Friday, September 26, 2014

Developing Your Child's Young Voice



Each week in Kindermusik class, we are teaching children to sing songs in class. This is especially true for children ages 3 and up.

Did you know?
  • The songs from Kindermusik class are always pitched in a specific range that is ideal for your child to learn to sing. 

  • We focus on teaching children to sing intervals that are best for your child’s young voice, such as Sol-Mi (the 5-3 of the chord) and then we add other intervals as we go (Sol-Mi-La, Sol-Mi-La-Do, etc).

  • Songs are repetitive in nature so that children can get past the words (which they learn first) to the notes so that they can practice matching pitch. 

  • We sing songs without a track because child learn best while listening to and matching pitch with a person singing in an unaccompanied head voice.  

As you can see, there is a LOT of thought and planning that goes into each song we want a child to learn and sing. It’s all part of our commitment to provide an excellent music education that is age-appropriate, research based, and led by a licensed & trained educator.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Expert Tip: How Your Child Learns Best

Did you know that you have access to an early childhood development expert? We don’t mean our Kindermusik educators, although, of course, with our years of experience and commitment to on-going education, we certainly qualify. We are talking about you. Seriously. No one knows your child better than you do, which makes you an expert on your little one! It’s also why we love partnering with parents throughout the entire Kindermusik journey. Together, we connect the dots between what the research says about how young children learn best with the very personalized and specific ways of your child.

So, take a moment to discover a little about the three main types of learners and celebrate the way your child learns best! We know that we do each week in class!

Three Types of Learning Styles



1. The Visual Learner (The Watcher)
·         Learns best by seeing information and observing surroundings
·         Watches more of what is going on than actually participating
·         Good sense of direction and spatial awareness

The Visual Learner in Kindermusik: A child who learns visually will need to watch an activity several times before feeling comfortable and safe enough to participate. In class, visual learners may choose to spend time close by a parent or other caregiver as “home base.”



2. The Kinesthetic Learner (The Mover)
·         Learns best by moving, touching, feeling, and physically exploring
·         Prefers to “show” rather than “tell” through body language and gestures
·         Coordinated, strong sense of timing, and works well with their hands

The Kinesthetic Learner in Kindermusik: A child who learns kinesthetically will often be first in line at trying out a new instrument, move around the whole room during movement activities, and inspire the curiosity and participation of others through a hands-on approach to class.


3. The Auditory Learner (The Listener)
·         Learns best by listening, especially to new information
·         Responds well to verbal prompts like, “Are you listening?” or “What do you hear?”
·         Strong language and communications skills and well-developed vocabulary

The Auditory Learner in Kindermusik: A child who learns by listening easily remembers words to songs, dance sequences, and even details from the story from week to week. Auditory learners are also quick to share opinions and ideas during class.


Friday, September 19, 2014

Tips for Accessing KM@Home


We are so pleased to offer all new curricula based on the latest research with award-winning results.  Each unit of this new curricula comes with a Kindermusik@Home component that can be accessed online.

Tips & Info for accessing your new Kindermusik digital music and home materials for babies, toddlers, and preschool children:

  • Login to http://my.Kindermusik.com using your email address.
  • New music will be added after every 4 weeks of class. That means 8 albums and ebooks through the school year - more than ever before!
  • Designed to promote Parent-Child interaction with ideas for playtime on and off the screen.
  • They are with you wherever you are.
  • BONUS:  You can share your "my.Kindermusik.com" email address and password across as many devices as you'd like and with as many family members as you'd like and ALL can access the same set of materials via those login credentials.  No other early childhood program makes your music and activities more accessible to your family!
  • Everything can be enjoyed via STREAMING.  This doesn't save, but simply allows you to enjoy.
  • Music can be saved to a computer and burned to a CD.
  • Questions?  Contact Katie our Home Materials Concierge.
NOTE:  This information about KM@Home does not apply to our Young Child families.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Meet McKenzie Bauer - New String Teacher!

Meet McKenzie Bauer....



We're delighted to have McKenzie teaching violin and viola in our Mt. Lebanon studio on Wednesdays.  There are still spaces available. Enroll now and let's make music!


Born and raised in the somewhat small city of Boise, Idaho, McKenzie Bauer began playing the violin at age 4. Her beginning inspirations for pursuing music as a passion and career came from her primary teachers; her grandfather, Dr. LeRoy Bauer, and the assistant concertmaster of the Boise Philharmonic, Jill Rowley. Since then, McKenzie has received a Bachelor in Violin Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory, and recently finished at The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University with a Masters in the same field. While in college McKenzie began to discover a joy and love for teaching the violin and viola to young musicians. The past interaction she's had with students has given rise to a deep love and motivation for inspiring others to play music. It's more than just playing an instrument for McKenzie. She wants other students to realize the joy, expression and discipline that can come from simply playing and practicing. Whether it is the piano, violin, guitar, or trombone, music is a unifying force in all of our lives that help to lift us up. This premise behind McKenzie's love and dedication for teaching specifically stems from her grandfather, who was Professor Emeritus at The University of Idaho for many years. Dr. Bauer had the unique privilege to meet Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, one of the most famous pedagogues of our time. This love for music which McKenzie has found throughout her years as a musician is what inspires her to continue in pursuit of performing music and teaching the beauty of music to others.