My Music Prodigy H and Juno Baby Review

H has always been musical. He could sing before he could talk, and I'm not talking about the run of the mill twinkle twinkle wheels on the bus gibber gabber. I'm talking about full on pitch perfect singing in octaves. Anyway, I've decided not to be jealous anymore of my friends' sons who are much more athletically gifted. In his attempts to master ball sports, H has already suffered THREE concussions so we've definitely ruled out a future career in the NFL or NHL. After all, the only sports teams Stewart and I were part of in high school were track and cross country. H's skills obviously lie elsewhere and one of those places is the world of music. And lest you think that I am delusional and that it is only my rose colored mommy glasses that make me see him as a musical prodigy, recently his violin teacher (he started lessons at age 3) said that she was impressed that H had learned how to play "Twinkle Twinkle" in two months instead of the six months it usually took students his age. She said that once he learned to read music, he could be "really good." So hurray for H!

One of the music CD and DVD series H has been enjoying for awhile now is Juno Baby. At first I was skeptical as to whether he was really getting the classical music aspect of the program. But when I heard him humming the music from the back seat of the car without any encouragement from me (we weren't playing it in the car and we hadn't watched it that day), I was a fully converted drinker of the koolaid. I like watching Juno myself because Juno reminds me of one of my best friends (my 30-something friend still wears her hair in braids sometimes!), but I know the kids like it because of the music. Another thing that really appeals to me is The Juno Company's One for All Program, which is its partnership with the National Head Start Association to bring early music education to the must vulnerable preschool age children in America. For every Juno product sold, The Juno Company donates a music education DVD to a child in need.

I was fortunate enough to attend The Juno Company's brunch at FAO Schwarz on Sunday after the BlogHer conference in NYC. I met Belinda Takahashi, the co-founder and composer of the series. I highly doubt that anyone in attendance was able to resist her infectious enthusiasm and passion for early childhood music development. I know I left the event with a renewed determination to keep H on his musical journey, no matter how painful for me it is to make him practice his violin. Kids do not need to listen to dumbed-down digital classical music that is a series of pings and synthesized sounds. They can handle the real thing and the appreciate it. Just today in the car H was singing Funiculi Funicula--give kids a chance and they will amaze you! H really enjoys Juno Baby Way to Go that I received at the brunch. R can't get enough of the Juno Baby iPhone app (it's FREE!) and learned to play music in a matter of seconds. At the brunch, I learned that The Juno Company is preparing to launch the next step of its music program. Think--what comes after baby? Stay tuned for more information.


I did not receive compensation for this post. I attended the brunch and received a gift bag including products for review.