A note to homeschool families:

My name is Ryk Groetchen, and I’ve been cultivating creative musical spaces for over 20 years. Neurodiverse families have made a point over the years of reminding me how they have felt included in these spaces.

I just want to emphasize that now that i have secured space 6 mornings and 2 afternoons per week, and I have the freedom to adapt to the skills and ages of a group, these spaces are ideal for homeschool families to have a really special mixed-age, mixed-instrument, mixed-skill experience that is not often available in private lessons or highly-structured orchestral settings.

At the risk of sounding like a salesperson, this is really a unique opportunity for groups of families who are able to coordinate schedules. Imagine getting access to a musical, educational, and cultural experience that’s usually only available in an expensive private school setting. Folk dances, music of the world, ensemble arrangements, and musical games, stomping and clapping, and lots of singing. It’s hard to get across on a flyer, but it’s entirely possible. We’ve just got to coordinate.

Age-inclusive activities are hard to advertise in a time when we are acculturated to single cohort, narrowly-focused, highly managed environments where everyone is doing the same thing at the same time. But I can describe these experiences, because I’ve seen them, a lot. Babies are highly attuned to watch kids just a little older than they are. Toddlers are great at picking up on what kindergartners are putting down. Grade schoolers are proud of themselves when they get to be leaders in a space. Tweens are the pivot between the children and the adults in the room. Seeing the teens who are willing participators in these spaces is a beautiful thing. We are truly better together.

Working from the ground up, with simple materials, I’ve seen how people surprise themselves, and innovate, when given the opportunity to cooperate in community in musical ways.

It’s hard to imagine an opportunity like this, but that’s my job: it’s literally what I do–imagine musical community. All. Day. Long. And my imagination is made of my many musical experiences, so my imagination is not far removed from reality. If I were you, and I was looking for ways for my homeschooled kids to socialize, to train their impulses, to cooperate, and to mostly have a lot of fun, I would be all over this.

Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. Because community is so fragile right now, and needs us to cultivate it.

Classes begin the week of September 28. Sliding scale with scholarships available; no one will be turned away.