Do-Re-Mi School of Music & the Arts
93A South Livingston Avenue,
Livingston, NJ
973-758-1500

Whether:

• you want to keep your mother tongue alive in your family;
• you want your child to learn how to read and write in Russian;
• you want your child to learn the masterpieces of classical Russian literature;
• your Russian-speaking child does not understand his or her English-speaking speech therapist;
• you have never spoken Russian before, but want to learn some basics before going to work in Russia or to visit Russia as a tourist;
• you are trying to prepare for college course credit in Russian;
• you want to earn extra credit from your new Russian-speaking parents-in-law;
• you want to reconnect your adopted child with his or her Russian heritage;
• you want your child to participate in a play in Russian;

Whatever your level and goals are, we have the right teacher for you. Our Russian teachers' collective experience ranges from teaching toddlers to university level, with everything in between. Not only from Livingston and nearby towns, such as Millburn, Springfield, Caldwells, East Hanover, but as far as from Boonton, Bridgewater, Basking Ridge and Metuchen bring their children to the Do-Re-Mi, well-known as one of the finest Russian programs in New Jersey.

For sample videos, please click on the image below.

Our Russian program earned a great reputation among Russian-speaking and bilingual families of New Jersey. We offer:

1. Music in Russian for Toddlers

2. Russian Language Development for Pre-schoolers

3. Progressive Reading and Writing Program

4. Russian as a Foreign Language for Children and Adults

1. The very young children, even before they start talking (from age 16 months), are offered Music in Russian classes. The philosophy of these classes is creating nurturing musical environment, similar to well-known programs Kindermusik, Musikgarten и Music Together, but all lessons are given in children's native Russian langauge. The progressive program encompasses four years of instruction and includes a variety of songs: by well-known authors, like Nikitins, Shainsky, Gladkov and others, as well as children's fold songs from all around the globe. The program also includes many children's poems; some of them serve as lyrics to the songs, and some of them are recited. Among them there are classical poems that our children's grannies and grandmothers remember from their own childhood: Agnia Barto, Samuil Marshak, Velentin Berestov, and some are created by the next generations of Russian poets: Emma Moshkovskaya, Irina Tokmakova, Genrikh Sapgir, Vadim Levin, Renata Mukha, as well as the poets whose works have been created long time ago, but published relatively recently, after Perestroyka: Sasha Cherny and Daniil Kharms.

2. Children who are beginning to talk, are invited to Language Development classes. Many parents, with some doubt in their voices, report: "I do not know whether there is some connection, but when she started attending your classes, she started talking with the full sentences." We believe, yes, there is direct connection. These classes focus at three major problems: (1) vocabulary development, (2) creating the situations when children have to speak, in general, and in full sentences, in particular, and (3) development of phonemic ear, i.e. ability to distinguish different sounds of speech by ear. This aspect is extremely important not only for right pronunciation, but for future reading . Many sounds of Russian language just do not exist in English, and if a child growing in English-speaking environment was not taught to purposefully distinguish those sounds, he will not be able to recognize these sounds while reading. (for instance, Ы vs. И.)

3. As soon as children are ready, parents are asking for Reading and later Writing lessons. After Language Development classes children grasp the idea of reading very easily. Many parents notice that these children learn to read English also very quickly. New children move forward a little slower, and phonemic ear development is included in reading lessons for new starters.
We group children not only by ages, but also by their conversational language development and previous experience. This approach provides an opportunity for very intensive progress. Parents greatly appreciate that their children do not have to review what they already know only because other children of the same age do not.

4. Recently, more and more children come with less and less active Russian language. Not only children from bilingual families, but children born to both Russian-speaking parents come without solid conversational language. It's quite understandable: grandparents are still young enough to work, so young children grow in English-speaking nursery schools, i.e. in English-speaking environment. Still for younger parents keeping their mother tongue alive is important, because this is the way for them to connect their children to their own family background. Fortunately, one of our teachers is perfectly equipped to teach not only children, but also non-Russian speaking adults. Being from Riga, she used to teach Russian to non-native speakers, and she has access to rich materials developed by Latvian educators. Russian as a Foreign or as a Second Language is steadily growing. We have RSL/RFL classes for children of all ages, for teenagers and for adults (majority of which are English-speaking spouses of Russian-speaking parents), and RFL for families that include adoptive parents and their adopted children who came to the US before they started talking.

Occasionally, we provide lessons for English-speaking Americans who are preparing for credit exams in college or university, or for business or tourist trips to Russia.

Summarizing, what features are responsible for efficiency of our Russian programs?

Experienced, professional teachers; structured programs and lesson plans; careful grouping of students; great attention to the parents' comments and requests - all of these allows to attract new families and keep one of the greatest retention rate in the field. 2011-2012 is our 10th Anniversary year as a Russian school in NJ.

If you prefer reading in Russian, please click here.

SCHEDULES: http://www.doremi-nj.com/russian-schedule

Calendar 2012-2013

Thursday, 9/6....................................................................the first day of the fall semester
Monday - Tuesday, 9/17-18..............................................no classes, Rosh-ha-Shanah
Wednesday, 9/26..............................................................no classes, Yom-Kippur

Wednesday, 10/31............................................................no classes, Halloween
Thu., 11/22 - Sat., 11/24..................................................no classes, Thanksgiving break
Mon., 12/24 - Tue., 1/2.....................................................no classes, Christmas-New Year break
Saturday, 2/16 - Mon., 2/18.............................................no classes, President's Day break
Mon. 3/25 - Sat., 3/30.......................................................no classes, Spring break
Sat., 5/25 & Mon., 5/27.....................................................no classes, Memorial Day break
Wednesday, 6/26...............................................................the last day of the lessons

Monthly Tuition (Group Rate: 3-7 students)

60-min..................................................... $93
90-min. (Thu. Russian/Logic)...................$130
2 hours (Fri. Russian/Logic/Music)...........$160