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.

Fall Family Music Festival Week - Nov 3rd thu Nov 9th

It's a class for your child, but the whole family benefits too!

Connect - Find support and friendship in our vibrant and growing community of families.

Share - Play and laugh together in an integrated, creative, child-centered experience.

Learn - Get expert advice on your child's development, every step of the way.

Grow - Inspire a love for music and learning in class, and then continue the fun at home.

This week we are celebrating Kindermusik and Family in all of our classes. We have prepared lessons designed to connect, share, learn, and grow together as a family.

Want to learn more about the Kindermusik experience? Contact us today to preview a class.

http://www.KathysMusic.com

Local Opera Matinee - just for families!

Our very own Kindermusik teacher, Jenifer Weber, will be performing in an opera this weekend called, "Dido and Aeneas." Performance dance are October 22-24th.

Flash Opera presents Dido and Aeneas, an English baroque opera by Henry Purcell. It is the story of how Dido, the Queen of Carthage and Aeneas, the hero of Troy fell in love and why their relationship didn't work. This opera is in English and has a running time of approximately 1 hour. The Sunday matinee held at the JCC in Squirrel Hill is for families and will feature a pre-performance talk and a post-performance question/answer period. The room in which the performance will take place is convenient to restrooms and is less formal and more comfortable than a traditional theater venue. Children are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Friday, October 22 at 8pm, we appear at South Hills Retirement Residence (formerly South Hills High School) at 125 Ruth St.

Saturday, October 23 at 8pm, we're at The Zenith in the South Side at 86 S. 26th St.

Sunday, October 24 at 1:30, we're at the JCC-Sq. Hill for a family matinee.

While Friday and Saturday night would make a great date night, Sunday will be great for families. Admission is free with donations accepted at the door.

Congratulations Jenifer and best wishes for a great weekend of performances! We're so proud!