TORRINGTON – Scott Miller was all smiles as he stood with his first-grade daughter Ainsley on Monday, tapping his yarn-wrapped mallet on the wooden bar of a xylophone in the music room at Lincoln Elementary here.
Miller was one of dozens of parents making their way through the school, and making music during the trip, as they visited with their children during regular music classes. Instructor Courtney Firminhac invited the parents to visit to experience a little bit of what their kids are learning.
It’s all summed up by the proverbial writing on the wall at the back of the classroom, where a bulletin board proclaims: “Music is what
feelings sound like.”
This is the third year Mrs. Firminhac has invited parents into her classroom. It’s done in conjunction with Music In Our Schools Month, observed nationally during March each year, to promote the benefit of music education programs

in schools.
The observance is sponsored by the National Association for Music Education. It began as a single state advocacy day in 1973 in New York. It became a month-long celebration of music education in 1985.
Teaching music in the schools is important, particularly at a young age, Mrs. Firminhac said. Introducing students as young as kindergarten age or younger to the joys of music teaches valuable lessons they’ll carry with them throughout their lives.
“Certain skills, if they’re not developed before a certain age, are very difficult to learn,” she said. “It’s important to have music education at this level.”
And a look at the faces in the room – both student and adult – showed the importance of music education. Young and old alike were grinning, smiling and even openly laughing at some of the antics being carried off to a musical
accompaniment.
For one game, a student would be given a stuffed dog and placed in a chair in front, facing away from the group. A classmate would be given a stuffed dog bone and, when the seated student sang, ‘Where is my bone?’ their concealed classmate would intone, ‘I have your bone.’
The lesson taught tonality and recognition skills as the student with the stuffed dog was asked to identify who, indeed, had the bone, just from the sound of their singing voice. And the lessons taught in music class – precision, attention to detail and perseverance – can be carried on to other disciplines, Mrs. Firminhac said.
Plus, an appreciation of music – whether students become performers or remain consumers of music – is something they can take with them throughout their lives, she said.
“Music is something they’ll be able to use as an adult, no matter what fields they go in to,” Mrs. Firminhac said. “These skills are essential. They make life meaningful.”