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Get advice from other Mumsnetters to find the best nursery for your child on our Preschool forum.

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Get advice from other Mumsnetters to find the best nursery for your child on our Preschool forum.

Preschool education

I've just realised I'm paying about £1.50 a song at monkey music!

33 replies

MrsFogi · 06/02/2008 22:12

I've never really thought about the price since dd1 started monkey music but I was about to start with dd2 and suddenly realised that at £7 per half hour I'm paying about £1.50 a song. Surely this is crazy? Surely I am crazy if I sign dd2 up and continue to send dd1?

OP posts:

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bellabelly · 06/02/2008 22:15

Yes, that is crazy. What is Monkey Music ?

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MrsFogi · 06/02/2008 22:19

It's one of those baby/toddler music classes bellab. I'm torn about whether to do these or not as I don't have a musical bone in my body so clearly it's good for them to hear some singing in tune but I could probably get a private singing lesson to teach me to sing in tune for £14 a week!

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rantinghousewife · 06/02/2008 22:20

We went to Jingle tots when dd was little, I don't remember it being that expensive.

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Lazycow · 06/02/2008 22:28

I went for exactly one term. Ds pretty much sulked and refused to join in with anything for the entire time. Several weeks of me hysterically encouraging him followed by a few more weeks of him crying 'don't want to go to monkey music' every week before we went in were enough to make me give up. I was therefore probably paying even more per profitable song (i.e one that induced any sort of smile or participation from ds)

Funny thing is he LOVED music at home. We would spend ages making really loud tuneless music on his elc drums and other instruments along to cds of nursery rhymes etc. I don't have a musical bone in my body so thought he might like monkey music, just goes to show we can't always know our children!!

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MrsFogi · 06/02/2008 22:31

Lazycow you were paying a fortune per song then as you'd have paid the "joining fee" of £15!

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Lazycow · 06/02/2008 22:38

Good Grief don't remind me. I'd forgotten about that!

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MrsBadger · 06/02/2008 23:14

see if you can find a non-franchised one - we pay £3 for 30-40min round here (plus what we rack up in the cafe afterwards, of course...)

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alfiesbabe · 10/02/2008 10:42

Lazycow your post made me laugh. When my youngest two were small I took them to a similar thing. DS spent the entire time whacking his sister over the head with tambourines and other jangly things, my stress levels shot throught the roof and I was ashamed to return.
Having said that, DS at age 8 got a choral scholarship for one of the top cathedral choirs in the country.... if the musicality is there, it will come out in its own good time. In the meantime - save your money

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HatonHatoff · 13/02/2008 19:10

ooh can I join in please?
My DS loves music at home but just found the whole thing bizarre (or certainly behaved like he did). DH took him once and made a joke when DS tried to head for the exit about him 'making a speedy escape'. Teacher frowned and gave DH evil looks... DH came home and said what a silly cow she was... it does seem pricey but then lots of parents/kids love it apparently!

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brimfull · 13/02/2008 19:34

bloody hell what a swindle

I think I'll start a group ,sounds like easy money.

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BexieID · 13/02/2008 23:36

We used to goto Jolly Babies. That was £3 for 30 mins and Tom really enjoyed it! The lady who ran the class stopped to have a baby. She has just started to goto a toddler group I've just myself started. Will need to ask if shes still doing the classes.

I did take Tom to another music group called Snappy Sounds to try. That is £4 for 45 mins. I think he enjoyed it.

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colditz · 13/02/2008 23:57

£14 an hour? £14 an hour?

Put the radio on, you nutcase!

I bet Charlotte Church didn't go to blasted Monkey Music! Sorry but you are being fleeced.

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maisiemog · 15/04/2008 22:17

This brings it all back! I took my little boy to two different music classes: sing and sign and Jo Jingles. He didn't sing anything, but was much more interested in attempting to tip out the organisers bag and look for the props that she had put away under the table. It was not fun for me.
He hasn't been to a class for over two years (is 3.5) but despite formal tuition, loves to sing and dance to mummy's eighties 'moosic' (was singing 'no more heroes any moooore' in a loud voice the other day).
I don't know if there is really any reason to spend that much when you could just stick on the radio and dance around for half an hour, singing tunelessly - your DDs would probably like it just as much and at least (most of) the singers on the radio are in tune.
Sorry I know you have probably enrolled them at university by now, but couldn't resist dredging up this old thread.

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Bramshott · 15/04/2008 22:21

Just to swim against the tide - I love Monkey Music. DD1 (now 5) went for a year and still sings all the songs. I have just signed DD2 (1) up and am really looking forward to starting it again!

Ours is not so expensive though - about £4 or £5 a half hour I think.

FWIW I think that many kids really do get a lot out of more structured music classes at an early age, rather than just singing nursery rhymes at toddler group.

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dilbertina · 15/04/2008 22:24

I pay £6 for 2 children for an hour - 1/2hour full-on then we all get to have coffee and chat play.... £14 for similiar thing sounds nuts!

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dilbertina · 15/04/2008 22:26

sigh...why can't I get striking out to work...excuse me whilst I practise....

like this?

x
x

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dilbertina · 15/04/2008 22:28

ahh bollox

must be my keyboard me....

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maisiemog · 15/04/2008 22:29

Bramshott, I am curious what do you think the benefits of a structured class in opposition to bashing a saucepan whilst singing 'the wheels on the bus?'
I would like to incorporate some more structured methods, but obviously without paying for them.

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Twinklemegan · 15/04/2008 22:41

We pay £3 for a half hour music class up here. I don't think it's a franchise, just something run by a local musician.

Personally I think there is a real benefit in doing this in a structured way. Of course I'm not expecting DS to actually learn anything musical from it. But getting used to doing things in a group, including making sounds, movements etc. is very valuable I think. And it's more fun than just sitting at home listening to Mummy "sing".

The other thing my toddler really enjoys is "My First DVD" (which comes with an album called, imaginatively, My First Album). It includes several films of young children singing action songs. DS really loves watching them, and is now showing an interest in copying them with me. Again, it's that group thing.

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maisiemog · 15/04/2008 22:51

So do you think that the benefits are that they sing or make music as a group? Like a samba group sort of thing? What kinds of things do they do as a group?
How do you think this helps in the child's development??
I'm quite curious, because I thought the groups I attended were quite limp, but it may have been the way they were run. I wish I had continued with the signing though.

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Twinklemegan · 15/04/2008 22:56

In our case it's just a social thing I would say. DS is only 20 months, so we're not talking "music" or "singing" here (well only from us parents). From a musical point of view we're obviously not doing anything that I can't do with him at home.

But in my very limited experience, many other toddler activities involve toddlers doing their own thing side by side (or not). Whereas a music-type class is a proper group activity. As DS has no siblings and we live in quite a remote area I think this is really important.

If a child has older siblings and sees plenty of others its own age, then it's probably less of a big deal.

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Twinklemegan · 15/04/2008 22:57

I wouldn't pay £7 for a session by the way.

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maisiemog · 15/04/2008 23:14

Yeah £7 for a back massage is good, but not so sure about a baby singing class.
My ds is now 3.5 and I sang to him for years, but when he started nursery he suddenly began to sing all the songs I had been singing and others: 'ten currant buns in a bakers shop' - hadn't heard that for years.

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dippymother · 15/04/2008 23:42

I work in a pre-school. We have "Circle Time" in the middle of the session where we all sit in a circle and sing about 4-5 songs and rhymes, with actions and musical instruments. The children love it! And most of them are funded so no cost to the parent. By the time our children have been coming for a term, they know many songs off by heart. I am sure most pre-schools and nurseries do this kind of activity. I can't see any benefit in paying for an activity like this unless you and your child thoroughly enjoy singing and socialising with other mothers/children, in which case you will probably feel it is money well spent.

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twentypence · 16/04/2008 00:02

I am a preschool music teacher and have qualifications and everything and you'd get 4 sessions with me with both children for the price of one just for your dd1 with MM. I am in NZ though so a bit far to come...

I can't speak for Monkey Music as I've never experienced it (though I do have some expat pupils who came to me when they moved).

Done well, music classes can be enjoyable for children and parents and will cover lots of none musical things as well such as turn taking, sharing, making choices, counting forwards and backwards, understanding rhyme, colours, shapes, animal names.

I certainly do a lot more than just rattle off some nursery rhymes, but the trick is to not charge so much in the first place so that people feel they are getting value - not fleeced.