Who wrote "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"? Some believe Mozart did but the tune, well known to the French as "Ah vous dirai-je, maman", is a folk tune. Mozart wrote the famous variations based on this folk tune. Like folk stories they were passed down orally and the original composer is not known. Often there are many versions of the stories....or tunes! When I listen to Mozart's version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star I hear scampering stars, skipping stars, sad stars, upsidedown stars....This link takes you to listen to a little bit of it. It's really a great one to own for your own family collection.
Enjoy.

Get out your calendar. This is a great list of mostly free live music opportunities in Holland for you and your children.

What do street performers"do? Just about anything but mainly the make live music!
Musical, acrobatic and otherwise interesting performers are in downtown Holland on Thursday evenings 5:30pm to 8:00pm for your enjoyment! They put out their fiddle case for tips. The children can get pretty close to the musicians and they are usually wide eyed and try to dance while strapped in the stroller! You just gotta let them out! You might find street performers at other times on 8th street or at the Farmers' Market. Who knows...you might see and hear me! I've been out already once this season busking!

July 12, 2007, Noon - 2:00 p.m.
In cooperation with WOTV - 41, Priority Health, and Hudsonville Ice Cream, the City of Holland's Recreation Division is proud to present the eighth annual "Party In The Park". Look for Kindermusik of Holland at this event!!!

August 18 Holland Symphony Orchestra - Community Concert – Symphonic Circus
7:30 PM Kollen Park Bandshell Holland FREE
Come early with your picnic and enjoy the preconcert activities. Look for Miss Yvette, she'll be there in the thick of it!

I've tried to be pretty inclusive about this list. Do you know of something I've missed?
Won't you forward this link to your friends with young children?

Remember, singing to your children is live music too!
Yvette

Baby Einsteins or Baby Mozarts?

Here's what some say: You want to bog kids down with all this brain stuff and turn them into baby Einsteins or Mozarts....Let them be children!!! They are too overbooked! "TROPHY KIDS".

Here's my thought:

I want to make good citizens. If a child hears fine music from the day
of his birth and learns to play it himself, he develops sensitivity, discipline
and endurance. He gets a beautiful heart.
—Shin'ichi Suzuki

LIVE music used to be an everyday affair. Like breathing air. Live music in the parlor. Live music after dinner. Live music to fill the long winter. Live music and singing to work by. Everyone singing lullabies for babies. Adult models making and loving music everywhere you look. This was and is a part of our humaness. Part of how we develop our language skills, gracefulness, empathy, intellect, and our spirit (and more). Something has happened and we have cut off our air supply. We desparately need it.

If we put it back in some then say you are trying to create a genius or a "trophy kid".

I do agree that children need down time. I do agree children need time to be out side and play with NO STRUCTURE. I do believe childern need quiet time to hear their own thoughts and make up their own songs. And I do believe we humans need music. Choose your children's activities carefully parents.

Trying to create a genius? I say maybe genius is our right. Let's go dance and sing a little, shall we? All summer!
Peace,
Yvette

Oh, those blest baby siblings of Kindermusik families!

I've been thinking about the pregnant mommies in my Kindermusik classes! I often will ask the "big" brother or sister if they think their baby can hear the egg shaker or jingle bells. I know they can hear it all and are familiar with the voices of mom (especially) and dad and siblings.

I know, moms, that talking to your unborn baby is really important for language development and emotional well being. And I've heard of people taking classes in music before the baby is born or putting earphones on their belly so the fetus can hear music. Sorry, I thought that was a bit much! Well, maybe not!!! And why am I not really surprised?

In the past, women all over the world have sung lullabies to their babies.
These were very important because as we now know the fetus is having first language lessons in the womb. The inflections of the mother tongue are conveyed not only through speech but most importantly through song. The singing voice has a richer frequency range than speech. In fact, studies in other disciplines such as linguistics and musicology (e.g., David Whitwell, 1993) point out that there was a time when speech was song and therefore singing is the older of the two.

Here's more.

So blest are those families who bring thier first to Kindermusik while expecting #2! That new baby really is getting the royal treatment. AND those songs will be your new baby's favorites! The auditory system of the fetus is fully functioal about twenty weeks after conception. Researcher Alexandra Lamont of Keele University in the UK shows that they are developing memory for those sounds they hear. One year old children recgonized and prefered music they were exposed to in the womb even when they had not heard it during their first year.

That information I found in Daniel Levitin's book: This Is Your Brain On Music. (I am looking forward to hearing him speak at the Kindermusik Conference in October!)

Shin'ichi Suzuki the founder of the Suzuki Method of private lessons for violin, piano etc. knew this first hand from observing the baby who reacted joyfully on hearing the familiar music of the sibling playing on the violin.

So, before birth the babies are working on their brain: language development, memory, pleasure in music, .......

Don't stop there. At Kindermusik of Holland babies under 5 months old will receive 5 classes free (materials not included). Let's keep up the great momentum.

Yvette

Challenge of the Children Conference

Hello to the new freinds I've met at the conference today. I really enjoyed telling you about babies brains and music....I hope you take the torch and pass it on. Enjoy the blog. This is me just after the presentation. I'm doing the Mexican Hat Dance with my graduating class of Kindermusik Kids. I can't believe they've become so grown up and knowledgable about music. I love them all. Ole!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

How a mom gets Real:
From The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ungly, except to people who don't understand."......

What's your perspective, Mom?

I do wonder how Kindermusik looks in your eyes and ears and hearts...Maybe some of you could give me feedback: singandtwirl@sbcglobal.net. Here's what another Kindermusik educator has heard...and we can peek: http://crumleydotorg.chattablogs.com/archives/048450.html

I do know that I've made a connection with the children. When I look in their eyes I see joy, intrigue, curiosity, trust, exhuberance....my view is really beautiful! That's why I come very close to tears when I sing goodbye on the last day. Next time I see them so much will have changed.

Thanks Danielle.