Music the Universal Language

Listen and watch this AMAZING story of children and music from Venezuela. This program takes children who are the poorest of the poor and puts music in their hands....puts the making of music in their hands. Music will change your life if you let it. A 17 year old juvenile delinquent said this about having a clarinet in his hand: "It's completely different than when you hold a gun."


What do you think would happen if we did something like this for all the preschoolers in our country? How about the children in West Michigan that are being swayed by gangs right now?(We spend more money on the penitentiary system than on higher education in our state....)

Peace,
Yvette
Thanks Lori

Let's get rolling, and jumping and singing and twirling! The wide variety of SUMMER CLASSES
are online now and starting to fill. You won't want to miss this summer adventure that doesn't require car trips to far states, driving to the ocean, flying to easter Europe....it's all right here in Holland! Get the family involved and jump right in. This could be the most meaningful summer activity on your planner.

Why Study Music?

I have a son who is in a very "Left Brain" environment! Ben's a sophomore at Michigan Tech studying mechanical engineering. He does keep his right brain involved! He plays his viola with the Keweenaw Symphony.

• A 2000 Georgia Tech study indicates that a student who participates in at least one college elective music course is 4.5 times more likely to stay in college than the general student population.
  – Dr. Denise C. Gardner, Effects of Music Courses on Retention, Georgia Tech, 2000
  
• The part of the brain responsible for planning, foresight, and coordination is substantially larger for instrumental musicians than for the general public.
  – “Music On the Mind,” Newsweek, July 24, 2000
  
• A research team exploring the link between music and intelligence reports that music training - specifically piano instruction - is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children’s abstract reasoning skills necessary for learning math and science.
  – Dr. Frances Rauscher and Dr. Gordon Shaw, Neurological Research, University of California at Irvine, February, 1997
  
• Physician and biologist Lewis Thomas studied the undergraduate majors of medial school applicants. He found that sixty- six percent (66%) of music majors who applied to medical school were admitted, the highest percentage of any group. Forty-four percent (44%) of biochemistry majors were admitted.
  – “The Case for Music in the Schools,” Phi Delta Kappan, 1994
  
• College students majoring in music achieve scores higher than students of all other majors on college reading exams.
  – Carl Hartman, “Arts May Improve Students’ Grades,” The Associated Press, October, 1999
  
• Music students demonstrate less test anxiety and performance anxiety than students who do not study music.
  – “College-Age Musicians Emotionally Healthier than Non-Musician Counterparts,” Houston Chronicle, 1998
  
• On the 1999 SAT, music students continued to outperform their non-arts peers, scoring 61 points higher on the verbal portion and 42 points higher on the math portion of the exam.
  – Steven M. Demorest and Steven J. Morrison, “Does Music Make You Smarter?,” Music Educators Journal, September, 2000
  
• Researchers at the University of Muenster in Germany have discovered that music lessons in childhood actually enlarge parts of the brain. An area used to analyze the pitch of a musical note is enlarged 25% in musicians compared to people who have never played an instrument. The earlier the musicians were when they started musical training, the bigger this area of the brain appears to be.
  – Pantev et al., Nature, April 23, 1998
  
• Research shows when a child listens to classical music the right hemisphere of the brain is activated, but when a child studies a musical instrument both left and right hemispheres of the brain “light up.” Significantly, the areas that become activated are the same areas that are involved in analytical and mathematical thinking.
  – Dee Dickinson, “Music and the Mind,” New Horizons for Learning, 1993
  
• The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania School District analyzed its 1997 dropout rate in terms of students’ musical experience. Students with no ensemble performance experience had a dropout rate of 7.4 percent. Students with one to two years of ensemble experience had a dropout rate of 1 percent, and those with three or more years of performance experience had a dropout rate of 0.0 percent.
  – Eleanor Chute, “Music and Art Lessons Do More Than Complement Three R’s,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 13, 1998

These quotes I found here at UAH's Music auditions webpage. It's this article: Why Study Music? by Dr. Don Bowyer and the whole page is fun to read.

A whole new education.....

Yesterday I attended a talk given by author Daniel Pink titled "A Whole New Education" which was based on his book, "A Whole New Mind".

1. The left brain is very important but the right brain is the new #1 of equals.
2.The continuted left brained dominance of education is the legislature's fault. (not the students, not the parents, not the teachers, not the principals, not the superintendants...)

I'm wrestling with the lack of momentum of his ideas. He book was published in 2005 and here we are listening to him say the SAME things. There was nothing new. This is 2008 and things are moving so fast in this day and age! Everything is moving so fast except...education.

What is the institution of education to do, exactly? We must still maintain an excellence in left brained knowing. The SAT's and flow charts continue to be important--we'd sink with the right brain that lets go of the left brain. So do we expect the school day to get longer? Add art and music to the 4 year requirements of highschoolers who already are having to be at school for classes before "first hour"?

Here's MY theory: trust students to develop left brains in a right brain environment.

A friend of mine who is taking violin Suzuki style with her daughter (that means mom gets to learn right along side--actually playing violins with her daughter). She described a leap of (FAITH) brain activity that she experienced. The teacher gave them a new piece to work on and with much concentration of violin position, finger placement, bow placement and direction, listening for intonation, etc. she started to master the music. Later mom picked up her violin again and it seemed that she had gone backwards in the mastery but the execution was feeling different....with less focus on each separate detail. After a couple more repetitions she knew the understanding of everything it takes to play the music had shifted and she could play with out "thinking". She has given the execution over to muscle memory. This is where I believe the music can now live in the right hemisphere.

Last week I was eavesdropping on my daughter, Claire, while she was teaching a violin lesson. Her student was a junior high school student and they were working on musicality and tone. Claire was using words like weight, speed, and division. Sounds like a physics lesson or geometry maybe. There were angles, perpendicular and parallel lines, but no numbers, formulas, or symbols. They were working on bow technique and when they added it up the right answer was obvious...beauty.

How do we assess that? ......there you go again, dipping back into believing the left brain is the end all.

Musically yours,
Yvette
PS if, in paragraph that begins: MY theory, the word "trust" sends you into a nosedive then we need to sit down and talk. Invite me for coffee!

Better Minds Through Music

If you are bringing your child to Kindermusik maybe you are doing it because it's a fun thing to do together....or even with your friend and her little one. Maybe you are wanting your child to take piano lessons or violin lessons in a couple years so you know Kindermusik will help with musical requirements of keeping a steady beat, having a good ear, and actually reading music. And some of you are discovering more benefits, like this new research from the DANA Foundation that states musical study positively affects a child's cognitive development....and can affect even the babies.

It's an investment that's so worth it.

But hey, we knew that!
Come on in, you're in the right place. New families can join anytime.

Thanks Jim for the tip.

Nurturing the "Right Brain"

Don't you think we should be nurturing our children wisely when it comes to right brain-ness and left brain-ness? Our youngest students (Kindermusik Village birth to 18months) haven't yet decided on hemispheric domination. They still don't cross the "midline" and they pick up items with one hand as readily as the other hand.

Can a parent make a difference in how they will think when they are mature? Do you WANT to? I believe in Kindermusik we include the right brain where as most of the education our children will receive from here on out is much more likely to promote left brain thinkers. Where will they end up as adults?

Considering what this national speaker has to say, the future may be shifting to the favor of the right brained thinkers!

Best selling author/Wired contributor will speak in our area on creativity in business.
Save The Date!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Daniel Pink
Author of best selling book:
A Whole New Mind
(Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future)

Pink is a contributing editor at Wired magazine, and has written influential business books. He'll be in the area speaking about his latest book, A Whole New Mind. The subject is the importance of using both our creative and analytical sides in our everyday business lives, and how this will be integral to success.
West Ottawa Public School
Performing Arts Center, Harbor Lights
1024 136th Ave.
Holland, MI 49424 - map
4:00 - 5:30 PM
Cost: $35 per person Reserve tickets at the Holland Area Arts Council
150 E. 8th St.
Holland, MI 49423 - map
616.396.3278
or online at www.hollandarts.org
Read Dan Pink's blog and more about the book on danpink.com

Sign Lauguage class through Kindermusik

Kindermusik's Sing and Sing class scheduled to begin this Thursday at 3pm is worth doubling up for!

If you value your special time together and you enjoy learning about what's making your child's brain "tick"and you are you looking for more fun quality time with your 6 month to 3 year old then you will want to know about Kindermusik Sign and Sing.

This weekly 45 minute 10 week class will be taught by Yvette Odell. She will show caregivers many signs and explain the purpose behind encouraging sign language for very young children. American Sign Language is used rather than "Baby Signs" because this is a real language used and understood by many people including hearing impaired. The class is not intended for hearing impaired children since the goals are to use signs to decrease frustrations in children who are learning to talk.

The structure of the class is different that the "regular Kindermusik classes" since we are allowing free play to create learning situations that will be most effective for children's aquisition and comprehension of signs. There is some singing but the signing really takes precedence.

Added benefits are increased vocabulary, increased interactions with caregivers, increased understanding of the processes of language acquisition and parenting tips that help with directing children towards a learning goal.

Many of the general goals are similar to the ones in our regular Kindermusik classes but you'll find them to be very different! It's worth doubling up!

Enroll here.

Finding patters everywhere.....

From Wikipedia:

A pattern, from the French patron, is a theme of reoccurring events or objects, sometimes referred to as elements of a set. These elements repeat in a predictable manner. It can be a template or model which can be used to generate things or parts of a thing, especially if the things that are created have enough in common for the underlying pattern to be inferred, in which case the things are said to exhibit the pattern. Pattern matching is the act of checking for the presence of the constituents of a pattern, whereas the detecting for underlying patterns is referred to as pattern recognition. The question of how a pattern emerges is accomplished through the work of the scientific field of pattern formation. Patterns are also related to repeated shapes or objects, sometimes referred to as elements of the series. Some patterns (for example, many visual patterns) may be directly observable, such as simple decorative patterns (stripes, zigzags, and polka-dots). Others can be more complicated, such as the regular tiling of a plane, echos, and balanced binary branching.

The most basic patterns are based on repetition and periodicity. A single template, or cell, is combined with duplicates without change or modification. For example, in aviation, a "holding pattern" is a flight path which can be repeated until the aircraft has been granted clearance for landing.

Pattern recognition is more complex when templates are used to generate variants. For example, in English, sentences often follow the "N-VP" (noun - verb phrase) pattern, but some knowledge of the English language is required to detect the pattern. Computer science, ethology, and psychology are fields which study patterns.

In addition to static patterns, Simple Harmonic Oscillators produce repeated patterns of movement.

In Kindermusik "Imagine That!" we are pretending, playing, twirling....looks like just plain old good fun. Deeper down we are becoming intentional listeners and intelligent thinkers! This week we are listening for patters of words in songs. For instance how many times do you hear a repeated word in "Row, Row, Row Your Boat?" I believe this kind of work creates places in your brain for math.

I'll often stop a circle dance to point out how the song has a pattern of "aural stripes" for the ear. Last semester singing "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me" (thin stripe, thin stripe, thick stripe....) and the rondo activity we did with our "Drum Walk" (walk, run, walk, run, walk) where we illustrated the different movement with different color scarves on the floor.

A couple weeks after this particular activity Grace's mom tells me her story about how Grace is processing patterns in her mind:

Grace (3 1/2 yo) asked me if she would have a bath tonight. I answered, "No, you had one last night." She said, "That's a pattern, bath/no-bath, bath/no-bath."

Since then she finds patterns everywhere, in the color of cars (grey car, red car, grey car). or in her jewelry box (round earrings, silver earrings, round earrings etc.).

She loves Kindermusik and has learned more than I even imagined she would.

At this age they can't help but be brilliant! I'm so excited to be working with these children and to be nurturing their amazing potential!

Love,
Yvette
PS (also from Wikipedia:)

The golden ratio, (approximately 1.6180339887), occurs frequently in the natural world. Two numbers a and b keep the golden ratio when (a+b)/a = a/b, in this case a/b equals the golden ratio. It has a direct relationship to the Fibonacci numbers. This pattern was exploited by Leonardo da Vinci in his art. The Fibonacci pattern has a closed-form expression. These patterns can be seen in nature, from the spirals of flowers to the symmetry of the human body (as expressed in Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, one of the most referenced and reproduced works of art today.

Making the most of your child's early education experience:

This little car

This little car is going on a trip. Trip. Trip. Trip, trip, trip. A little game like this - turning your finger into a car and driving it down the road is an exciting time for the brain - as vision tracking is engaged, eye-hand coordination is enhanced and fine motor skills are being practiced. This simple game is a brain workout in disguise. It can be found in the AWAY WE GO Home activity guide. (From the Kindermusik "Our Time" home materials.)

Kindermusik classes have a great deal to offer families who want to be very involved in their children's early education. It's a good beginning that never ends.

Thanks Helen, you are so wise.

Preschool Consumers: Be In The Know

Letter to the Editor of the Holland Sentinel

From:Yvette Odell
Kindermusik of Holland
616-392-7182
http://holland.kindermusik.net
www.kindermusikofholland.blogspot.com
singandtwirl@sbcglobal.net

Dear Editor,

Parents should be encouraged to make educated decisions for their pre-school aged children concerning academics and socialization. The narrow question of "Which preschool program is best?" ignores the bigger issue of "Is preschool the best choice for my child?"

There are studies on all sides of the latter question, some saying results of beginning education earlier are beneficial, others say preschool is the best choice only for "at risk" children, still others say there are no lasting benefits seen in children once they are in 3rd to 6th grade and finally there are studies that point to evidence that shows preschool experience may have a detrimental effect on children's social and emotional development.

Parents are their children's best teacher. As an educator myself, I would encourage parents not to rush right out with the crowd to stand in preschool registration lines without carefully considering if preschool would better suit their child better than quality time with the parents. Otherwise it's simply a reaction to peer pressure and media views. I see preschool as a business and the Holland Sentinel's front page article of Feb. 8, 2008 "A Head Start On Learning" as free advertisement for those preschool businesses!

Notes:

1.Head Start benefits at risk children but not those not at risk.

Researchers Darcy Olsen and Lisa Snell surveyed the research on early education polices in a new report for the Reason Foundation titled Assessing Proposals for Preschool and Kindergarten: Essential Information for Parents, Taxpayers, and Policymakers. What they found should make universal preschool advocates think twice.

....“The studies conducted on mainstream children generally do not show benefits from early education programs,” they explain, pointing to a 2005 RAND Corporation analysis which found that “children participating in preschool not targeted to disadvantaged children were no better off in terms of high school or college completion, earnings, or criminal justice involvement than those not going to any preschool.” While slim research evidence points to benefits for disadvantaged children, giving subsidies to middle- and upper-class children is just not justified by research.

www.rand.org.

2.No lasting benefits: the benefits of Head Start Programs tend to “fade out” by second or third grade.

McGroder, Sharon M., “Head Start: What Do We Know About What Works”—U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Lisa Snell, Director of Education and Child Welfare at the Reason Foundation, in her article titled “Don’t Expect Long-Term Gain From Early Education Money,” discusses the absurdity of Michigan considering another investment of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to public prekindergarten programs that just aren’t showing any return. Snell writes in her article that “policymakers [should not] be focusing scarce education resources on programs that can [not] make a lasting difference.” She reinforced her statements by quoting from The National Center for Education Statistics Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, which found that there were no “substantive differences in children’s third-grade achievement relative to the type of kindergarten program (full-day vs. half-day) they attended.” The article also mentions the California-based RAND Corp.’s December 2006 report, “School Readiness, Full-Day Kindergarten, and Student Achievement,” which found that children in the full-day kindergarten programs were showing decreased mathematics skills by the time they were in fifth grade, than those who had only attended a part-day kindergarten program. Snell, Lisa. “Don’t Expect Long-Term Gain from Early Education Money,” published by The Michigan Education Report, Fall 2007 Issue.

“Significant, immediate gains in cognitive test scores, socioemotional test scores, and health status, (though) in the long-run, cognitive and socioemotional test scores of former Head Start students do not remain superior to those of disadvantaged children who did not attend Head Start.”

3.Detriments of preschool:

"We find that attendance in preschool centers, even for short periods of time each week, hinders the rate at which young children develop social skills and display the motivation to engage classroom tasks, as reported by their kindergarten teachers.....For children from lower-income homes, additional hours in center programs does not further slow social development while it does advance cognitive gains (Figure E2). But for children from higher-income families, additional hours in care do further slow behavioral growth, while at the same time failing to improve cognitive outcomes relative to moderate attendance of 15 to 30 hours per week. The benefits of longer hours of care are clearly greater for children from lower-income families."

The Influence of Preschool Centers on Children's Development Nationwide

Susanna Loeb
Margaret Bridges
Daphna Bassok
Bruce Fuller
Russ Rumberger

Stanford University
University of California

Presentation at the Association for Policy Analysis and Management
Washington, D.C. November 4, 2005

This paper has undergone peer review and will appear in Economics of Education Review.

Laptops for Tots

All children need a laptop. Not a computer, but a human laptop.
Moms, dads, grannies and grandpas, aunts, uncles - someone to hold them, read to them, teach them.
Loved ones who will embrace them and pass on the experience, rituals, and knowledge of a hundred previous generations.
Loved ones who will pass to the next generation their expectations of them, their hopes, and their dreams.

--General Colin L. Powell - founder of America's Promise - The Alliance for Youth

Want to give your child your laptop this spring? Join me for Kindermusik classes!

Thanks Maria in TN

Memory, Emotions and the Brain

Understanding how children learn has been a continuing education passion for me. I'm reading, attending workshops, watching children (my own and those who come to my Kindermusik classes) and I am nearly always thinking about this. So, from my experience, I have some ideas to share. Here's one about memory and emotions.

Have you experienced an emotion that was recalled along with remembering something? Sometimes I think that is what happens when certain child behaviors can make me angry...they are the same ones that brought up anger in my parents! I had to work much harder to be patient and creative when my babies were stubborn!

I look forward to your comments!
Yvette

Infinite Potential

Several years ago I spoke at a child care providers that was sponsored by Children's Resource Network/4C. The key note speaker was Charles Ill who was head of early childhood development for Ottawa County. He put a slide on the screen that struck me so profoundly. I wish I could find him and ask for a reproduction of the slide... I've drawn it up to the best of my ability to use the computer. It shows how we invest in the amazing potential of the brain.


The blue line roughly represents the the brain's potential for growth and change. There are biological events around 7 years and 13 years of the chemical (hormones) pruning of unused neurons in order to streamline and focus on the well connected neural pathways the child's experiences have deemed necessary.

The red line roughly represents the financial investment made towards the child's potential.

I believe there is always potential but I also acknowledge the vastness of an infant's possibility.
I also believe that the parents are the child's best teacher. I am not an advocate of early childhood education without the close involvement of the parents' participation. What would our society be like if we really invested in nurturing the infant family with financial and emotional support?

I commend all the grandparents, uncles and aunts who've given Kindermusik gift certificates or who've even brought their grandchildren to classes. I believe that's a very meaningful investment in their potential.

Find out more about gift certificates or to enroll

Come and dance in the well tended garden of our children.
Happy New Year.

Glockenspiel Days!

Yeah!!!! My Young Child I students have taken home their glockenspiel for the first time! The can play Dr. Foster, Toot-Toot Train is a Comin', and Ding dong Ding dong.

Hey! If you click on the Kindermusik Young Child Logo you can play a virtual Glockenpiel!

For the Young Child 3 students we've tried out a seasonal song. Joy to the World is built on a scale. So try this: begin on the white dot C and play down to the bottom of the glockenspiel singing "Joy to the world...." you can play the rest by ear! It is easy and it's great brain work for anyone! Have fun.

Next, can you figure out "Jingle Bells"?

Syncopation

Syncopation is a "jazzy" rhythm that really gets us toe tappin'. In Kindermusik Village we dance our feet to this rhythm in "Water Come a Me Eye". For weeks we do this dance! Some parents do the dance at home everytime it comes around on the CD. Kaylin can do it with her feet all by herself!

In Kindermusik Our Time we play the rhythm sticks to a steady beat while with our voices we sing "Tinga Lay-O": Run, little donkey, run! (There's the syncopation!)

Syncopation comes and goes through out all the Kindermusik levels...then in the "big kid class", Kindermusik Young Child, we layer it in again with the "Canoe Song": dip, dip, and swing...... In the last semester (#4) we'll finally see what it looks like. The children will be able to read syncopation and use it in their composing.

With all this those Kindermusik graduates won't be afraid of playing those "Jazzy" rhythms when they sightread new music in orchestra and band. How cool is that?

I just love this curriculum.
Yvette

What's the difference between a library music time and a Kindermusik Class?

Some folks say "Oh, we do Kindermusik for FREE at the library!"

Well, I'd love to widen your view a little.

Darcy and I do music and movement storytimes here and there (i.e. the library and some mom and tot groups, for example). We meet children who love music, who naturally sing and dance to the music, children who love the instruments and knee bounces, circle dances and stories. Those children, their sparkling eyes, smiles and giggles capture our hearts. And we see the possibility. In all the children. All of them.

What would be different if they went to a weekly class for a whole semester at a time? This is what we know about children who are lucky enough to be in a flourishing environment where consistency of space, trust, routine, repetition and variety exist.

These children begin sometimes warily, like any child. Sometimes at the first class the younger ones look around for the moment their adult will sneak off or kiss them goodbye. Imagine their wide eyes when all the adults sit on the floor with them! They know then that they are safe. After the second class they begin to sense a rhythm in the flow of the class as it is very similar to their first experience. They realize that it is safe to put the bells or shakers back in the basket because they know they will have another opportunity to work with those again. After a few weeks a change comes over them. Waiting their turn becomes easier. The songs are very familiar since they hear them also at home (Home materials include CDs, story books, instruments etc.). The story is predictable and there are more and more details emerging every week. (This never happens at a one time event.)


They become thoughtful risk takers, more experimental, more creative. Everything is safe. They sing and twirl along, delighting in their participating adult. Here is their chance to be in charge. To practice their budding autonomy in a safe environment. Isn't that what we want for them?

It's how they bloom.

Please join us.
And for the families already participating why don't you bring a friend to you class!

Yvette

I think, therefore I am!

I Believe In Music
I believe in music because I am human. I believe our universe resonates with vibrations that inspire us to musical expression. I believe music changes the chemistry of our brain and opens us up for deeper connection of self, community and our world.

I believe our innate musicality is the tool we use to learn our languages as babies. Our ears are sensitive to the melodies and rhythms of what is spoken around us even before we are born. We notice immediately subtle changes in timber, dynamics, accents and style in order to understand more than just the words. It is in order to understand the communication.

I am, therefore I think musically.

Stepping beyond spoken language in singing or wordless music, we go deeper into our human expression. It is powerful during celebrations, worship time, for patriotism and in marketing. Music can calm us, move us to fervor, or bring us to tears and can remain in our memories for our entire life.

I am, therefore I hum and whistle and sing.

It is inarguable that music moves us. I find proof in watching babies when they hear music. One of my favorite Kindermusik memories is of 16 month Ella at her first Kindermusik class. She was a little uneasy, not really knowing if she was to be dropped off or not. She looked at me suspiciously as I tempted her with the egg shakers. As I began singing our “Hello” song still worried and frowning she began the universal toddler dance. She just could not keep herself from dancing.

I am, therefore I sway and dance.

Musical experiences in community bring everyone to a new level of joyful connection. It’s like an electrical charge when our Kindermusik class keeps the beat while playing rhythmic patterns or dances to an accelerando or sings in a round. There’s an intensity of concentration, a joyfulness of unity, and pleasure in sounding and moving together that brings us all, parents and children to revel in each other.

I am, therefore I clap and stomp to the beat.

I think, sing, dance and clap, therefore I am!

Choosing Activities For Your Children

Parents everywhere have a zillion great choices in kid activities. Soccer, T-Ball, gymnastics, dance, piano, violin.... What's best? Which class will give the most return on the investment?

Here's what one educator and studio owner of Performing Arts Center in Pawcatuck notices in her students. I asked her if I could quote her post on our educator's email loop and she agreed so here it is:

Posted by: "Heather Fortier" Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:46 pm
As an owner of a dance/gymnastics/kindermusik center I strongly encourage parents to enroll in a Kindermusik class first. I have found that children who participate in Kindermusik, when they enter into a dance or gymnastics class have better listening skills, are more agile, advance faster, do better on balance beam and balancing skills. Dancers have much better musicality than those that just do dance. All around - happier teachers, happier kids, happier parents..... They will truly appreciate the students participating in Kindermusik first.

Moms and Dads, of course your kid wants to climb, tumble and jump; and that is so important for their growing, exploring bodies. Know what your kids need too, Kindermusik. Kindermusik explores concepts to help with musicality-understanding rhythms (important for floor work), it stimulates their vestibular system (which helps with the bars), it helps with their sense of balance( which is beneficial for beam), and it helps their spatial awareness skills (which helps with vaulting). All around Kindermusik is the building block for future thinkers, movers and doers. Enroll in a class and see the growth before your eyes...oh yeah, you'll have fun too!.....Heather

And here's my extra bonus for you if you are in Kindermusik: It really is 2 for the price of one since your Kindermusik educators work hard to share with parents information on child development, parenting tips, great ideas for activities for nurturing your bond together in class and beyond, time to calm yourself and enjoy being with your children...and more...

Have you signed up for fall classes yet? Did you know there's still time to do lots of learning in August? The last summer session starts July 26.

These days I'm all about saving money!

Pinching pennies left and right, I've got bank balances in my head all day. I'm working at the Farmers Market so I can keep teaching Kindermusik.....(reminds me of farmers).

Here's about saving $ that's way bigger than the figures I keep in my head:

"A voluntary, high-quality, universal prekindergarten education program is
estimated to increase the compensation of workers by $432 billion and reduce the costs to individuals of crime and child abuse by $156 billion."

So says this study. And that's what adds to the passion of why I keep teaching Kindermusik. Not actually for the money I save myself and the world....but for the spirits of the children that we keep from being spent....

I wish there was some understanding and widespread acceptance of Kindermusik as a high quality pre-school program. Parents FIRST think of all the "PRESCHOOLS" in the area as THE choices in preschool programming. That's the big "competition" for my little Kindermusik studio. (I do have a few homeschool parents who call Kindermusik their "preschool"...but interestingly it's because in the social circles of preschool aged children even the kids themselves nag their parents to enroll them in "preschool".)

As a parent and as a "child advocate" I say the most quality one can give one's own children in the preschool arena is themselves as teacher/parent!

Second: Kindermusik.

"Clink, Clink". That's the sound of my .02!

Parents: go hug your children...give them yourself.

Love,

Yvette

PS Double your investment: Kindermusik Family Time summer session starts Aug. 2 every Thursday at 9:30 for 5 weeks.

Reading, wRiting, 'Rithmetic, Rmusic...(or is it Rhythm?)

Ben in the kitchen

Many of you know I homeschool my children. We find our lessons right smack in our daily life. Music has been the scaffolding by which we have costructed our passion for learning and on which we hang what we want to know (I look at it as installing memory hooks).

Our curriculum is very laid back EXCEPT the music element. Kitchen math, read alouds, get out and go see stuff, .....But the Kindermusik, private music lessons and the regime of practicing and the scheduling of live music concerts (see the May 30 entry of this blog for the summer children's music schedule) and contra dancing....There's the priority.

It's paying off! My oldest just finished his freshman year at MTU and received a certificate of merit in calculus!!!!

I've had quite a few homeschooling groups ask for Kindermusik for the Young Child. This is a perfect stepping stone to private piano, violin, etc lessons. Right now there's no class on the schedule specifically for homeschoolers (who generally like things during the day) BUT if you are interested you'd better ask...If there's a group of at least 5 we will build you a class. YOU WON'T REGRET IT!!!

Here's a fantastic link to illustrate music and fractions. This puts a visual on it. (And it looks like Legos....which is another good way to work on fractions...) It's really fun! Play with it and then go to the homemade instrument section of the site and click on each numbered tube to compose your own piece.

How can it count as math when music is so fun??? Someone needs an attitude adjustment!
(grin)
Yvette
Thanks to Debbie Long