Repetition Is The Way They Learn!

Kindermusik intentionally repeats activities from week to week. Here's why it matters to your child: http://mindsonmusic.kindermusik.com/kindermusik/fol-fridays-repetition/

Conversations With Your Baby

Did you know? Positive "serve & return" interactions with your child give her the foundation for future success, such as reading. http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=6ygelrcab&et=1108226539584&s=100663&e=0015priePe54uNNNt8l8EtNab-HzC2tnGKaMT2rVaxsKqK0_NWvBsw26j7JNsUwNPYF3Z0G0YcQIU1UtEDEOKac-zQr4wm-6IHV6seMER7hyQc8cK2ZrGrImMUiokQKnl3oXS-GiT2R3NoUuiux6XTgLwOyV307JBKpYt7sE8B-ocB1rhuWZjI8oyAxeDEkDc3s6RbS1mAEFtiRoPtCuTi8CrbObKd_yL0iIeSXCShYMZ4=

New Kindermusik Village Class!

MUSIC MOVES US!
Music inspires us to move, and the result for your baby is a movement/language/brain-building connection. Be inspired to move your baby, to explore sounds and textures, cause and effect in our new class, feathers.
Newborn – 18 months
Tuition $80. Materials $35 8-week sessions
Mondays: Nov 7 – Jan 9 9:30 – 10:15
Thursdays: Nov 3 – Jan 12 9:30 – 10:15

Call or e-mail to join! http://www.kindermusikfun.com/

Learning Through Dance

You waited for him to take his first step. You documented, celebrated and posted on Facebook when the big event occurred. Now he is 2, and can't be stopped! He isn't just walking, he's running, jumping (or trying to), kicking, and is generally busy finding every possible way his body will move.
Activities like the Keel Row dance are tailor made for your little mover. Dancing provides opportunities to try out the new moves and gain confidence with them, while also hearing a steady beat, helping him be aware of his body and the bodies of others around him, and is a great time to socially and emotionally engage with friends and parents.
So warm up that CD player at home and encourage your toddler to try out his jumping feet --- can't wait to see what the next class will bring!

Learning Through Rhythm

Right from the start, your baby's brain is wired to scan her world for patterns. Even in utero, babies can distinguish and respond to different phonemes (vowel and consonant sounds) and can tell the difference between one language and another!
Rhythmic activity provides recognizable, predictable and patterned info for your baby to process, as we do in activities like 1,2, Tie My Shoe and Boom-pa-pa.

Steady beat activities also stimulate the frontal lobe of the brain, which is responsible for language development., and helps in sports activities, like learning to bounce a ball. And who would guess that steady beat experiences would aid in cutting with scissors!

So stick in the Do-si-Do CD, and keep up that drumming, rhyming and dancing at home!

Understanding Your Child: Introverts and Extroverts

This post originally appeared on the blog for Studio 3 Music in Seattle, WA.
Did you know that your child will learn best when his brain is happy? Each person has a unique brain that functions most effectively under specific circumstances. Julie Anderson’s book [The Introvert Advantage] explains that the brain has learning preferences.
Some brains prefer to take in information through the eyes (visual learners), some through the ears (auditory learners), others through the senses (kinesthetic learners). Extroversion and Introversion, according to Julie Anderson, is not about whether a child is outgoing or not. These terms describe how much stimulation a child’s brain needs for optimal brain function.
Does the child’s brain needs a lot (extroversion) or a little (introversion) stimulation in order to be happiest? An extroverted child is described as having a “sleepy brain.” This child requires outside stimulation to keep synapses firing. He or she will seek out such stimulation, often by gravitating toward social situations. People cause a lot of stimulating sounds, sights and action! An extroverted child need not be the life of the party. But the extroverted child chooses to be at the party and gains energy from it. Also, extroverts may gravitate towards higher risk sports than introverts because of the stimulation of competition and/or team play. Extroverted babies often take shorter naps. They want to be held, played with and entertained.
An introverted child has a brain that is naturally self-stimulating. Their brains are active so introverts can be overwhelmed with too much external stimuli. They may have less tolerance for, or even avoid, places with a lot of noise, people or activity. Introverts often prefer to work or play in quiet places. They may choose more low stimulation competitive activities like chess, versus football. Introverted babies don’t like to be held a lot. They prefer quieter home life. When exposed to noisy places for too long, they become more agitated.
Julie explains that on a scale with extreme extroversion on one end and extreme introversion on the other, the extreme extrovert would like to be stimulated 12-14 hours of his or her awake time. The extreme introvert, on the other hand, would naturally be happy to be alone 12-14 hours of the same day. The child who is equally extroverted and introverted, called an ambivert, is one whose brain is happiest with equal amounts of alone time and stimulation time.
Julie’s book helped me understand the brain science of extroversion and introversion. My brain happens to be a sleepy one. Now I know why my favorite study spot was not the library, but the cafeteria! And in this phase of life, the busy coffee shop is my favorite, productive work space.
My husband, on the other hand, has a self-stimulating brain. His favorite study spot in college was the quietest place he could find. Now I understand why he loves to spend hours outside in the quiet of nature. The peaceful environment allows his fertile brain, whose synapses are constantly firing with his own thinking, to be the most productive and happy. Many artists, writers and other creative people, including my husband, are introverts.

Special thanks to Studio 3 Music for allowing us to share this great post from the Studio 3 Music blog. Studio 3 Music in Seattle, Washington, the world’s largest Kindermusik program.

Kindermusik: The place to...

Build attention through listening skills,
                                             increase body awareness and physical fitness,

            develop fine and gross motor skills,

                                                     encourage  s p a t i a l      awareness,

                                 nurture social and emotional development,

                 stimulate language development,

                                                     promote organizational skills,

                                    provide special one-on-one time for parents and caregivers,

                                      give families great activities, skills and ideas to use at home.

Nowhere else is learning this much FUN!

Classes start this week!

Register at http://www.kindermusikfun.com/

or call 834.1623

Kindermusik Demo Day

Bring your baby, toddler, or young child to Kindermusik's Demo Day, Monday, August 29.

Babies newborn - 1 1/2 years              9:30 - 10:15
Toddlers and kids 1 1/2 - 3 years       10:30 - 11:00

It's free, but let me know you're coming: billroz89@aol.com.

Fun with Mom at Kindermusik

Children need spinach, so we put it in ice cream

As the original music and movement program for children, we understand that children learn best when they can see it, hear it, touch it, and then express it in their own creative ways. Each week in class, a trained Kindermusik educator leads families through research-proven and giggle-approved activities using music as the vehicle for learning.

Register for Fall Classes!!

Schedule at http://www.kindermusikfun.com/

Playdate and Demo Day

PLAYDATE August 16

Ages 1 1/2 - 5 1 - 2 pm
Take a break from the mid-day heat and sing, dance, play, and dabble in a little hands-on art!
$10. per child
RSVP to this e-mail, or call 834.1623




Demo Day August 29
Village (newborn - 18 mos) 9:30 - 10:15
Our Time (18 mos - 3 1/2 yrs.) 10:30 - 11:00
For prospective families - no charge
RSVP to this e-mail, or call 834.1623

The learning is all in fun

From my e-mail inbox, from a mom:

"Oh My Gosh I did not realize how much Cara was learning at Kindermusik. Today I took her to a preschool rhymes and songs program at the Seneca Library, with other kids her age and older. All of the other kids had been going for several weeks, and this was her first time, and she was the ONLY kid there who was doing all of the movements, paying constant attention, following directions, and "putting on her listening ears" when asked  Also, in true Cara fashion, she kept occasionally shooting evil looks at the other kids and saying "What YOU doing kids?"



Anyway, I was impressed."

One of the many blessings of my job is that I get to completely immerse myself in playing with children --- jumping, rolling, bouncing, dancing, shaking shakers, tapping sticks, and pretending ----and then stand back and watch their brains grow.  Children learn when they are emotionally involved, and they are involved when they are playing and moving.

This mom has enjoyed several semesters of classes with her daughter, they use the songs and activities as part of their daily life at home, and knew that it was an enriching experience. She just didn't realize how enriching until she was able to see her daughter in this new group setting! Really, where else is learning this much fun?

Young Child Class - Preparation for Instrumental Lessons, Preparation for School

“If I knew how important it would be, I would not have skipped the Kindermusik classes for 4’s and 5’s” Mother of a piano student.
I was speaking to this mom about a disconnect I had noticed between her daughter’s playing the piano, and actually hearing and remembering the sound she is making. This is a bright, musical child with a sweet singing voice, but there is a piece missing that we will need to work on so that she can hear the sound she’s making, and be able to memorize more easily.
This mom had brought her children to Our Time classes, and even a semester of Imagine That, but didn’t know that in Young Child classes, her children would learn to associate musical notation with sound; they would come away with a strong rhythmic foundation, would be reading music, playing several instruments, and be exposed to playing by ear. (They also learn the instruments of the orchestra, and experience music from around the world.)
For families with babies, aren’t Village classes wonderful? They promote bonding between parent and child, social interaction for both, encourages cognitive and musical development, and much more, as those of you who have been in these classes know.
Our Time classes build on that early foundation, and kids who have participated in Our Time have a strong sense of steady beat, can match pitches, and play together in an ensemble.


Wouldn’t it be a shame to lay a great foundation, but never actually build the finished structure? If your plans for your child include future music study, don’t stop now! Finish the building! Kids that complete Kindermusik’s Young Child program not only have a solid musical foundation, but also are better prepared for school; listening skills, turning symbols into sound, fine motor skills, physical coordination, and social cooperative skills…..it’s all there in the Kindermusik Young Child class!

Kindermusik Families in Action

This is a great peek inside a Kindermusik class that also shows how families incorporate activities and learning at home.

Kindermusik - Benefits of Movement

It has not escaped me that you have made quite an investment to involve your child in Kindermusik – an investment of money, time and energy, and I am so happy for your child that you have!
Below are some excerpts from The Out-of-Sync Child by Carol Stock Kranowitz about the importance of movement
The more opportunities baby has to move her body in different ways, the easier it will be to learn new motor skills.
The more opportunities a child has with movement, the better her brain can interpret and integrate sensation from her eyes and body. Later on, these visual-spatial skills will show when she

Can match shapes, letters, and numbers
Can pick out objects in the fore-and background

Has developed spatial awareness and an awareness of form constancy, directionality and position in space

The auditory [music and language] and vestibular [sense of balance] systems work together, and are both processed through the ear. The more opportunities a child has to process information through movement, the better he is able to differentiate sounds and discriminate sound and language.

This is just one little part of what you are doing in Kindermusik classes and activities. You have made an investment in the life of your child that pays valuable dividends, and I am very blessed and grateful that you allow me to be a part of your child’s learning experience!