We teach with love and passion.
Meet Joy
Joy personally brings a breadth and depth of education and experiences to the program and classes. Her extensive training and education present Joy with the skills and ability to enthusiastically stimulate young children in a developmentally appropriate manner. Each class highlights Joy’s meticulous ability to design, craft and facilitate learning and fun through music.
Our Mission: Music with Joy takes pride in providing the highest quality, educationally based, music and movement program for children from toddler age through kindergarten.
Our Goal: To enrich and enhance the lives of children through developmentally age-appropriate music and movement activities.
Our Program: Can be found at early childhood educational centers, preschools, libraries, and parks & recreational facilities.
Meet Our Team
Katherine
Welcome to our team as a music consultant. Your expertise will play a key role in elevating our curriculum. We are thrilled to have you on board and look forward to achieving great success together.
My name is Katherine Mekis. I’m a Board Certified Music Therapist with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy from Eastern Michigan University and a Masters in Education from Oakland University. I’ve worked in the school setting with children with autism spectrum disorder for more the 24 years. I’ve helped students achieve their therapeutic goals. I use the holistic approach when working with children. As a piano instructor and music therapist, I understand the significance of the transformative power of music and the joy it brings to children of all ages.
Asia
My name is Asia Kaufman. Working with children has always been my passion. I have 16 years’ experience working in the field of child development. I decided to step back from being an infant teacher after recently starting my family.
The summer of 2022, I was offered the opportunity to teach music and movement to young children as a Music With Joy instructor. Teaching music and movement classes, observing the positive responses, and seeing how children learn with music is very rewarding and something I really enjoy doing. I’m overjoyed to have joined this team.
Sharon
It doesn’t hurt that music classes are active to help keep me feeling youthful and energetic!
Lisa
My name is Lisa Dresner Wais and I have 3 wonderful children. I have been teaching music and movement for almost 15 years. My kids were young when I started and now, my students are my bonus children.I love teaching music and movement because not only have I established a relationship with the kids but I love seeing the excitement on their faces when I walk in the door each week. We learn about colors, numbers, jumping and of course, dancing. Many of the students come to my centers as infants and/or toddlers and I have the pleasure to participate in the graduation programs the centers have when they reach five years old. It’s an amazing experience to watch these kids blossom into young adults and be a big part of their growth. I also have developed a special relationship with teachers and directors. I love what I do and it’s very rewarding to be a part of my students curriculum.
Our Music Program
Music With Joy, LLC was established in 2000. The curriculum for the program is deliberately created and executed reflecting Joy's expertise, passion, and experience with early childhood. More specifically, Music With Joy facilitates learning in an engaging manner while stimulating and improving language, math, fine and gross motor skills. The weekly classes foster brain development which contributes to a child’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. The program aligns with research showcasing that children’s involvement in music and movement positively impacts their overall growth and development.
with Pandora's Puppets
Celebrate any special occasion with the joy of music. We have various music classes for birthday parties (ages 1-3), family gatherings and other special events.
Cardio Ball Drumming & More
Testimonials.
Joy has partnered with my school to add in an extra music class weekly and I absolutely love them! Joy is absolutely amazing and our music instructor Asia goes above and beyond for our students! We absolutely love them ❤️
I have over 20 years of experience in childcare. For15 of those years, my students have benefitted from this fun-filled, engaging, and education-based music program with Lisa as the instructor.
Her dynamic approach combines creative movement, playful songs, and songs that reinforce academic learning. These classes are powerful tools for multicultural education as the children experience songs and music in multiple languages and cultures. The weekly music classes feature a variety of percussion instruments, enriching the children's understanding of music.
The PreK graduation is a highlight each year, showcasing a performance of music, songs, and poems. Lisa's significant contribution in planning and rehearsing is key to its success. Her dedication is evident in her consistent attendance and assistance at graduations.
I am truly grateful for this exceptional program and dedicated staff, especially Lisa.
Lots of love and respect to an amazing program and the dedicated staff.
Highly recommend music with Joy! Ms Asia is amazing and does great with all our kiddos!
"We love Ms. Sharon. She makes Music with Joy an absolutely amazing program. She knows all of our teachers and children by name. We all enjoy her. She is so happy, lively and full of energy. We have part time children who come on Wednesdays just for music class. We could never say enough good things about Ms. Sharon. We love her!"
"Ms. Renee has a unbelievable ability to capture and hold a child’s attention and interest. She uses a variety methods to engage the children while at the same time creating an education opportunity. She makes families and children feel welcome. Ms. Renee gets children and parents up and moving, laughing and having fun. Ms. Renee is truly an asset to our program."
"Ms. Ellen does a great job with the music program! The children look forward to music and are always engaged in the songs and activities."
"Ms. Leslie's passion and knowledge of music shows in the classroom. She knows what works for the kids. She always has a variety of instruments. The children enjoy Ms. Leslie very much!"
