Family Time = Bonding Time!

Dear Family Time Parents - It's been a wonderful experience to spend time together for the last 10 weeks.  Our musical trips to a friend's house, the park, the city, the aquarium, and the farm are coming to a close as we wrap up our semester this week.  As you sing and play at home, enjoy our Farm activities, both old and new.  Singing and playing "Old MacDonald" is so much fun!

You can enhance baby's experience with this song by turning her around so she can see your face. This will allow you to better engage your baby in a game of vocal play with animal sounds.  After making an animal sound, such as baa, wait a moment to give your baby time to imitate.

Your toddler will love to imitate moving with you to "Old MacDonald." Have fun galloping like a horse, rolling like a pig and crawling like a cat.  Your preschooler will love including puppets or stuffed animals to this familiar song.  Have fun creating silly voices and sounds for all your animals.  Vocal play boost language development!

As we come to the end of our ten weeks together, I'd lik eto thank you all for sharing your family with me.  If you've not yet re-enrolled in Family Time for the next semester, call or email today so that you can your family can enroll in the next class.

And again, thank you for sharing your family with me!

Nutcracker Ballet - This week in Class!

This week in our Young Child 3 class for ages 5-7, we will be focusing on The Nutcracker Ballet.  It's a wonderful way to introduce our new unit on "dance" where we feature ballet, tap, and jazz.  We will share the story of the Nutcracker in class (with the help of puppets and some props) and then we'll take time to dance through some of the favorite selections.  (Plus, we'll even introduce a few basic ballet positions, too.)

Children are invited to bring any "Nutcracker" show and tell item to class on Tuesday at 4:30 PM, 1/13.  We will finish out our dance unit on 1/20 (Jazz) and 1/27 (Tap).  

For more fun and learning about the Nutcracker at home (including a word search, picture find, maze, coloring page, and color by rhythm), check out this link:

Nutcracker Activities

Special thanks to Beth Tivoli, a Kindermusik Educator in NY, for sharing this find!

Gathering Drums Big Hit!

"Come they told me, pa rum pum pum...." Check out these Gathering Drums.  They are such a big hit from babies on up.  We use a variety of drums in all of our Kindermusik classes.  Check out these 2 video clips of Drum Exploration.  Children learn best through multi-sensory play (touch, look, listen, discovery).  

  

Did you know?  When children drum along to the rhythms in a song or to their own names, they practice careful listening and pattern recognition.  This is one way children hear sounds in words - a skill necessary for word recognition, speaking, reading, and writing (adapted from "Show and Tell").

To learn more about the benefits of Kindermusik classes as they relate to Literacy and Math, click here.

Want one of these Gathering Drums for family fun at home like Ethan a

nd Logan?  So far we found the best price at West Music.

Happy New Year and Happy Drumming whether using Gathering Drums from Remo or Folgers Coffee Cans!

Creativity and Self-Expression!!

We've been reading a new book in my Kindermusik Our Time classes during the last few weeks called, "If You're Happy and You Know It!" by Jan Omerod and Lindsey Gardiner.  This book is a new twist on an old favorite with animal friends sharing their favorite way to express themselves when they are "Happy!"  I highly recommend it.  Please check it out from your local library or purchase your own copy.  It's available from Amazon as a paperback book for only $5.95.  Special thanks to Christa Beck, a Kindermusik Educator and dear friend, for recommending this book to me!

Flipped Out on Kindermusik!

On December 2nd and 3rd, our program participated in "Flipped Out on Kindermusik" where we shot 30 second clips of parents and children in our program.  Below are a few of our families.  We'll be sharing all the clips in the weeks ahead.  You'll also find more video clips at http://www.YouTube.com from our program and other Kindermusik programs around the world.  Just login to YouTube and search on "Kindermusik Rocks!"

Enjoy!

Meet Colton:  I want to be a musician someday!

Meet Ty and Ellen:  Music Education & Socialization

Meet Charlynn (and Cooper), mother of 4 Kindermusik students: Music at Home

Kathy's Music - Chosen "Best of the City"

Kindermusik with Kathy's Music was recently chosen by Comcast on Demand for its "Best of the City" series.  Best of the City showcases outstanding businesses and programs in 4 categories.  We will be featured in the "Kids in the Family Fun" section starting in Mid-January.  It's a short production that will air through March/April.  

Special thanks to my Thursday 10:15 AM Village Class in Mt. Lebanon for their help last week during the taping.

To see the feature, go to On-Demand, click on Your Town, then Fun Around Town, then Best of the City.  Go to the Kids category and find Kindermusik!

Let's Make Toast!

Look who I found making toast....

Mom tells me that these two sit and make toast almost every day together.  They go off to the pretend kitchen and make (and sing about) toast over and over and over.  Not only is this just so sweet, but let's celebrate the creative play.  That's what makes the Kindermusik experience such a great investment.  It extends from the classroom (Kindermusik Our Time - Milk & Cookies) to home in so many different and meaningful ways.