Dancing to Her Own Drummer

I love hearing what parents have to say about Kindermusik!  After all, I’m biased – I know that it’s the very best early childhood music and movement curriculum there is!  And I know that it’s *so* much more than just music.

But to hear what a parent has to say – well, that’s a glimpse into the other side of the equation in the Kindermusik classroom – the parent and their participation in class, too.

This article by Beth Britton in Clarkesville Online shares all this, but also points out another big plus for Kindermusik parents – the Kindermusik community of other parents that are right there with you in the classroom.

Read what this mom from Clarkesville, Tennessee had to say about Kindermusik and the eye-opening insight she received about her own daughter while in the classroom.   Where would we be without the free thinkers of this world?  Your child *just* might be one of them!

It’s not too late to register for our upcoming Kindermusik semester which begins *next* Saturday, January 24th.    We’ll be singing Mother Goose rhymes, walking along with a dog named Rover, visiting “Cities – Busy Places, Friendly Faces” as well as playing the “Rhythms of the Land”.  Come join us!

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A Summer of Music & Fun!

 

Join us this summer as we celebrate all kinds of fun in our Kindermusik classes!  With multiple offerings of different days and times, you can have your music and your summer, too!  There’s something for everyone this summer!

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Village – ages newborn to 18 months

Busy Days!

Set your baby’s day to classical music. With a little more Tchaikovsky in your “Twinkle, Twinkle” repertoire, you’ll discover new ways your baby benefits from the classics as you both develop an appreciation for the world’s most respected music. Each lesson features new activities and songs you can sing for all the places you go together-the store, the playground, the doctor, and more.  Each weekly class lasts 45 minutes.  Home Materials include: Book, CD, Village Cage Bell, and Poster.

For class schedules and registration, please visit our website here.

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Our Time – ages 1.5 years to 3.5 years

Zoo Train!

Your toddler and the train make a natural match—always on the move. Tag along this summer with a traveling zoo train. Bring your own stuffed animals for the petting zoo. Wear long white socks on your hands for polar bear paws and learn about real animals in the zoo. Sing songs for clapping time, and use music to help toddlers regulate emotions. Each weekly class lasts 45 minutes.  Home Materials include: Book, CD, Animal Shaker, and Poster.

For class schedules and registration, please visit our website here.

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Imagine That! – ages 3.5 – 5 years

Drums, Drums, Drums!

This session your child will experience the concept of fractions through hearing and playing quarter and eighth notes. In class we’ll do “call and response” activities to the rhythmic sounds of African music. Meanwhile, your child will sharpen listening and attention skills, as well as fine tune you’re her ear to finding patterns. Play together the activities in your Home Kit, and you’ll help your preschooler develop a strong foundation in math, rhythm and coordination, and critical listening.  Each weekly class lasts 45 minutes with the parent joining class in the final 10 minutes.  The “Drums, Drums, Drums” Home Kit includes Home CD and Magazine-style Family Guide, a 15″ mini-djembe (student instrument) and Book, “Drum Circle“.

    

For class schedules and registration, please visit our website here.

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Young Child – ages 5 – 7 years

Around the World!

Take an imaginary trip—exploring the exotic cultures of Germany, Japan, Africa, England, and Mexico. Play the native instruments. Drape sheets over cardboard boxes and sing over the German mountain tops. Toss peanuts on the floor and bring good luck to one’s home in this Japanese custom. Send messages in Nigeria with “talking drums.” Each weekly class lasts 90 minutes with the parent joining class in the final 15 minutes.  Home Materials include: CD, Arts and Craft materials,Picture Folder set, and Travel Bag.

For class schedules and registration, please visit our website here.

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Family Time  - ages newborn – 7 years

Zoo Train!

Your toddler and the train make a natural match—always on the move. Tag along this summer with a traveling zoo train. Bring your own stuffed animals for the petting zoo. Wear long white socks on your hands for polar bear paws and learn about real animals in the zoo. Sing songs for clapping time, and use music to help toddlers regulate emotions. Each weekly class lasts 45 minutes.  Home Materials include: Book, CD, Animal Shaker, and Poster. Each sibling will receive their own individual animal shaker.

For class schedules and registration, please visit our website here.

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Sign and  Sing! – ages 6 months – 2 years

Session A

Playtime and everyday items around the house—such as a ball, bubbles, and family members—are learning themes in this introduction to American Sign Language for a child and caregiver. Experienced signers will benefit from the session’s four, research-proven strategies shown to speed language development in hearing children, developed by the child development and sign language experts Signing Smart™. With the DVD’s visual dictionary showing parents and children making over 60 signs, plus a pocket-sized set of flashcards of the pictures and the words of the signs, you’ll easily incorporate sign language into your daily routines, favorite nursery rhymes, and stories.

Home materials include:

one Family Activity Guide

one DVD glossary showing 60 signs

one set of clip-on flashcards that feature both children and adults using family-friendly >American Sign Language signs.

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1, 2, 3…….Read with Me!

Ages newborn to 5 years

Create your own Kindermusik Adventure Camp with our weekly 45-minute musical story-times, offered each Wednesday morning at 10AM.  Choosing from eight different themes, you can pick which 5 weeks you attend and which you don’t!  Want to attend more than five?  Choose 6, 7, or 8 and receive a break on the price!

June 4th – Bugs, Birds & Critters - all the fun and excitement of our outside summer friends!

June 11th – Animals All ‘Round the World – including Po the Panda from “Kung Fu Panda”!

June 25th – Beach Bash -  Surf’s up! We’re heading for the beach!

July 2 – Gizmos and Gadgets – celebrating robots and “WALL-E”!

July 9 - Down on the Farm – We’ll be going on a hay-ride as we travel to the farm and visit the animals!

July 16 – Rumble in the Jungle – Come join us as we dance the “Animal Hokey Pokey”with our jungle friends!

July 23 – Blast Off! – Journey through the stars with the “Space Chimps” and enjoy the fun of space travel!

July 30 – Marvelous Me! – Watch as your child discovers the wonder of who he is and how marvelously his body works!

To register for 1, 2, 3……Read with Me, please visit our website here.

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This summer at Masterworks Studio we really and truly do offer something for everyone! If your vacation falls on one of our class days, you can switch to another class of the same age curricula and make it up at another time in another week with no additional charges!  Beat the high cost of gas and travel this summer by taking an adventure with us in Kindermusik!

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Many Thanks…….

to my Kindermusik and studio families for their patience and understanding while I underwent surgery last week.  I’ve been forced to slow down and take things easy for a few days, but plan on being back in the classroom this Thursday, May 1st.  

Our summer schedule will also be up and available for online registration later this week.  We will be spending “Busy Days” with our youngest set in Village classes, visiting the zoo in “Zoo Train” in Our Time and Family Time, playing all kinds of African drums in “Drums, Drums, Drums” for Imagine That classes, and literally traveling “Around the World” for our oldest age group, Young Child.  “Sign and Sing” will also be available as well.  Check back in for detailed information later this week!

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Bargain Friday

I normally don’t do advertising on my blog, simply because I don’t like to read a lot of ads myself when skimming through other blogs.  But, once in a while, I run across something that is really worthwhile sharing with my Kindermusik families.  Today is one of those days.

For one day only, today, Friday, September 21st, Signing Time  is offering all of their VHS signing videos for $5.00.  These are high-quality,  fun videos that are very enjoyable for the entire family and are also very good at teaching children and adults American Sign Language (ASL).   If you’ve ever wanted to add some additional signing to your Sign & Sing home materials, this is well worth checking out.  And, bonus for you, Signing Time is for all ages – not just babies and toddlers.  I could go on and on, but this sale lasts only today, until quantities are gone.   Don’t wait to check them out for yourself!  

Five Buck Friday Sale

(And, no, I’m not affiliated with them.) 

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Hot time in the sum-mer-time……mmm..mmm…mmm…mmm

It’s that time of year again! 

 

We’ve got your summer covered this year!

From Village classes to Family Time to Sign & Sing, there is something for everyone!

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For newborn through 18 months:

Busy Days

Set your baby’s day to classical music.  With a little more Tchaikovsky in your “Twinkle, Twinkle” repertoire, you’ll discover new ways your baby benefits from the classics as you both develop an appreciation for the world’s most respected music.  Each lesson features new activities and songs you can sing for all the places you go together – the store, the playground, the doctor, and more! 

     Take-Home materials include a Home CD , a baby board book (pictured above), a parent poster, and a beautiful, wooden cage bell especially for your little one.  This is a 5-week session with 45-minute classes.  For specific days and times, please check our Class Schedule.

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We are also offering an evening class this summer:

 A different approach from other sign language programs. Through songs, toys, and loving playtime between you and your child, Kindermusik Sign & Sing shows you more than 50 signs your child can use to communicate with you. Using research-proven methods shown to speed language development in hearing children, you’ll see how sign language can ease frustration and enhance long-term learning abilities for your child.  

In only five weeks, you will learn the ASL signs that are most useful to you, and most interesting to your child. So playtime and everyday items around the house—ball, bubbles, mom and dad—become the objects of learning in the classroom, and sign language becomes a natural, happy part of your child’s day.  This is a five-week session with 45-minute classes for both parent and child.

At Home materials include a Family Activity Guide, a DVD glossary showing 60 signs, and a set of clip-on flashcards that feature both children and adults using family-friendly American Sign Language signs.

 For additional information on Sign and Sing, please visit our website here.

To register for Sign and Sing, please visit our Class Schedules.

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For ages 18 months to 3 years:

Creatures in My Backyard

Children are naturally curious and delighted by the world around them.  Creatures in My Backyard  encourages you and your child to explore your environment and make new discoveries.  Through music, movement, storytelling, and instrument exploration, your child will uncover the creatures living in her own backyard – from birds, turtles, squirrels, and rabbits to flowers, caterpillars, and bumble-bees!  

Your child will experience Nesting in a Tree, Digging in the Dirt, Flying to a Flower, Hiding in the Grass, and Sitting on the Porch.  So put on your sandals and join us for a backyard adventure!

At Home Materials include  a Home CD, a set of 5 Picture Folders featuring the animals in the activities,  a plush Bunny hand puppet and a Ladybug Jingle or Snail Shaker (not pictured).  

We have two different types of sessions offered of Creatures in My Backyard this year.  Thursday afternoon sessions at 5PM are 45 minutes long.  Saturday morning classes at 10:30AM are full camps – 90 minutes in length, including crafts and appropriate snacks.  Parents attend the entire class for either time slot.  Both are 5-week classes.

To register for Creatures in My Backyard, please visit here.

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Our Family Time class will also celebrate the wonders of Creatures in My Backyard.  Give your children something to sing about in their own backyard.  Be the flower from the “seed’s” perspective. Run and jump in rain puddles made from hula hoops. Snack on whole wheat mini-waffles dipped in honey, just like a real honeycomb. Shoo real flies and sing “Shoo Fly.”  All this and more!

To register for Family Time, please visit here.

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Masterworks Studio is also proud to offer

We have two different classes this summer  – one for ages 18 months to 3 years and the second for 4 to 6 years of age.

Ages 18 months to 3 years will have a bubbly good time in Splash!   Your child will learn the difference between smooth and bumpy by listening, singing, and playing instruments in smooth and bumpy ways.  This paves the way to learning musical terms and concepts such as legato and staccato. 

He will pretend to hike, picnic, and explore outdoors and then he will slow down, listen to soothing music and practice relaxing both mind and body.   Your child will count to three, tap three times, strike a drum three times, and listen to words repeated three times.   Splash! also helps build social skills and enhance growing vocabulary.  Classes for this four-week session are 45 minutes long with the parent or caregiver attending the entire class. 

At Home materials include a full color Family Activity Guide, a Home CD which includes all the songs from class and a narration of the storytime, and a colorful beachball that will add some summer fun to your home activities.

To register for Splash!, please visit our Class Schedules.

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With Irish music as your guide, your  4 to 6 year old child will go over and Under the Rainbow  as we explore all the up and down sounds that music can make.  A mischievous leprechaun will keep us on our toes, as we learn about musical notes and concepts.  Sounds that go high and low, and slide up and down the musical scale, just like a ride down a rainbow!  We will learn about instruments from slide whistles to trombones, piccolos to bassoons, even clarinets. With colorful scarf play, every eye will be an Irish one, and smiling and learning.  Classes for this four-week session are one hour long with the parent attending the last 15 minutes of class. 

At Home materials include a full color Family Activity Guide, a Home CD which includes all the songs from class and a narration of the storytime, and a harmonica to share the music fun at home! 

To register for Under the Rainbow, please visit our Class Schedules.

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For ages 5 to 7 years, Masterworks Studio is very proud to offer “Tell Me a Tale”, a week-long Adventure experience in multicultural storytelling. 

Through storytelling, your child will develop an early awareness of rhythm, movement, singing, and drama.  Each lesson features a new tale from around the world, explored through multi-instrument and multi-cultural elements.  All told, it’s an around-the-imagination adventure of the greatest stories from Europe, Malaysia, South Africa, and more.

Stories in this camp:

European Bremen town musicians

A Malaysian tale about a small deer who outsmarts a crocodile

A story of six blind men and an elephant from India

A Lazy Jack Appalachian folk tale about a kid who matches the wrong solution to his pocket problem

A Zulu tale from South Africa about a woman who rides a turtle to the bottom of the sea to find stories to tell her children

At Home materials include a Home CD of multicultural music, hardcover book of the folk tales (pictured above), arts and crafts, snacks, a parent poster, and colorful hardwood lummi sticks.

This camp is a daily camp (Monday – Friday) for one week, lasting two hours each day with the parent attending the last 15 minutes of class.

To register for Tell Me a Tale, please visit our Class Schedules.

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This summer, there really, truly is something for everyone at Masterworks Studio.

And you only have to bring one thing!

For any further questions you may have, please contact Merri at:

missmerri at masterworks-studio.com

 

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Every time a child is born, a mother is born as well.

I have several blogs that I check almost every day because I know that they frequently have some cutting edge information that I usually find helpful not only for myself, but for my Kindermusik families as well. 

I found this video accompanied by its translation on Molly McGinn’s blog who, in turn, credits Sunny Kira of Sacramento, California.  Thanks to both of you, ladies.  This was a very thought-provoking video. 

Each new segment of the video has an insightful comment written in Korean.  The translation is reproduced below the video for you to follow along.

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm7PpI2fPJ4]

Translated from Korean:

A child is born not knowing anything about the world.
A mother is born not knowing anything about a child.

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A child who is unable to balance his own head,
Possesses the strength to support his own weight.

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He may cry out for milk,
But he has the ability to distinguish between his mother’s milk and that of another.

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A newborn sleeps 14 hours a day,
And during that time, his neural development progresses at an astonishing rate.

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Though a baby puts everything in his mouth,
He does so because of his limited eye sight so he can see and feel these objects.

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A baby imitates his mother and this is the very first learned skill a baby possesses.

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And then a baby speaks… using nonverbal gestures.

Dog, cat, milk..

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Children who learn to sign score an average of 12 points higher on IQ tests. — USA Today
Baby signing facilitates speech development. — Linda Acredolo

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But most importantly, signing with children nurtures a stronger family bond.

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A child is born.
A mother is born.
Baby signing is born to help us communicate with our babies.

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A Chilling Video – for all the *right* reasons!

I just saw this video from another Kindermusik educator and, if you have experienced the frustrations of trying to figure out what your crying baby wants, you’ll have chills down your spine as I did when you watch and listen to this 12-month-old baby communicate a complete sentence instead of crying.

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpz_7HvLF7w]

Kindermusik educator Tracy Kretzer is quoted on Youtube, saying:

“Signing Smart TM 12-month old signs CRY instead of crying! Signs are capitalized. Baby signs/says, “AUDREY (A fist on her chin), CRYING; (feels) YUCKY, (wants) Ma MILK MAMA!” Rather than cry, she tells me she feels like crying!! Two word sentences are typical between 18-24 months, but this is a 5 word sentence! Thank you SIGNING SMART and Kindermusik Sign & Sing for the ASL STRATEGIES!! I can truly have a conversation with my baby! “

Our newest Sign & Sing session begins tonight,  March 19th, at 6:30PM. 

We meet at Columbia Presbyterian Church on Columbia Drive in Decatur.  For maps and directions, please visit our Maps page.

Come see how fun and easy it is to communicate with your baby!

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New Evening Class for Sign and Sing!

Masterworks Studio is thrilled to announce an evening time for our Sign & Sing classes, beginning Monday evening, March 19th, at 6:30 PM! 

Now Dad can come along, too!

To register, please visit our Schedules page.

Enjoy this sample from the At Home materials:

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qjNxle6i5E]

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Ready for some brain stimulation?

One of my very favorite classes to teach is Sign & Sing – a signing class for parents and hearing children.  It’s not your usual Kindermusik class.  It uses four key strategies in signing along with motivational games, songs, and toys, so that you can learn to communicate easily with your baby or toddler, lessening and possibly even eliminating many of those frustrating temper tantrums.  Sign & Sing begins on Saturday, Sept. 30th, at 10AM in Decatur. 

From Exchange Every Day – 9/21/06 – comes the following brief article:

Sign Language Stimulates the Brain

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
Confucius
Kay Rush, in her article, “Using Sign Language in High/Scope Programs,” in High/Scope Extensions (Summer 2005; www.highscope.com), notes that teaching all preschool children sign language assists them in literacy and learning a second language. She observes…

“Signing is a kinetic act that stimulates activity in both the right brain, which is responsible for visual-spatial reasoning and long-term memory, and the left brain, which is responsible for processing language. When you are signing with hearing children, you are not only reinforcing their existing language, you are also giving them another way to express a concept they already know, thus creating another connection to that information in their brain. This process also helps to establish two storage places for language memory on the brain’s left side: one for the native language of the user, the other for sign. So children who use both spoken language and sign language develop a built-in backup memory, storing the same word in two different ways in separate areas of the left brain….

“Using sign language increases children’s vocabulary in a relatively pressure-free manner. Research studies show hearing children who used sign language in their preschool classes scored better on vocabulary tests and attained higher reading levels than their non-signing peers.”

For further information, please read here.

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Hello world! Our blog begins …..

What a wonderful day we had today in our Sign & Sing class! I have to confess that I was walking about 3 feet off the ground when class was over; I had so much fun!

Sydney came in with her mom, Jill, and I could see by the sparkle in her eyes that she was ready for some serious fun!  Last week, the attraction was Honey Bear and bubbles, bubbles, bubbles.  Well, this week, it was *BALL* and bubbles, bubbles, bubbles!  <smile>  I saw MORE several times as well as THANK YOU.  And when I turned on the iPod with "All Around the Kitchen", Sydney was right there, dancing and enjoying the music.  She also really enjoyed playing the eggshakers on her belly!  And according to Jill, Sydney was signing like crazy all last week!  Hurray!

    Elijah brought his two sisters, Shawna and Natalie, with him as well as his mom, Lisa, and brother, Matthew.  Last week, Elijah was very, very quiet and pretty much into his own thing.  Elijah has Downs Syndrome and this was a totally new situation for him, new folks, new classroom, etc.  He was content to just watch what was going on from his mother's lap and didn't really get involved in anything until the others were gone.  Then he was content to lay in the floor and play with his older brother, Matthew, enjoying the Bear-in-the-Box from the floor.

This week, however, was a totally different story.  Elijah loved the ball pit.  In fact, he loved it sooooo much that he was sitting in there, unassisted, surrounded by balls, cackling out loud and giggling over and over again.  You couldn't help but smile and laugh along with him.  When we sang "A Ram Sam Sam" using our egg shakers, he was shaking and smiling right along with us.  When I asked him if he wanted MORE MUSIC (capitalized words are signed words, for the uninformed), Elijah was quick to bounce forward and back, indicating YES!  So, we sang it again and again and again.  I didn't see him lay down on the floor one time! 

 I don't think there is any sweeter sound in the world than the sound of laughter from a happy child.  I really don't.  And today's class was enjoyed by everyone there, moms and children.  And it just confirms to me that I absolutely adore being a Kindermusik educator.  It is the very best job in the world, next to being a mom!

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