Friday, November 13, 2009

Baby Class Reviews: Musical Magic Boogyin Babies

I will be rating baby classes on a 5 star (*) scale.  I will also review price, age, size, length, cleanliness, space, parking, open play toys, instructor, content, Henry’s opinion, mom’s opinion, other moms, music, make-ups and activity.  Some of the classes are exclusive to Chicago, and some are national/international chains.  For a stay-at-home mom in the winter, baby classes are part of a survival guide.  A baby class introduces you to other moms with babies of the same age, and gets you out of the house.  Plus, baby gets to interact with others his age, which is great for his socialization and development.   

My first review is of Musical Magic’s Boogyin Babies class.  We went for a free trial run when Henry was already crawling. 

Musical Magic
Roscoe Village
2255 W. Roscoe Street
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 529-5600

**** FOUR STARS ****

Price:  $152 for 8 week session; $133 for 7 week session; $114 for 6 week session (depending on holidays)

Age:  0-12 months

Size:  Medium.  Around 10-15 moms/babies

Length:  45 minutes

Convenience: I often got the answering machine.  Cash or check only.  But she is flexible regarding when payment is made before the session begins.

Cleanliness:  Super clean – toys are heavily regulated, and each time an activity is finished soiled toys are placed in a bag to be washed.  No shoes in the playroom.  (Scale: Super, Very, Kind of, Not at all)

Space:  Pretty and small carpeted square room, colorful, but minimalist.

Parking:  Street parking is easy to find.

Open Play Toys:  Very few – just a few bean bags in the corner.  All toys are regulated for cleanliness.

Instructor:  Rosanne has a warm disposition and a beautiful singing voice.  Henry loved her – he stared at her like a deer in headlights for half of the class.

Content:  Caregivers and babies sit in a circle.  Rosanne has background synthesizer music for songs, and sings herself.  Some moms sing along.  Each song includes different toys: musical instruments; puppets; scarves.  At the end of each song the toys are placed into the dirty or clean bag.  There was also a parachute.  We walked around in a circle around the babies under the parachute – some started to cry due to separation anxiety.  Henry just watched as I went around and finally started laughing and crawling towards me. 

Henry’s Opinion:  H loved the music and interacting with the other kids.  It was our first baby class ever, and I realized he is a very social little person – I wonder where he gets it!

Mom’s Opinion:  I love Musical Magic for its style and music.  I think we might sign up for next session.  I did not sign up for the fall session, however, because I felt that Henry needed more activity.  Sitting in a circle wasn’t good enough for him.  He wanted to crawl and inspect the room, but there wasn’t enough in the room for him to inspect.

Other Moms:  The other moms were generally friendly and somewhat reserved.  I’m actually surprised at how friendly they were considering we tested the class at the end of the session and they had already known each other for 7 weeks.  The situation reminds me of some of the partners at my old firm.  Why bother getting to know young associates when the associates would probably be leaving after a couple years.  It takes a lot of energy to meet new moms – it’s like dating.  

Music:  A+ -- very cute baby music – most songs I didn’t know, and Rosanne has a lovely voice.  The synthesizer is a little cheesy.

Make-ups:  Make-up classes allowed in classes with availability.  Make-up class must be taken within scheduled session.  No rollover.  No limit.

Activity:  Some activity: playing with instrument toys, puppets and parachute.

See other Baby Class Reviews.

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