edWeb.net and Music Together LLC will partner to help early childhood educators learn how music and fine arts support early learning and child development by creating a free online professional learning community on Arts and Music in Early Learning. The announcement was made today by Lisa Schmucki, founder and CEO of edWeb.net, and Kenneth K. Guilmartin, founder/director of Music Together®.

Lisa Schmucki, founder and CEO of edWeb.net, said, “We have been inspired by the early learning educators who are members of edWeb.net and with Music Together, a pioneer in early childhood music education, we have found the perfect partners to launch a community on arts and music in the early learning classroom.”

Guilmartin adds, “All children are born with the ability to make music provided that their early environment supports such learning. We are thrilled to partner with edWeb.net because they understand how music and the arts impact early development, and we are on the same mission. We are thrilled to help them spread the word to as many educators as possible.”

Music and the arts are essential to early childhood education around the world. Today, educators and researchers are increasingly learning how vital and powerful participation in, with, and through music and the arts can be to children’s development and to the classroom learning environment.

The edWeb.net community provides free webinars, presented by experts and educators, that will help early childhood teachers use arts and music to enhance their lessons, classrooms and work with young learners. Educators receive a CE Certificate for attending the live webinars or viewing the recording. The community hosts online discussions that make it easy for educators to stay connected over time with fellow educators to share ideas, practices, examples, lesson plans, and resources. The community is a growing resource center with webinar archives, CE quizzes, and support materials that can be accessed at anytime, anywhere.

Music Together is a research-based internationally recognized early childhood music and movement program that emphasizes music experiences and adult involvement, and will bring its extensive knowledge, research and resources to the edWeb.net community members via monthly webinars and online discussions.

This collaborative professional learning community will offer a webinar series for educators. The first webinar in the series, The Power of Music: Using Music to Create a Positive and Focused Early Learning Environment, will be held July 16, 2014 at 11:00 AM Eastern Time. Register here.

Educators can join the community at Arts and Music in Early Learning.