Music Notes for February 19-25
Big Idea for Village, Our Time and Sign and Sing Parents: Socialization
Becoming a parent turns your world (and your social calendar) upside down and inside out. You move from lengthy conversations over dinner to brief chats scheduled around naptime. Eventually, you progress to speaking in short sentences interrupted by wardrobe and diaper changes, boo-boo kissing, rocking, sharing interventions, and a few paparazzi moments. (Your child does do the cutest things after all!).
When enrolling in Kindermusik, many parents list “socialization” as one of the reasons. We do help your child develop social and emotional skills, but we also connect you with other parents and caregivers who understand the unique joys and challenges of parenting a child the same age. So, next week in class take advantage of Gathering Time and look around. Your newest BFF just might be sitting next to you or changing a diaper or kissing a boo-boo or experiencing a paparazzi moment, too.
Everyday connection: Come all you playmates! Connect with other parents from class on Facebook and invite them to join you and your child for a play date. Through this unstructured playtime, your child will expand his intellectual, emotional, and social skills and you will get some social play of your own.
Big Idea for Imagine That! Parents: Steady Beat
Did you know that having a strong sense of steady beat helps develop so much more than musical skill? In musical play, your child is practicing and developing a sense of rhythm in the legs and feet. This lower body beat practice is good for playing sports, especially dribbling and shooting basketballs, as well as for dancing, skipping, and running. Today in class, we did a variety of activities to help us with this very important concept.
So as you listen to the happy sounds of your child exploring the Kindermusik drum, keep reminding yourself of all the great learning that is taking place!
Music Notes for February 12-18
Big Ideas for Village and Sign and Sing Parents:
Singing Hello! Do you remember the first time you said hello to your baby? Perhaps you saw a shadowy, profile on a sonogram or maybe someone put a swaddled bundle in your arms when you first whispered, “Hello, little one.” Somehow saying hello for the first time made your baby more than just a plus sign on a test. In that moment, your emotional connection became even stronger.
At Kindermusik, we believe in the power of hello. So, each week, we begin class by singing: “Hello, hello let’s sing together!” Using your child’s name helps him make an emotional connection with the song and activity right from the start. It also encourages social interaction by inviting him to respond with his own greeting, such as a smile, wave, laugh, or even a little peek-a-boo. As an added bonus, it helps you learn the names of the other grown-ups in class, too! Everyday connection: Say hello to your little friends. Try singing hello to the people, animals, and objects you see around your house. Sing to Nanna…clap to doggie…wave to the bathtub, wave hello. Your child will love it and you will be encouraging social interaction, emotional connections, and even vocabulary development!!
Big Ideas for Our Time Parents:
Repetition! Think about the last time you tried doing something for the first time. Maybe it was using your new smart phone, going for the perfect cloth diaper fold, or even figuring out how to feed your baby while checking Facebook at the same time. (Hey, we all need some outside connections!) After lots of repetition, you’ll probably master the fine art of that new thing, or at least fumble a little less. For your child, few things build her brain and open opportuniites for learning more than consistent repetition of healthy activities and experiences. Every new activity in which she participates makes a new neural pathway in her brain. Each time that experience is repeated, the neural pathway is strengthened. That’s why in Kindermusik class we deliberately repeat activities from week to week and give you the tools to repeat them at home, too. Everyday connection: Practice makes perfect learning. Listen to the music from class and do the activities together at home. Repeat. Listen to the music from class and do the activities together at home. Repeat. (Learning is that easy … and fun!)
Big Ideas for Imagine That! parents:
Even on the first day of class, your preschooler started using a vital learning skill, something we call investigation. Going through a new experience, your child investigates to make sense of a new situation, makes guesses about what will happen next, and then checks that prediction against what really happens. This is an important skill your child needs for learning about new things at home, or someday in preschool. New experiences are vital to your child’s developing sense of investigation and becoming a more curious, self-motivated learner. To aid the learning, remember to download your child’s digital music and activity files from http://play.kindermusik.com using your special individual code. The album files include music used in class that you and your child may enjoy at home to recreate the fun we have had. The pdf activity files give you lyrics to the songs we will be singing in class and activities to enjoy at home. Spend some time together investigating your Toy Shop Play Set. Take turns as you sing Play, Play, Play, and use your Kindermusik drum as you explore loud and quiet sounds.
Fall 2011 Enrollment now open!
Can you believe it’s time to start enrolling for Fall 2011? Many you have made other activity commitments and are looking to finalize your Kindermusik plans as well. Well, now you can! Not much has changed from this Spring semester to Fall, with the exception of adding a phenomenal new educator, Jenny Erikson. Some of you know her already, she is mom to Jonah and has been a parent in the studio for about a year now. She recently completed her Kindermusik training and licensing under my tutelage. She has launched a studio in Wahoo, where she is receiving positive enrollments and feedback from her families. I ask you to welcome Ms. Jenny with open arms, she is such a blessing to me. Take a peek at her bio, it will be up soon. She will be offering Monday morning and evening classes at Christ’s Place as well as taking over the current Wednesday morning classes. Otherwise, Ms. Shawna’s classes remain the same. So take a minute, peruse the fall classes and get enrolled early to reserve your spot. Look for another post regarding early enrollment incentives and how to earn discounts on tuition.
Register NOW for Summer fun!
Our Summer Adventure Camps are now up and ready for registration. Please look under “Register for Classes” and view Adventures Camps. An entire summers worth of Camp fun is now available to you. If you register prior to May 10 with your summer deposit, you will also receive a $10 play.kindermusik.com gift card as well. You can download some additional rockin’ summer tunes for your child!
“THE MORE WE GET TOGETHER, TOGETHER, TOGETHER, WELL THE MORE WE GET TOGETHER THE HAPPIER WE’LL BE!”
Kindermusik of Lincoln is excited to share that we have added another Our Time Class to our schedule starting Saturday, February 5. It’s an early bird class, beginning at 8:30 am. We do have enough children to get it started but have room for a few more. Please consider this new time as you search our schedule. Many of our other Our Time classes are full and no longer accepting enrollments. Hope to see you there!
A quote to think on…. How does this apply to your child?
“Necessity may be the mother of invention, but play is certainly the father.” ~ Roger von Oech
A Gift from me to you!
Enroll for the Spring 2011 session on or before Saturday, December 4 with a $60 deposit and receive a gift of either a book, CD or a pair of rhythm sticks. You will also receive $5 off tuition. I can also provide gift certificates in any dollar amount to anyone wishing to give the gift of Kindermusik. Just have them email me and I will work with them to make sure it is received in time for the Holidays!
Oh, no! Classes have started and I want in….
Have no fear! If you miss a week or more, we happily prorate the tuition for you for the weeks that you are attending. Don’t let this keep you from enrolling now or waiting for the next session to roll around.
So JUMP FOR JOY and COME RUNNING because I will see YOU soon!!!!
Is Kindermusik for us?
Why Kindermusik? Is it for you and your child? This video will give you a new perspective!