What if.....

...my child is sick? we are out of town? I have a doctor's appointment? You have signed up for a class, you have paid to attend and enjoy coming..what if I miss a class? Can I make it up? The short answer is yes!

My advice would be to talk with your teacher about your absence. If you know in advance that you will be out, then ask your teacher about attending a different day and time. If you are out because unexpectedly, you have a couple of options.

1. look at the schedule online and see what is available.
2. check the blog and make sure there isn't an announcement about a class being cancelled. This happens occasionally when a teacher has a conference to attend or is ill. We typically try and cover classes if a teacher is out, but sometimes that isn't possible.
3. call or email about availability of another class.


You make up the class anytime during the semester, it doesn't have to be within that week. This works fine for Village, Our Time, and Imagine That! classes, but not so well for the older classes. For children in Young Child there aren't as many options. Your teacher will be happy to get you the materials you missed at the next class.

As a side note, classes will not meet on Labor Day. Monday classes will make up this class the week of Thanksgiving. Also, no classes will meet the week of October 5 - 9. This is fall break for the city & county schools.

Kindermusik update

The first week of Kindermusik classes went smoothly - once we gained access to the elevator. Thanks to those Monday evening families that made the hike up 3 flights of stairs!

A few new classes have been added that are not on the printed schedule:

Tuesday 11:15 - noon Kindermusik for Special Needs

Tuesday 6:15 - 7 pm Family Time, begins on September 8

Thursday 9:30 am Kindermusik Village (newborns-18 months)

There are also classes that have space available, so spread the word to your friends:

Monday 6:30 - 7:15 pm Kindermusik Village

Thursday 6:30 - 7:05 pm Kindermusik Our Time (18 months-3 years)

Friday 10:15 - 11 am Kindermusik Imagine That! (ages 3.5 - 5 years)

College students have returned to campus! What can you expect?

1. more traffic, especially in the parking lot - please be careful!

2. strange looks from new students wondering why small children are invading Ford.
3. the new elevator located on the 1st floor is very nice, but I would ask you to enter 1st floor quietly.

I would like for this blog to contain pictures from your child's Kindermusik class, and I need to make sure I have permission to use them. Your teacher will have a form for you to sign.

Be sure to look at the bulletin board outside the Kindermusik room. It is a glimpse into the history of the 20 years of Kindermusik at Berry College.

My next post will answer the question - "Can I make-up a class?"

20 years of Kindermusik!

At the prodding of my college piano teacher I went to a week long training session for Kindermusik. That was the summer of 1989. I didn't know anything about the program. I went to class everyday at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, and had homework every night. It was a life changing experience. At the time, Kindermusik only had one curricula - Young Child, for ages 4 - 7. I learned the importance of children moving to the beat of the music and singing the songs BEFORE notes are introduced. I learned that children should play instruments that encourage gross motor skills, thus the glockenspiel is used to teach melodies rather than the piano. I learned so much that week!

After that week of training with master teacher, Linda Robinson, I knew I wanted to teach Kindermusik. I returned to Berry and approached the music department chair, Darwin White. He was willing to sponsor a program. He allowed me to use a room on 3rd floor (now referred to as the Kindermusik room), that was used for several college classes and filled with desks & music stands. I purchased a smathering of essential instruments and was ready to teach. But, I needed students. This was July and I wanted a class in September.

How would I fill a class in such a short amount of time? The answer was at the Child Development Center (CDC) of Berry College. The CDC is a preschool for children ages 3 - 5. I approached Mrs. Chambers, the director of the CDC about the possibility of offering Kindermusik to students at the preschool. She liked the idea, and we formulated a plan. The CDC would transport children on Thursday mornings to the Ford complex and we would have our very first class. There were nine children that were interested in participating. On Thursday mornings, one of the teachers - Mrs. Hoge - would gather children onto the blue Berry van (the children called it the blueberry van!) and drive to Ford. Since parental participation is important in the Kindermusik program we had parents who would join our class at 11:45 for the sharing time.

It was that first year partnership with the CDC that helped the program take-off. The 2nd year I had three of the nine continue and finish the Young Child curriculum. I was able to offer a summer camp the following year and build from there. In 1989 I had one child, but had my 2nd child in 1990. It was a busy year! On a side note, the summer of 1990 I had a teen babysitter that would come to my house and keep Aaron & Alyssa. Alyssa was a nursing infant and didn't like taking a bottle. I would often leave Stephanye with a crying baby and an active toddler. Stephanye is now a seasoned mom and brings her kids to Kindermusik. It's a full circle, and I love it.

The photo here is not from the very beginning, but when we first started offering classes for toddlers. The class was called Kindermusik Beginnings! The boy in the photo, Andrew, is probably a sophomore or junior in high school!

If Your Happy and You Know It Tell A Friend

Do you have a great experience that you want everyone to know about? Do you find yourself telling friends, and even strangers about your vacation or a sale at your favorite store? My family loves the National Parks.  I can talk for hours about the wonders of the parks.  My youngest daughter is involved in a local swim club. I am constantly telling other moms about Three Rivers Swim Club.  I tell them why I am supportive of the sport of swimming: exercise, friends, competition, discipline, and confidence builder.

I am a Kindermusik teacher, and I love it when families have had a great time in our program, and they tell their friends.  When someone calls about Kindermusik of Berry College, they usually learned about it from a friend, relative or neighbor.  There is nothing like a personal referral.  Someone you trust to give you suggestions and advice.  

So, if you are a happy Kindermusik parent I would encourage you to tell someone about the program.  Have them visit our website.   Fall classes begin the week of August 17, and we offer classes for ages newborn - age 7.  

Here are a couple of testimonials from happy families!

“The past five or six years have been a joy for us.  Often we spend money on our children/grandchildren for games, toys and other activities and don’t see fruit from our investment.  I’m thankful all the money we’ve spent on Kindermusik at Berry has been a good investment and will keep paying off even after we quit investing.”  C.J.’s Mimi, retired educator  

“Families have so many demands on their time.  I say “no” to many outside activities, but I have always found time in our family’s schedule for Kindermusik.  It is an essential part of my children’s education."     Susan, mom to 7.

 

Listening to Music, Part 3

I previously admitted that I don't listen to much music, not by electronic means anyway.  Most of the music I listen to is music that I make, students are learning, or other live performances. Despite my lack of  listening, I do believe that listening to music has many benefits.  

In a recent article in Scientific American renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks of Columbia University had this to say concerning music, “Certainly music seems to be the most direct form of emotional communication.  It really seems to be as important a part of human life and communication as language and gesture.”  Emerging evidence also indicates that music brings out predictable responses across cultures and among people of widely varying musical or cognitive abilities. Even newborn infants and people who cannot discern pitch enjoy music’s emotional effect. 

When I was pregnant with my first child I was also in graduate school studying piano pedagogy. One of the pieces that I was working on in my private lessons was Nocturne in B Major, Op. 32, No. 1 by Chopin.  I would spend hours at the piano -  practicing, refining and memorizing this beautiful composition.  I never really considered the effects of all of this music on my unborn child until several months later.  My son, Aaron was a fussy baby.  We did many things to quiet and calm him.  One night after much exasperation I suggested that my husband bring him downstairs in my piano studio.  As he held this squirming and screaming infant, I began to play the Nocturne.   After only a few measures, Aaron became very quiet and gazed up knowingly at his father.  It was as if he was saying "this is my music".  It was at that point I realized the power of music. 

Listening to Music, part 2

I admitted that I don't do a lot of "leisure" listening.  In fact, I prefer silence to background sounds.  My kids are used to it, but they do think it is weird.  They probably prefer "no music" to the talk radio they get with their dad, but that is another story!

Though I'm not a listener in my down time, I do believe listening to be beneficial.  Just as children learn to talk because their environment is filled with words, music can be learned in the same way.  Shinichi Suzuki developed his music education philosophy based on "Japanese children learn to speak Japanese".  The premise is that children learn based on the environment in which they live.   He taught that children who listened to music could learn to be musicians. 

In a nutshell, here is the Suzuki philosophy:  A child and his mother would come for a violin lesson. The child is taught by rote, and the mother also.  When the child goes home, the mother is the teacher.  The mother makes sure the child practices daily, and that there is a time for listening each day too. The child would listen to recordings of the songs he is learning on the violin. The listening might occur during the meal, rest time, or while the child is playing.  Thus the environment is saturated with music.  The child that learns in this way develops a sense of musicianship before he is encumbered with reading the music.   The lay term that is often used is, "he has a good ear".

Kindermusik has a similar philosophy.  The classroom is filled with music, and activities that promote steady beat, vocal expression, exploration and improvisation of sounds.  When the families leave the Kindermusik class, they take CD's home that allow them to saturate their environment with the same songs they enjoyed with the group.  When the children are between 4 1/2 - 7 years old they are introduced to the notes, rhythm and terminology they have already experienced.

Does this transfer to learning songs?  YES!  

The children have it in their body, because they have moved to the song. The children have it in their voice, because they have sung the song.  

In my next post I will share the benefits of music listening through a few personal stories.

Listening to Music

As a musician, I admit to listening to very little music.  I know that seems strange, but let me explain.  Most people have music playing in their car, and in their house.  The majority of the time this is just filler...background music.  Nothing wrong with it.  In fact, society promotes it.  Elevator music, music while we shop, music while we are 'on hold', commercials and tv shows with music.  I get a lot of strange looks, and comments when I tell people that I don't listen to music.  They usually think I am kidding.   

Music is my job.  I have to listen to it, right?  Yes, but even my leisure listening is with a definitive purpose.  I turn on Copland, and really listen to the motifs that occur throughout his symphonic works.  I listen to Bach, and enjoy the polyphonic texture he created with elegance and proficiency.  David Holt sings a folk song, and I listen to the instrumentation as it compliments the text.  At church I listen to the blend of instruments and voices. During football season I go to hear the band at half-time!

Yes, I sing along when I listen to music.  I will tap my toes, and sometimes conduct the music.  I may not listen the same way as other folks, but I embrace music with my heart, soul & mind.