Reading, Sensory Integration, and YOUR CHILD

Teaching our Children to Read, Write and Spell
by Susan Johnson, M.D
Proprioceptive System
There is a widely-held belief that if we just start teaching children to write, read, and spell in preschool, they will become better writers, readers, and spellers by the time they reach the first and second grades. This is, however, not true. The truth is that children only should be taught to write, read, and spell when their neurological pathways for writing, reading, and spelling have fully formed. There are many neuropsychologists, developmental specialists, occupational therapists and teachers who are concerned that our current trend in this country of pushing “academics” in preschool and kindergarten will result in even greater increases in the number of children, particularly boys, diagnosed with attentional problems and visual processing types of learning disabilities.
In order for children to be able to sit still, pay attention, and remember abstract shapes, like letters and numbers, they first need to have developed their proprioceptive system......

Dear families, please, please read the whole article! Print it out and pass it on to their teachers if you wonder why you child can't sit still, makes his 3's backwards, has terrible penmanship, has trouble falling a sleep or staying asleep, seems to be so distractible....What I mean is every parent and every teacher should read this! Really, your child is reacting in a normal way but this way continues if certain developmental needs are not adressed! They need and crave more singing and twirling, jumping and pretending. It is the way children are! But we are trying so hard to win the race to make children learn to read earlier that we are actually losing the marathon altogether!

If you as an adult are involved in your child's Kindermusik class and you get the sense that it's aerobics for the adults then something is RIGHT!! If the children in Kindermusik Imagine That! or Young Child 1-4 say "This is kinda like gymnastics" or "Dance class" then something is VERY right. We are developing neurons and integrating the right and left hemispheres that will better prepare children for their academic tasks ahead!

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

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!

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.

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.

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

When Should You Enroll Your Baby In Kindermusik?

How young is too young? If that's your question I think you will enjoy reading this entry from Eliott's mom. Eliott fell asleep in the middle of most classes but I know he still got an infinite amount of goodness from his experience in the summer class.....

His mom writes:

I had always planned on getting Eliott involved in Kindermusik eventually. I thought I would have to wait until he was 6 months old just like everything else that is fun for parents and their babies. I was happy to find a class to take with my 2 month old. I was surprised to learn that Kindermusik is more than the songs. The music is just one of the tools for building up my son's brain and strengthening our bond. There are so many opportunities around every day life we take for granted to teach our little ones. Things that I had at one time done begrudgingly with my baby, I now do happily. I love opening junk mail! Eliott likes the feel of the envelopes on his hands and to see the colors and the sound of the crackling paper. Putting away laundry is FUN! I unload the dryer and my son gets a laundry basket train trip from the laundry room to where ever I need to put away the laundry. Then we have a fun game of peek-a-boo with the clothes as we identify the colors, textures, and what body part they cover. Doing the dishes is fun too! There are lots if musical instruments in the kitchen.

I love all of the silly songs and dances because it is fun and it is laying the foundation for reading and math. There is a good sound rational explanation for every silly move and song. I love all of the little extra tid bits of information worked into the classes. I love the socialization aspects of the class too. It makes me feel good to know my son is going to know how to greet a friend and to respect boundaries and structure.

.... Eliott really is a good happy boy! I hope he lets you see more of that in the next round of classes!

Thanks again!
Kate (Eliott's Mom)

And the DEAL is still on: For babies 5 months and younger you can register for 5 weeks tuition free. Don't wait for them to grow up any more!

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!

Thank You to all the Families Who Choose Kindermusik of Holland

Maestro Kindermusik Educator Yvette Odell with 6 year old graduating student, Cassie Miller

Holland MI – Yvette Odell has been recognized in the top 5% of Kindermusik educators world wide.

Odell is an early childhood specialist at Kindermusik of Holland. She has been teaching at Kindermusik in Holland for 12 years and has received the award each of the 7 years that it has been offered. The “Maestro” award recognizes educators for excellence and fast-growing programs.

Odell is one of over 5,000 licensed educators in the world who use Kindermusik’s music and movement curricula. She began teaching two Kindermusik classes in 1995 and in 1998 took over as director of the program here in the Holland area. Today the Kindermusik of Holland studio at Lakeway Plaza on Lakewood has 3 teachers and offers day, evening and weekend classes.

“Kindermusik is not only a fun activity for infants and children; it is an experience which affects the intellect as well. The brain develops and learning is affected in a joyful environment rich in sensory experiences. Activities that include the adults add to a child’s sense of security and that greatly enhances the cognitive experience.” says Odell. “The curriculum is excellently based in current research on the total development of the child.” Odell is very passionate about children and their development. She often speaks to local groups and at conferences.

“The Kindermusik Maestro has a mission: helping children become better learners and helping parents understand how to help them reach their highest potential,” said Michael Dougherty, CEO at Kindermusik International, based in Greensboro, NC.

The Maestro Program recognizes licensed Kindermusik educators who master one of three levels in early childhood development: fast-growing programs, outstanding community service, and teaching excellence.

Monday July 30, Odell will host a free music and movement storytime with the theme of Celebration! Call 616-392-7182 to join in.


For more information about Kindermusik of Holland please see Holland.kindermusik.net or call 616-392-7182.

### Kindermusik International is the world’s leading publisher of music and movement curricula for parents and their children, ages newborn to 7 years old. More than 5,000 licensed educators use the Kindermusik curricula in more than 35 countries, reaching more than 1 million families. The award-winning books, CDs, games, and instruments are based on more than 25 years of experience creating curricula based on new and proven research in child development, designed to nurture skills in the whole child: cognitive, physical, social, emotional, language and musical.

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.

The Courageous Put Music At the Top of the Education Priorities List

Andrea Peterson, the 2007 Teacher of the Year “The beautiful thing about music is that it can give kids skills that transfer over into their reading, writing, and math.”
Watch Andrea on ed.gov

Your Kindermusik children have a great beginning and as Kindermusik says: A great beginning never ends....So what after Kindermusik then? When they're 8 and can read music because we've been singing, dancing, clapping and reading the quarter notes, forte, syncopation......everything musical? Then what? Keep it going. Piano, orchestra, band, choir....lots and lots of possibilities.

When I meet a child too old for Kindermusik I like to ask: What instrument do you play? (just as if it was completely the most logical thing for a student of that age to be doing.) If they say piano or guitar or trombone I congratulate them. If they say "I don't play anything" then I tell them they must start right away! Dream it into happening! I say go talk to your parents about this.

Here's a special announcement for homeschool families: Holland Sinfonia! begins in September.
Through the LMHSC (Lake Michigan Home School Connection, Inc.) both orchestra and band will be offered. I'm very excited to be conducting the orchestra! And rehearsals will be at the Kindermusik Studio. How convenient is that? Chris Monteiro will be leading the Beginning and Intermediate Bands

We will be practicing all the things Andrea Peterson talked about in the video clip above....raising achievement: focus, team work, hard work ethic.......and great habits.
If you are interested or have questions please contact either sinfonia@lmhsc.org or me at singandtwirl@sbcglobal.net.

Yvette
Thanks Molly for keeping us up with all the great info you share.

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

What's good about Kindermusik for big kids?

I can't say enough about Kindermusik for 3 1/2 to 8 year olds (Kindermusik Imagine That! and Kindermusik Young Child). My goal is not to prepare them for school like the graph below suggests (click on it to read the study in detail). But my own goal is nurturing creativity, thinking, musicality, and joy. I do work them hard and I am so proud of my Kindermusik "graduates". They can read music...they can look at a sheet of music notes and hear the tune of it in their heads! They know key signatures, meter signatures, syncopation, ledger lines, musical form, they can read and play one rhythmic line while two or more contrasting lines are being played simultaneously, they know the instruments of the orchestra, ......They are amazing. Every year I am simply blown away. Area private teachers continue to tell me they love those Kindermusik graduates because they really fly through the first few books....And another thing: Parents of Kindermusik graduates really understand the imortance of their support and involvement in this musical journey. It really pays off and in more ways than one.Thank you for sharing your children with me. I love them.
Yvette

How Early?

"What scientists say at the moment is that music instruction will make you
smarter about music, and that for music to help children they need to
begin instruction really, really early."

I've thought long and hard about this. Traditional Suzuki method wants you to start children playing violin at 3 years old. When my older children, Ben and Claire, were finished with Kindermusik we signed up on a local violin teacher's waiting list....and waited and waited. Hey! I'm the Kindermusik teacher! What if we've missed the music boat??? Ben was ten and Claire was eight when we finally found a different violin teacher who's waiting list was not so loooong. Now Ben is 19 and plays with the Keewenaw Symphony and Claire is concert master for the Holland Area Youth Orchestra. One might argue that they didn't start very early but I say they didn't physically hold their instrument very early but they've been in music since the beginning!!! They've gone to all my Kindermusik classes!

And Kindermusik has the prefect early class. Kindermusik Village. Now we offer 5 weeks of Kindermusik free for babies who are 5 months old or younger.

You can begin instruction really, really early. There's no waiting list for this.

Thanks miss Jamie in Kansas...
ps...our prayers are with you all in Kansas struggling in the tornado aftermath.

Why music?

Music should be a daily requirement in every facility...every home!

Big Birthdays!

Important Birthdays! One is for my son, Ben who celebrated birthday 19 (Jan. 25th) away at college! this is his last "Teen" year. Wow, I tell you moms, don't blink it passes so fast. It's also Mozart's birthday, Jan. 27. Mozart was a very special performer and composer. Here you can listen to a very famous performer, Jascha Heifetz, play a "Rondo" by Mozart. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVSgx7gKc_k We'll learn about rondos in the Big Kid class of Young Child 4. It's where the main theme keeps coming around and around. We map it out like this: ABACADA. I wonder if your little little ones will dance to this lively fun music.

Mozart, the stories tell us, had and amazing relationship with sound. He would hear one performance of a big piece of music and remember it so precisely that he could go home and write it all out. He also could not stand to be in the same building as a tuning orchestra!

I've met children who've seemed to have a high aptitude for music and yet cringe and hide when I turn the CD player on or cry and cover their ears when I bring in a trumpet or guitar to show the Young Child class. Maybe you know of someone who won't be in the same room as a vacuume cleaner or who refuses to use the automatic restrooms at the library. Maybe it's just a big crowd that sets off a tantrum in your toddler or the tags in their clothes!

These children struggle with sensory integration. It's hard for parents to understand what's going on and we're tempted to pack up and go home thinking that music classes just aren't something their child likes. Imagine if Mozart's parent's dropped his music lessons!

Sensory Integration issues can be for any of the senses and can be a challenge for adults as well as children. Here's a good book, readable and helpful: http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0060195207/ref=sib_dp_pt/102-5163147-4610521#reader-link

Your Kindermusik of Holland teachers are knowledgeable about Sensory Integration and want to work with you to make Kindermusik a wonderful experience for your child....

If you are interested in Sensory Integration let me know. I love this topic and I'd like to write more about it on this blog. Stay tuned.

For now I've got to go turn down the CD player because while Mozart is great, I just can't take the music too loud!

Peace,

Yvette

More about Mozart: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozart