Little Bears Music Program

Class Schedule :: Locations :: Tuition :: Registration :: Teachers

Baby Bears (4 months to 1 year) - This class will introduce your child to the wonderful world of music through lap songs, finger-plays, sing-alongs, and rhythm-based activities. Parents in this class learn to sing a variety of playful and soothing rhythms and melodies to bring home and use for bath time, dinner time, play time and sleepy time. Please bring a blanket.

Boogie Bears (3 years to 5 years) - These pre-schoolers are ready to rock and roll, raise the roof and jam out! Children will discover their own talking and singing voices, dance to the beat, and explore rhythm with real musical instruments. Let's make some music and boogie down to it!

Mixed Bears (6 months to 5 years) - This class is specially designed for parents with more than one child. Babies, toddlers and big kids all join in the music making fun, watching and learning from one another. There will be plenty of music, movement and instrument play for children of all ages.

NEW: Bear Cubs Music Class (4 years to 5 years) - This class is designed for older pre-schoolers who are ready for more challenging and structured musical guidance. Through playful experiences with singing, moving, listening and playing instruments, children will develop fundamental skills such as pitch and rhythm matching that will help them to be successful in future music learning, such as piano and other instrument lessons. Basic rhythmic notation and solfege will be introduced. This is a drop-off class taught by Dr. Julia Hunt Nielsen assisted by Little Bears Director Barbara Murphy.

Each weekly Little Bears class runs 10 sessions starting the week of September 15, except Berkeley classes which begin September 30. Two make-up classes are available, space permitting.

Little Bears Tuition and Registration

Fort Mason Center: $170 for first child plus parent/caregiver; $110 for second child
The Well, Sherith Israel, ODC Dance: $180/$120
Julia Morgan Center in Berkeley: $150/$100 - special introductory rate
Bear Cubs at Fort Mason Center: $225 per child - drop-off class

Call 415.673.3600 for more information, or register online - it's easy.

To register for ODC classes, call 415.863.9830 x220.

Payment in full is required to reserve a spot; a full refund is available if you decide not to continue after the first class meeting.

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Little Bears Class Locations

The Well: St. Mary's, 2325 Union St. near Steiner in San Francisco
Congregation Sherith Israel: 2266 California at Webster in San Francisco
ODC Dance: 351 Shotwell between 17th/18th Streets in San Francisco
Julia Morgan Center for the Arts: 2640 College Ave. near Derby in Berkeley

Classes run 45 minutes. Parking at Fort Mason Center is free for the first hour, $1 for the next half hour.

Little Bears Class Schedule - Fall 2008

Classes start the week of Sept. 15 - Berkeley classes start Sept. 30
Meet the Little Bears Teachers

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Meet the Little Bears Teachers

Keta Bill is a talented San Francisco musician, educator, and performer. For more than 16 years Keta has taught music and movement to young children through the Toddler Tunes music program, sponsored by SF Parks and Rec. Keta also teaches music in preschools throughout the Bay Area, including Montessori Children's Center, Slippery Fish Initiative and Silverspot Nursery School. Keta also teaches chorus and singing in San Francisco public schools through the Arts and Education Project. For 30 years Keta has performed for Bread and Roses and still occasionally performs for Teatro Zinzanni and the dance band Big Bang Beat! Heard on many national commercials including Rice-a-roni and Taco Bell, Keta is truly a "San Francisco Treat"!

Kaitlin McGaw "rocks the mic" for the young ones and pals with educational hip-hop & soul music in Boogie Bears. She uses songs from her Parents' Choice Award-winning CD Alphabet Rockers, along with other great musical treats. When not teaching, Kaitlin performs Alphabet Rockers in preschools and schools around the Bay Area, and dreams about circles and squares. Learn more at alphabetrockers.com.

Barbara Murphy, Little Bears Program Director, has been singing and writing her own music for more than 10 years. Her powerful voice, positive energy and diverse repertoire will keep you singing long after class is over. Parents and children will learn songs ranging from old spirituals to folk classics, jazz standards, Spanish songs, original numbers and, of course, good ol' rock 'n' roll! Barbara plays guitar and piano and emphasizes voice, tone, movement, rhythm and basic musical concepts in her classes.

Dr. Julia Hunt Nielsen, a classically trained soprano, pianist and harpist, has been a music educator in the Bay Area for more than a decade. As an early childhood music educator, she is the music specialist at Cow Hollow School (a preschool), and a music consultant to Stretch the Imagination (a multi-disciplinary arts studio for young children). A member of the San Francisco Girls Chorus faculty since 2000, she has taught voice, ear training and musicianship to choristers in the advanced and pre-professional levels. And in her private voice studio, she has taught dozens of individual singers, both children and adults, to develop healthy vocal technique.

Emily Pitcher, guitarist, singer and songwriter, has worked with children for more than 10 years in the worlds of music and dance. She also works with GlassEye Productions, the San Francisco Ballet, and the SF-based band The New Up. Drawing from folk, jazz, pop and rock, Emily emphasizes voice, rhythm and movement in her classes, combining her musical talent and dance expertise to create a truly unique - and "moving" - experience for you and your child.

Amy Sparrow has been facilitating children's learning and growth in language, music, dance and drama for more than 20 years. The former Director of SF Music Together, Amy is a mom who fosters music appreciation and fun using a blend of interactive learning techniques. As a singer and guitarist, her travels have informed her music understanding and passion - from Nepali songs and Indonesian gamelan in the East to Swiss yodelers and French chanteuses in the West.