Support Your School's Music Program!

by Stephanie Glover, Violin instructor for Kathy's Music, LLC

If you are reading this article, then you probably agree that the study of music and the arts is vital to providing a well-rounded and enriching education for children. In 1977 the Arts, Education, and American Panel was able to articulate the importance in the statement"...The arts are a function of life itself, and the process of making art -- both creative and recreative -- can give insight to all other areas of learning. The arts help people understand themselves in historical, cultural, and aesthetic terms; they provide people with broader choices about their environment and influence the way they do their work and live their lives. Since artist expression is also truly basic to the individual's intellectual development, it must be included as a component of all education."

We are so very fortunate that many schools in the Pittsburgh area, both public and private, share these same values and present music education at the core of their curriculums. Many schools offer general music classes, a variety of performing ensembles, and music electives such as music theory or music technology. I would encourage all students, especially those currently enrolled in private lessons, to take advantage of these opportunities by actively participating and supporting your school’s music program. Participation in a musical activity in a group setting along side their peers teaches students much more than you might first assume. Music ensembles teach students communication and leadership skills as well as how to work together as a team to achieve long and short term goals. School music programs give students the opportunity to give back to their communities and are a great way for students to meet other students with common interests that can lead to fun and lasting friendships. All of these skills are critical for success inside as well as outside the classroom.

The music classroom is very different today than it was years ago, mostly due to the positive evolution of teacher training and access to technology. It is dynamic and diversified, encouraging self-expression and creativity. Music educators have access to technology that allows students to explore various cultures, traditions, and styles of music. Take advantage of the opportunity to participate in your school music program and support the arts in your local community.

Jazz Music from Megadolon - Concert 12/20!

Megadolon is relatively new group on the Pittsburgh scene featuring our own guitar teacher, Scott Kruser. These guys are excellent musicians, well-trained, and many are seeking advanced degrees in the Pittsburgh area. You'll love the smooth sounds of jazz, whether listening to one of their CD's or enjoying a live performance.

This week they will be performing at the Shadow Lounge downtown (5972 Baum Boulevard 126 S. Highland Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15206) on Tuesday, Dec 20th from 6-9pm with a $5 cover. All ages are welcome.

Parents - enjoy a night out and enjoy Jazz Music! If you stop by, be sure to say hello to Scott.

Kindermusik: Parenting Through Music - Music Makes Traveling Easier!

Image: Family Fun.

Childbirth and parenting classes should include a section called "Packing for the littlest traveler." Parents who travel with a young child often look like a mobile baby super store. Pack-n-play, stroller, nursing pillow, sippy cups, bottles, binkies, blankie (and backup blankie), case of diapers, case of wipes, baby food, toys, car seat, two or three outfits for each day, oh, and yes, the child! Are we there yet?!

At Kindermusik, we know a thing or two about traveling with the under 7 crowd. After all, we play Virtual Travel Agent each week in class. This semester in Village we booked excursions to go bird watching in Australia and Africa, learned infant massage in South Africa, sang songs in France, and even went dancing in Virginia and Charleston. In Our Time, we visited Clapping and Stomping Land, watched frogs in Sweden, hopped on Lukey's Boat, and took a donkey ride in the West Indies. No packing required!

(Next semester in Village, we are headed to the farm! Reserve your spot now for the hayride! Ready for Our Time? Then buckle up for traveling by planes, trains, and automobiles. Our preschoolers will be making toys in “Toys I Make~Trips I Take” and then going on pretend trips by boat and train.)

Everyday connection: Kindermusik for the Kindertraveler. Few children enjoy being strapped in their car seats for long periods of time. Music makes it easier. Create a playlist of your child's favorite Kindermusik songs for the trip or download these parent-child favorites: http://mindsonmusic.kindermusik.com/bringing-music-home/kindermusiks-favorite-road-trip-playlist/.
Happy Holidays! Thank you for choosing to spend each week in Kindermusik. Please enjoy this free "Winter Wonderland" song download. Click on the link and then the orange download button to download for free. http://play.kindermusik.com/en/tracks/3008-winter-wonderland/.

For free printable travel games to entertain your kids, click here.

Practice Makes Perfect....Or Does It?

by Rebecca Closson, Director of our music school, Pulling Strings Academy.

I often ask my students the question, “Why do we practice?” Without hesitation, the overwhelming response is “Because I want to get better!” I appreciate the desire in each of my students to achieve bigger and better things through their private lessons and hard work, but I want to challenge the idea about what purpose practice is actually meant to serve.

Violinist, Suzuki teacher trainer, author, and psychotherapist Edmund Sprunger once shared with my Suzuki training class that practice does not make perfect, but rather “practice makes EASY!” It was a revelation not only in my teaching, but in my own study of the violin. I was often discouraged when my time spent practicing only seemed to yield more frustration than resolution. My fingers could fly through difficult passages one day only to stumble in frustration the next. I couldn’t see past all of the things that I was unable to do and perfection seemed to be a dangling carrot that kept me running toward a goal that I was sure I would never reach.

Once I refocused my practice on one challenge at a time, problem-solving what I needed to do to make that challenge easier, and repeating the solution until I was able to perform the task successfully more times than I had performed it unsuccessfully, I had discovered a formula for success. Figuring out how to break down your practice into small, attainable challenges instead of tackling one large overwhelming expectation of perfection is a huge advantage for any student. Practicing then becomes centered on positive activities like creative thinking, linking together ideas, and application of previously attained skills.

A young student may rely more heavily on the teacher, parent or practice helper to guide them through the process of successful problem-solving practice, but beware helpers – there are challenges for you too! When practicing, make a special effort to focus on just one task at a time and let the others wait. If a student is working on a difficult passage for the left hand, allow the student to finish successfully before bringing to his or her attention the need to address an issue with the right hand. Also, finding a solution to a practice challenge may be the first step to success, but repetition and time spent is a necessary second, third and fourth step! Long term positive results can only be achieved through consistent time practicing the instrument more so than the sheer amount of time spent practicing the instrument. You cannot cram for a lesson like you would for a test. The skills that you are working on outside of the lesson each week are building blocks that need to have the strength to support new skills.

Most importantly, teachers do not expect practice helpers and parents to be perfect either! Weekly lessons are really special practice opportunities that give you and your student a chance to hone your problem solving skills with an expert advisor. You are working with the student an overwhelming proportion of the time each week and your instructor relies on you to present concerns or frustrations from the student perspective. The only true way to disappoint your teacher is to not have tried at all. Music works best in community and there is no better way to encourage success than to do the heavy lifting together!

Teaching Your Child to Sing

by Kathy Morrison, Director of Kathy's Music, LLC

Singing is for fun and much more! Research indicates that focusing on singing can be beneficial in both cognitive development (abstract conceptual thinking, verbal abilities, originality) and motor development (particularly coordination). Singing, which may be present from the earliest stages of life, evolves through several development stages: babbling, repeating words and fragments, and finally adding rhythmic features and pitch components.

“Singing ability is related to the ability to control speech fluctuations, and speech activities appear to help develop tuneful singing skills.” (McDonald, Dorothy and Gene M. Simons.)

The ability to sing and the ability to converse with expressive speech are closely related. Early Childhood music classes will nurture your child’s speaking and singing voice by playing with rhythmic speech (poems and rhymes) as well as introducing and modeling simple tonal melodies with a limited range. While your child is happily singing, she is stimulating all developmental domains: physical, emotional, language, and cognitive. Particularly significant is the reinforcement singing provides in abilities relating to sequences, patterns, memory, and language.

However, timing is important. Evidence suggest that children ages 1.5 to 3 years are at a critical stage for learning to sing accurately (matching pitch). In “Teaching the Elementary School Chorus” by Linda Swears, we learn that many children are not singing accurately:

“Of primary importance in this developmental scheme [learning to sing] is the approximation of singing stage usually occurring between the ages of about eighteen months and three years. At this time a repertoire of tonal patterns is being developed and tonal memory is being shaped. Unfortunately, the heavy emphasis on language development at this time may result in inattention to the development of the child’s singing voice. For whatever reason, if singing is neglected at this stage, the result may be children and even adults who fail to achieve singing accuracy without remedial help.”

There are many things you can do at home (or in the car) to nurture your child’s developing singing voice.

- Encourage your child to sing by singing to and with her! You can be a marvelous example. Love and enjoyment of singing is contagious and contributes to the development of the child.

- Introduce songs from your childhood, such as folk songs and nursery rhymes. These childhood classics are comprised of rhyming words, repetitive phrases, and simple melodic patterns making them easy to learn and remember. Children want to sing them!

- Because children learn to sing best without accompaniment, try singing without a CD after you’ve learned the songs together.

- To encourage your child to sing in a light voice, which is easier for matching pitch, play with siren sounds, downward and upward “whoo” types of sounds, using a “sliding” voice. These glissando or sliding sounds will also help increase the child’s vocal range for both his speaking and singing voice.

- Sing in the ideal range for your child’s voice. For those parents with a musical background, we recommend from around “d” to “g” above middle C for children ages 3-5 years of age. Here’s the good news: One expert says that with many singing experiences, some children will be able to sing accurately from middle C to an octave above middle C by the age of four or five.

- Play with “humming” a favorite song from class, such as “Row, Row, Row your boat”. Humming will increase the strength of your voice.

The ability to sing is based on many factors, including environment, opportunities for vocal play, a child’s physical/emotional development, and natural ability. However, encouragement and guidance from adults who value singing can have an immense impact on a child’s ability to sing. So, sing, sing together, merrily, merrily sing!

Starting Private Lessons.

“What is the right age for my child to start private lessons?”

Choosing to take private lessons is an important step in the musical development of any child. The age at which those lessons begin varies and often depends on a number of factors, including interest in a particular instrument, social skills, letter and number recognition, and attention span. Lessons can begin as early as three or four years of age, and many parents choose to start private lessons when a child starts school.

A child’s success with private lessons often lies with parental involvement in the lessons and at home. Parents are welcome and invited to attend the lessons, take notes, and help to facilitate practice sessions at home. Lessons for young children involve movement, singing, and learning the technical basics of the instrument in an environment which is positive and nurturing. Children with prior musical experience, like Kindermusik, often have an easy transition into private lessons as they have been exposed to many music basics in their classes.

If you are considering private lessons for your child, we welcome you to contact us to set up a time to meet with one of our private teachers. We love teaching children and setting them on a path which leads to a lifetime of music enjoyment.

Article Contributed by Josie Kost, Instructor for Kathy's Music, LLC teaching Kindermusik and private lessons in flute and piano for our music school, Pulling Strings Academy.

Movement, The Arts, and Learning

Moving to Learn.

What does a child’s brain need to learn?

Answer: Movement

For those who want the background info….

There are 3 distinct but interconnected kinds of body/mind processing: sensation, emotion, and thought. (Smart Moves, pg. 12)

• Sensations received through our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, and proprioceptors are the foundation of knowledge. (NOTE: Proprioceptors allow our brains to explore and understand the environment through our muscle sense.) – (Smart Moves, pg. 43)
• Emotions provide information to the REASONING process.
• The body needs movement to anchor thought and build the skills with which we express our knowledge as lifelong learners. No matter how abstract our thinking may be, it can ONLY be manifested through the use of the muscles in our bodies.

Movement is the key to learning!

The bottom line: Multi-sensory Learning (rooted in movement) partnered with a positive emotional experience leads to LEARNING, REASONING, and THOUGHT.

In order for a child to learn we must involve the mind and the body with multi-sensory learning that is INTEGRATED. That’s the key to success.

How does that work in our classrooms?

In Village for babies we begin by just manipulating limbs and encouraging the simplest of moves. You, as the parent, are doing the moving with/for your child. In Our Time for toddlers, we begin to build a repertoire of ideas and encourage our children to explore their body movements for themselves. Last week, in the activity “Clapping Land” circle dance, we have an example of a simple synchronized/patterned dance that we will expand on in Imagine That for 3-5 year olds where ideas, creative movements, and control will be left to the children. In the Young Child 2-year curriculum for ages 5-7, all of your time and efforts come to fruition not only in movement to much more complex dances, but in instrumental play and high level reasoning. Your child will play in multi-part ensembles and will learn when to play and which instruments to play all while reading real musical notes and rhythms. WOW! A Good Beginning truly NEVER ends!

“Movement is the key to learning! Our brains fully develop through movement activities such as crawling, rolling, turning, walking, skipping, reaching, swinging and much more! The brain has a plan for development that involves specific and intensive motor activities to make full use of our complicated nervous system.” -“Movement and Music: The Keys to Learning” by Anne Green Gilbert, Kindermusik Notes Nov/Dec 1998

NOTE: Anne Green Gilbert is author of Teaching the Three Rs through Movement and Creative Dance for All Ages. Click here for Anne’s article highlighting music & movements impact on academics! http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/arts/gilbert.htm

The Benefits.

Through multi-arts and movement activities, foundational patterns and dispositions needed for success in school and life are set up and reinforced. New experiences are integrated and anchored within the brain, enabling children to unlock mysteries of our symbol system, make sense of their world, and learn to live and work peaceably with others.

In schools struggling to close achievement gaps, arts and movement programs can be a key to success. Young children who participate in the arts for at least three hours, three days a week for a year are

· 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement,

· 3 times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools

· 4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair

· 3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance

· 4 times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem

· 2 times more likely to read for pleasure, and

· 4 times more likely to perform community service.

Gains in dispositions for learning are critical outcomes of participation in arts and movement programs. (Catterall, 2002)

This week spend time learning to move with your son/daughter or even encouraging them to move, so that your child can move to learn. The statistics are compelling.

For more information on why learning is not all in your head, see Smart Moves by Carla Hannaford.

Kindermusik: Parenting through Music - Routines

Spotlight on Parenting: Routines!

Going to the grocery store can be routine. You make the same loop every week: milk, bread, diapers, caffeine-of-choice; milk, bread, diapers, caffeine-of-choice. What would happen if each time you went to the store, they moved it all around? Suddenly, a trip to the grocery store becomes an exercise in frustration as you try to make sense of your surroundings.

The value of routine works similarly in your child. Routine helps him make sense of his surroundings and know what happens next. In Kindermusik, we build familiar routines into the class to help your child become comfortable and anticipate what comes next. The Hello song signals that class is starting. The story blanket means ... well ... it's story time. The Good-bye song brings the class to a close.

Everyday connection:

Establish a nighttime routine. Use music to signal to your child the start and end. "My Bonnie" and "You Are My Sunshine" are Kindermusik family favorites! Turning on lullabies or relaxing music after dinner will let your child know that the day is coming to a close. It is time for bath, books, snuggles, and bed. Plus, many children fall asleep faster (and sleep better!) with an established bedtime routine. Now that is a routine any parent can appreciate!

Your Preschool Child's Musical Development

Want to learn more about your child’s musical development? Read on….

How does Kindermusik class help to develop my child’s musical skills?

Below we’ve outlined the musical profile of a 3-5 year old child and included ways that we practice these skills in Kindermusik class each week.

• Is developing beat awareness -à We practice beat awareness using our talking drum where we walk, run, and jumpto the beat of the drum
• Can match beat to external sound source in non-locomotor ways -à We practice matching beat when we explore sticks and other instruments, then play along to songs on our Home CD, such as “This Old Man”
• Enjoys the interactive nature of circle games -à This week we played “What Shall We Do?” where children took turns sharing their ideas for playing outside and then we “sang” their ideas as a group in the song.
• Is becoming increasingly successful with the rhythmic and tonal components of songs -àThe Grasshopper Park Story has been a great tool for exploring rhythm and tone. We can already see improvement in the children’s ability to retell the story using rhythm and tonal components, which means that they’ve been telling the story at home!
• Is beginning to sing accurately in a limited range -àWith each class the children are singing more on pitch. That’s one reason we repeat songs from week to week is to give the children practice at matching pitch.
• Can differentiate between the singing voice and the speaking voice -à We incorporate both chants and songs in class to practice differentiating between speech and singing.
• Is beginning to understand musical concepts such as: Loud/Quiet, High/Low, Long/Short, Fast/Slow -à The ball play song, Do as I’m Doing, lends itself well to explore these concepts. Plus our glissando exploration has given us an opportunity to practice high/low voices.

It's age-appropriate.

It's musical learning.

It's music for now. Skills for life.

Kathy's Music, LLC

kathysmusic.com

(412) 344-0535

Introducing Kindermusik Radio iPhone App

Introducing Kindermusik's new app for the iPhone - Kindermusik Radio!

Click here to learn more.

Dance, march, skip, and stretch. Swing your partner and then rock to a lullaby. Smile and laugh. Like their music and movement classes, the Kindermusik Radio app provides parents with a way to engage and interact with their children - while training the brain and soothing the soul.

Research shows that music helps children become better learners. Toddlers love to dance, swing and sing as they develop their motor and aural skills. Preschoolers strengthen neural pathways by making up songs and rhymes as their imaginations run wild. With 5 stations to choose from, the Kindermusik app will give you access to over 100 tracks, the very finest and authentic reproductions of classic children’s songs, nursery rhymes, and stories well as Kindermusik originals.

The Kindermusik Radio app offers a parent-child activity for every song, each activity designed to engage and entertain young listeners as well as stimulate early childhood development. The activities are based on principles defined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Music Educators’ National Conference (MENC). Kindermusik has over 30 years experience in developing early learning curricula and products based on the work of early childhood development experts such as Piaget, Montessori, and Greenspan, and the music education philosophies of Orff, Kodaly, and Dalcroze.

Sing. Move. Listen. Share. Anywhere.