Demo Class

Today we had one of the biggest demo classes that we have had so far!! Thanks to everyone who came out this morning!! If you missed the class, we will still be enrolling for summer classes through next Thursday. Click here to register for classes. This summer we are offering Sign and Sing for kids 0 to 18 months as well as ABC Music and Me for kids 2 to 4 years over the summer. There are only 10 spots per class, so please register online to be sure that you will have a spot. Today in our classes we saw a variety of learning styles. Some children sat quietly and observed the other children and parents. Some moved around the room absorbing the sounds around them, watching other children and learning by moving. Others actively participated in the class and were always excited about each new activity. Each learning style is unique and respected in the Kindermusik classroom. Even in today's demo class, we saw some shy students begin to open up as the classes progressed. By starting each class out with the same welcome song each week, those students who tend to always be on the move during class begin to settle in and learn the routine. One activity that helps the kids to learn how to respond in the classroom setting was the inhibitory control activity we did in the first class. We played our egg shakers along with the song and stopped whenever the song stopped. Learning to follow aural and visual cues through these types of activities helps to prepare children for preschool and Kindergarten. The movement activities that we did in both classes allow the children to explore different types of movement, change their perspective of the classroom, and learn to control their bodies to follow the directions. Each class includes movement activities with scarves, marching, circle dances, puppets, hoops or even a parachute. Older children love to be given the freedom to move on their own and the younger children love to be held close by their caregivers as they experience the sensations that movement provides. When your child is moving along with music, their brains light up with stimulation. The simple instruments used in classes are developmentally designed to help the child to be successful at their first attempts at music. For most of the instruments we use, there is no wrong way to play them. This leaves the child with a world of kinesthetic and aural exploration. The development of a steady beat by using these instruments help the child with physical coordination, learning to cut with scissors, bouncing a ball, and even with learning to walk fluidly. Developing a steady beat is essential to learning to play any instrument or learning to sing. Kindermusik provides a strong foundation for any future formal music study, develops school readiness skills, and prepares the child for other future interests as well.

Welcome Erika Stewart!

The Imaginations Music Studio would like to welcome our new teacher, Erika Stewart! Born and raised in Seattle, WA, Erika has had a lifelong passion for music, beginning piano studies at the age of 5 and continuing for another 20 years. Those years included an emphasis on classical as well as sacred music, piano accompaniment for vocalists, congregational singing, and children's music programs. Erika's educational background is a B.S. degree in Biblical Studies through Moody Bible Institute. Since Erika has always loved children, she has 15 years experience of working with children in various settings, including piano teaching and has found great joy in influencing each individual life. As a licensed Kindermusik educator, Erika has found Kindermusik to be a perfect way to teach the fundamentals of music as well as impart a love for music to children. Erika has experience teaching several parts of the Kindermusik curriculum as well as the Sign and Sing class. She has also worked with children who have special needs. We are looking forward to what Erika can add to our program! Join us for a free demo, July 8 at 9:30 and at 10:00 to meet Erika!

Beat the Heat!

Come see why this little boy is so happy in Kindermusik! We will be holding a free Kindermusik demonstration in Pelham at the Cherubs Clubhouse July 8! Come meet our new addition to the studio, Erika Stewart who will be conducting the class! Erika is a lisenced Kindermusik educator and piano instructor.

July 8
9:30 0 to 18 month olds
10:00 18 month to 4 year olds

Come beat the heat and join us for music class and 30 minutes of free Cherubs Clubhouse playtime afterward on July 8! Its the middle of the summer and the kids are getting restless. The park is only getting hotter. Join us for free music class and playtime at our indoor, air conditioned park!


We will be holding a drawing for a 15% discount on summer tuition, a free Kindermusik CD and offering an early bird discount for fall registration at the free demo!!


Our summer term of Sign and Sing for 0 to 18 month olds and ABC Music and Me for 2 to 4 year olds will start the next week.

Kindermusik

We just ended our spring family time class with a great group if kids. After school let out, we had several older siblings join us for a few classes. This past week, we explored the concept of weight. We used scarves to move like feathers and floating leaves, we jumped in hula hoops, and we used the parachute. The older kids wore the scarves like super hero capes or like butterfly wings. It was a lot of fun.

We are finishing up our Sign and Sing night class and have 2 classes left on Thursday evenings at 6:00 pm. Come join us for a preview class!

Our next term begins in July. We will have a short Sign and Sing term and a short ABC Music and Me term on Thursday afternoons. Enroll Now!

We also have piano classes for all ages over the summer. See my piano website for a full schedule.

Pathways

Our Family Time Kindermusik class has been focusing on pathways during the last 2 weeks. We have been exploring pathways with our hands, out feet, and with the flashlight. Last week we worked on using the jingle bells to draw circles, zig zags and curves in the air or on the floor. This week they were really showing improvement on that! It is amazing to see the progress they make from week to week. This is why we generally spend 2 weeks on particular concepts in class. They need that repetition to fully absorb the activities.

Another aspect of our class this week was taking turns. We each took turns ringing the bell that starts our class. We each took turns playing the glockenspiel. The children did great passing the instrument to the next classmate!

We also made visual representation of beat groupings today. We used the parachute on a song that had 2 sections- a section in 6/8 and a section in 2/4. We moved the parachute to show the difference in the grouping of the beats in this song. We also did a line dance to Lil Liza Jane. In addition to providing social interaction and helping them learn to follow aural instructions, line dances help them to visualize not only groupings of beats but varying sections in the music as well. They also felt the groupings as they were holding the parachute or feeling the waft of air each time we moved the parachute.

Sign and Sing class 2

Last week in Sign and Sing we worked on different attention getting strategies for presenting the signs. We used interesting objects like musical balls to draw their attention to the sign for ball. We sang a silly song and signed about their reactions to the song. Another strategy we used was bringing the object about which you are signing to your face so that the child's line of vision will follow the object. This draws attention to the object so that you can then demonstrate the sign.

We had a few "signs" of progress this week! Some of the children were responding to our signing with their facial expressions. This is a first step and shows that they are paying attention to the signs and that they are learning that the signs have meaning. If you sign "more" and you child lights up, take encouragement in that and use that as an opportunity to review the sign. We also saw some early hand movements in response to the signing. Whenever you see this, even if you are not sure that they are actually signing, go with it! Those first few signs might be an accident and might be hard to recognize, but if you applaud these first efforts, as they get older you will notice them deliberately signing to you. One way to reinforce this is to sign back to them, speak the word and give them what ever it is for which you think they might signing. This gives them visual reinforcement, auditory reinforcement, and tactile reinforcement of what they were doing. Also, be sure to ask them if they are talking with their hands so that they understand that hands can communicate!

Our stations for this week included a ball pit where we signed about the balls as well as about being inside and outside the ball pit. We also had a dancing station with music where we signed about dancing and music. This can be done at home as well. Another idea for the music station is to turn the music off and sign "more" before turning it back on. We had a car station where we signed about the cars and where the cars are going. After our bubble parade, we ended the class with a visit to our "duck pond" where we used a familiar song to sign about the ducks. After class the kids played in the outer area and we practiced signing our new signs during playtime.

The point of our class is to give you the tools you need to stimulate your child's verbal development at home day to day. Keep working with your child consistantly at home even if you do not see the results at first. It sometimes takes months before the younger ones begin to sign back. Remember that any time you spend talking and interacting with your child as well as with other child is not wasted.

Up and Down

Today in Kindermusik, a lot of our activities were focused on directional vocabulary like "up", "down", "out", and even "sit", "lie down" and "roll over." These activities have an educational purpose.

0 to 18 months: directional vocabulary helps kids at this age to form concrete impressions of the words. They hear the term, see the other kids doing, and do it themselves. Moms might also assist their younger child by doing the activity TO them. For instance, for the word, "up" you might use your hand to scamper up your child's back like the squirrel we sang about today. That way if your child is not yet doing the motion, they can still feel it on their body.

18 months- 5 years: The older children really caught on to the spoken directions today! Using the directional vocabulary challenges them to listen and respond to aural cues. Add in new vocabulary to this activity at home. In class, we did many other movements in addition to the directional terms listed above. Try "roly poly" and home with shakers, sticks or other objects. Have your child come up with new activities for "walk along rover" and "little squirrel."

In addition to the directional vocabulary, we also worked on a bit of ear training in class. The slide whistle was used to demonstrate low and high pitches. Young children often confuse the term high and low with loud and soft. This is probably because we talk about turning the radio "up" or "down." Find different sounds around the house that are high in pitch and draw them to your child's attention. Do the same with low pitches. Then see if your child can imitate not only the pitch made but the sounds. This works on phonemic awareness and pitch discernment at the same time.

By physically reacting to the slide whistle, we were also creating a visual and kinethetic demonstration of sound. This not only gives your child a creative outlet to respond to the differences in pitch, but it also helps your child to make the connection between high and low.