Wiggleworms/Old Town School of Folk Music

While our family has enjoyed Wiggleworms classes in the past we had a terrible experience with Natalie, a wiggleworms teacher who works in both Evanston and Glencoe. My child left the class in tears after she said some insensitive and unkind things about him in front of the entire class. We withdrew from the class and will not be returning to another class with Natalie. I hope this is not a sign that wiggleworms is going downhill. ..

I really wanted to like Wiggleworms as my child loves music but I just cant give this program a high rating. We have taken other music classes in the area (Bubbles and Musikgarten) that we loved but were urged by a friend to check out Wiggleworms as she had heard good things so we signed up. Total waste of money.
The classes are 45 minutes long and basically the kids just sit in a circle signing the exact same songs every single week for 45 long minutes. I understand some repetition for the kids to learn the songs but seriously– same exact songs in the same order every single week?! My child and I were both losing our minds in there lol.
There is very little movement/​dancing (unusual compared to other classes we have taken) and my child (and most of the others) couldn’t sit still that long. Which just leads to kids being antsy and bored.
Maybe if you have really young babies this might hold their attention but any child over probably a year or so is not going to enjoy this. And even so you might go crazy yourself listening to the same songs over and over and over again. Seriously, it was nuts. I’ve never taken a music class for kids where there was no theme each week or different songs.

I’ve taken my (now 2.5 Year-​Old) Twins to the Wiggle Worms Class for over a year, and they really enjoy it. They learn songs and how to interact with others (Really Cute!). Little Miss Ann (the Instructor) is Great, and we plan on going again in the Fall (we were too busy in the Summer). I would recommend to All Parents.

While there are almost too many choices of classes and fun activities for toddlers and big kids, there’s not much going on for babies in the North Shore. I think it’s because most people move to the burbs when they have their 2^nd baby (like I did). Who has time to do classes with baby #2? Not I, but once my toddler was in school for a few hours I figured maybe it was time to start stimulating the baby.
When we lived in the city I was a big fan of Bubbles Academy,* which may have been even more fun for the adults than the kids. There is a Bubbles in Lake Forest, but a bit far from where I live in the city… and driving more than 15 minutes for a kids class isn’t worth it in my opinion. While I never tried Old Town School of Folk Music in the city, I had heard rave reviews of their Wiggleworms classes. I was psyched when I heard they had a Glencoe branch and signed my baby up as soon as he was old enough (6 months).
After a few years attending classes at the oh so cute Bubbles Academy it took some getting used to Wiggleworms. Bubbles had an entire facility of props to choose from, but Wiggleworms just takes place in a classroom like setting. For 45 minutes the instructor sings some songs, gives the kids some instruments to drool on, does a bit of parachute time and the grand finale involves some banging on a drum.
Wiggleworms first took place in a room located above Olly Olly. Carrying my extremely heavy baby (+ the car seat) up a long flight of stairs was not the highlight of my week. But when Olly Olly closed their doors they moved the class to a lovely classroom at the Takiff Center, which is much more enjoyable.
As time went on I’ve learned to love Wiggleworms almost as much as I loved Bubbles. My son (now 14 months old) loves it so much that my nanny now takes him twice a week. He absolutely loves the instructor Miss Linda, who has been teaching his class for 8 months. He’s also made lots of «friends» in class, as have I & my nanny.
We’ve also taken John Francisco’s classes when taking make-​ups on the weekends and he’s pretty fantastic. He taught a great sibling class during the weekend, which wasn’t a convenient time for us, but I’d love to see more of those during the week.
Now that my «baby» has pretty much entered the toddler stage there’s more activities for him in the North Shore, but Wiggleworms remains his favorite.
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