Research shows: the earlier you expose your child to music, the higher the likelihood of your child enjoying and creating music later in life.  Furthermore, many studies have been done as to musical aptitude and a child’s higher IQ later in life!  The early childhood years (0-4) are critical years for brain formation.  The more repetition of musical concepts, the greater the musical accuracy your child will have later on in life.  What a gift you are giving to your little ones by enrolling them in Miss Polly's Music Class!

Language immersion: in Music Class, your young child will be immersed in language through Music.  The frequency and repetition of the language will greatly benefit your child’s exposure to language, song text, vocabulary, finger plays, chants, rhymes, and more! Miss Polly gets many referrals from area Speech Language Pathologists because The Music Class helps so many children practice (and meet!) their Receptive & Expressive Language goals!

Learning Styles: Miss Polly’s background in education plays witness to the fact that she recognizes and celebrates ALL learning styles.  You will observe all types of learners in a music class…the active learner who needs to move and groove all throughout class; the more reticent child who remains in the lap of his/her parent, the infant, the almost Kindergartner, etc.  Miss Polly celebrates all learning styles and will scaffold the learning to meet the needs of all in the room.  Miss Polly fosters and encourages a judgement-free zone.  Only pay attention to your child and the unique way that he/she learns!  Every child learns differently--our job as parents/caregiver and teachers is to meet the child where they are and help them GROW!!!!

SAFETY: Miss Polly’s BIG rule is safety.  With the parents/caregivers attending class, it makes it easier to enforce this rule.  Please keep your child from running around in the Studio Space.  Getting up and moving around your spot is highly recommended.  After all, we are an ACTIVE class.   Please be mindful and considerate of space issues and of the safety of your child and the other children in the class. 

Multi-age Class: Music Classes are multi-age—you will find a baby all the way up to an almost-5 year old.  The littles absolutely learn from the bigs and vice-versa!  

Role for the Parent/Caregiver: It is crucial for the parent/caregiver to play an active role in class.  This means that you are singing/dancing/moving/grooving just like your little one!    If Miss Polly or Miss Haley are pretending to be a monkey, so are you!    Why?  Because your child is watching your every move.  They will take their cues from you.  If you are talking to the parent next to you, your child will not be as involved. 

Please SING.  Your voice is the sweetest thing to your child.  It is the first thing they heard in utero.  We, the Music Class Teachers, only have your children for 45 minutes a week.  Therefore, it is crucial that you model what we do in the classroom and transfer that learning in the home environment all week long!   

HOMEWORK:  Upon registering for a class, you will receive immediate download access for that particular Collection of music.  (From your device, go to the App Store, search "The Music Class," use your log-in and password you used to enroll your child, and it will give you that particular collection of music to download.) Upon first class, you will receive your songbook.  Please be sure to download your music on all your devices and put the songbook out somewhere at home where your child will "read" it, color on it, notice that the tiny black notes are musical notation!   The more your family listens to the music throughout the session, the more your child will become familiar/comfortable with the music and the more fun you will all have in class!  The music will become meaningful to them if they KNOW the music.  LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN!!!!!

Rhythm/Tonal Patterns: each week, we will do group or individual rhythm and tonal patterns.  This is one of Miss Polly’s favorite times because she gets to have one-on-one time with the children and can check where they are with musical repetition.   As parents, please DO NOT stress about this.  This is not a test—it’s just meant to observe the amazing musical/linguistic growth they will make over the course of the eight weeks.  If your child does not repeat the pattern back to me, it’s either because they are too young or because they are just not developmentally ready.  What’s most important is the time in between the week of music class.  If your child is “making music” or simulating music class at home, you will very likely hear them doing the “Ba-Ba’s” on their own!    Your HOME is where the true learning takes place. 

Absences/Make-up Classes: Please keep your child home if they are sick.  To schedule an absence, please utilize the Caregiver Dashboard on your TMC app!  This is a quick and easy way to let Miss Polly or Miss Haley know your child will be absent that day.  When you schedule an absence through your TMC app, your teacher gets an immediate email letting them know your child will be absent.  If you need assistance using the app, please reach out to Miss Polly or Miss Haley.  With multiple class offerings occurring each week in both Franklin and Columbus, you are always welcome to attend a different class as your make-up. **Please utilize the Caregiver Dashboard on your TMC app to schedule a make-up class.. (If weather ends up canceling a class, Miss Polly will try her best to tack on an additional class at the end of that session.)

Visitors/Grown-ups: To help with crowd-control, spacing issues, safety, and germ control, Miss Polly strongly suggests you only bring 1 adult per child to class.  Miss Polly typically welcomes family/visitors to class—she just needs to be certain that she is keeping the group healthy and safe by not over-crowding the space. If you'd like to bring an extra adult, please just send Miss Polly a quick text so she can make sure there's plenty of room that day.  **Please do not bring older siblings or children to class, unless they are enrolled in the class.  Thank you for your help with this!

Weather Cancellations: Miss Polly will be following Franklin and Bartholomew County Community Schools weather cancellations—if Franklin and/or Columbus Schools are closed, then we will very likely NOT have class.  However, there may be a time when they are not closed, but we will cancel due to inclement weather, etc.  If class is cancelled, Miss Polly will contact you via phone or text, send an email (to the email that you entered in your Music Class account), and post it on her Social pages.

Please “like and follow" Miss Pollys Music Class on Facebook and Instagram!!!! 

Thank you for reading all the way to the end!!    See you in class!