An interactive and educational music program that starts Monday is designed to give children a solid start in the musical arts.

Musikgarten teaches young children musical foundations for their growth and development.

Parents of children ages newborn to 5 years old can sign up for Musikgarten classes at Main Street United Methodist Church. Classes will meet every Monday through Dec. 18.

Instructor Marjorie Setnicky taught classes at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Suffolk before teaching at Christ and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Norfolk the past two years.

She brought her music education classes to Suffolk for six weeks this summer, and that inspired her to start her first-ever, 15-week fall program.

“I don’t think there is anything in the area as comprehensive and interpretive as the Musikgarten program, because it focuses on music education,” Setnicky said.

Classes are divided by age groups: from newborn to 16 months, from 16 to 42 months and from 3 to 5 years old.

Each 30-minute class incorporates rhythm and melodic exercises using music tracks and instruments. The children even use scarves as learning devices for coordinated body movement, Setnicky said.

“When you have a scarf and control your movements with it, it teaches your body to do what your brain wants it to do,” she said.

Her goal is for parents and their children to foster musical creativity at home.

“I want my students to experience music, study it, be inspired and be able to take it home with them to be part of the family,” she said.

Tuition is $150, plus the cost of a songbook, CD and other materials. Introduction to Family Music for Babies One is held at 9:30 a.m., Family Music for Toddlers at 10:15 and Cycle of Seasons for 3-to-5-year-olds at 11.

Visit musikgartenatcsl.org or call 582-3978 for more information.