(adapted from http://earlychildhood.com/Articles?index.cfm?FuseAction=Article&A=360)

Tips for parents:

Who knew that playing instruments could have such significant impact on brain development and learning?!  To inspire this kind of learning (and fun!) at home, it takes nothing more than a few favorite instruments and a few favorite recordings on the iPod or CD.  For ideas for child-safe instruments, go to the Kindermusik Store and shop by age.

- Contributed by Theresa Case, whose Greenville, SC program, Kindermusik at Piano Central Studios, is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide.

Here’s a great story from a Kindermusik Parent – we had to share!

Thank you to Fiona & Fiona’s Mommy for posting on the
Family Gathering Forum.

“Remember when I posted about when to start cleanup time with a toddler? I mentioned how in Kindermusik they have a “toys away” song that we sing each time we put materials away. Well, Fiona has recently made the connection and started applying the concept to cleaning up her own toys. She will sing, “put ‘em away, put ‘em away” and put her toys in the basket. She is still kind of playing at it, because then she will pour them back out and yell, “oh no, Max!” or “Dragon!” – in other words, Max from Max and Ruby is dumping the toys all over the floor, and she has to clean them up all over again. But she is definitely starting to really get the concept of it, which is great!

Also, tonight she used the same strategy when she was done with her dinner. In the past, I have had to really watch for when she was finished, because she would dump it in the floor. But tonight, she started singing that song, put the uneaten food on her plate, handed it to me, and said “tank you!”

I am so proud of her – the first night of Kindermusik when she threw a fit each time we had to put toys away, I had a hard time believing she would get to this point before turning two!”

We would love to hear your great experiences with Kindermusik, please share!

Ideas for parents:

Create a little “ensemble” of your own.  You can use homemade or purchased instruments and play-along to a favorite song on the iPod or radio, or even a song you sing.  You might also have fun making an instrument out of something that isn’t usually an instrument – a bowl and a spoon make a great drum, a slightly inflated paper bag makes a nice rhythm instrument, and even two spoons tapped together add a nice sound.

- Contributed by Theresa Case, whose Greenville, SC program, Kindermusik at Piano Central Studios, is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide.

Keep lots of baby-safe instruments within reach for free-play and exploration time.
For their light, high sounds, and special fit for tiny hands, some of your baby’s
favorite instruments will be:

• Baby bells
• Chime bells
• Egg shakers

Kindermusik tip:

Beyond the musical benefits, playing instruments like these gives your baby the
opportunity to use his fine motor skills. Grasping instruments between the thumb
and index finger or with a fisted grasp pattern encourages the development of these important skills, which will eventually be necessary to turn a page in a favorite book, pinch cereal or peas, grasp a cup, and even hold a crayon.

Your child needs more than exposure to music. Your child needs participation in music!  He/she thrives on emotionally engaging music activities which integrate sight, sound, touch, and movement. Through these joyful music experiences your child is learning to love music for all of her life, plus a whole lot more!

Multisensory Activities

Activities that incorporate learning through several senses are known as multisensory activities. In the Kindermusik classroom, every activity is a multisensory activity because we know that:

• Children learn through their senses. Each sense activates specific neurons in the brain; therefore, multi-sensory activities generally provide more lasting learning opportunities than single-sensory activities.

• Each child is unique and brings to class his or her own learning style which determines how he or she understands and organizes information. Read here for more information about three main learning styles and a description of how children with these learning styles may behave in the classroom:

Our best advice? Think of your child as a string. If you push it, it bunches up. If you guide it along, it moves beautifully. So joyfully accept your child as he is, and work with him to make the most of his abilities as they relate to his learning style.  We think it is worth restating the following quote this week in the context of our multi-sensory focus.

“Short-term memory has the ability to hold about seven bits of information. But when patterns and related groupings of information are bound together as a unit (as in our multisensory play) the volume of material stored increases. “

- Rhythms of Learning by Chris Brewer and Don G. Campbell

Multisensory Learning

At Kindermusik, we support the wonder and uniqueness of each child, and we’re really proud of the way that the Kindermusik curricula embrace all learning styles by providing multisensory activities to appeal to as many of your child’s senses as possible. But we also recognize that it us up to the teacher and the parent to identify – and celebrate – the wonderful variety of learning styles that are in each class!

Compiled by Theresa Case, whose Kindermusik program at Piano Central Studios in Greenville, SC, is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide.

Circle dances come from the wonderful tradition of communities dancing together, a tradition which is timeless in origin and yet relevant today in its capacity to foster togetherness.  Dancing in a circle actually benefits the mind, body, and spirit.

“It is a very accessible form of dance for people of all ages and abilities, with the emphasis on participation, not performance” (Michaelsen).

Tips for parents:

Remember the fun of making a circle and singing “Ring Around the Rosie” when you were a child?  That fun lives on nearly every week in a Kindermusik class where we do all kinds of circle and group dances together.

But you don’t have to be in class to enjoy a circle dance – even just two people can make their own circle and dance to their own song or a favorite recording.  You’ll still experience the same wonderful benefits whether it’s two or a whole class dancing in a circle together.

- Contributed by Theresa Case, whose Greenville, SC program, Kindermusik at Piano Central Studios, is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide.

Help your child understand the importance of gratitude, by suggesting they thank their teacher for a favorite memory from their Kindermusik classes this year. This same concept can be used for any teacher, but we are especially grateful for our Kindermusik teachers and want to pass the message along.

Spark the Conversation

Here are a few questions to ask your kids…helping them think about what they appreciate from their Kindermusik teachers. Encourage them to share these great experiences with their teachers:

What was your favorite song at Kindermusik this year?

Did you have a favorite book from Kindermusik class?

What instrument did you like learning with your teacher?

The idea is to help our children understand teachers are very important in their lives, whether it’s their Kindermusik teacher, their school teacher, or even you…being a teacher to your children every day. Reflecting on gratitude is an important part of development for children (and adults) so remember to take a minute and think about what you’re grateful for – and express that with those who make a difference in your life.

We are on our way – and excited to network with other moms during many of the great events over the weekend!

Today is the official first day of the conference and so much to look forward to!

1. Networking with other Moms and Marketers

Tonight before the Welcome Party, from 6:00 – 7:00 PM, Kindermusik is hosting a little get together at Rumbar – at the hotel. We look forward to meeting some of the amazing working mothers that make this whole thing spin.

After all, that’s what this conference is about – initiating conversations between moms and marketers – and utilizing this feedback to make us better.

2. Many Great Speakers

Friday and Saturday are filled with top-notch speakers such as:

• Stacey Ferguson, discussing the Keys to Aligning Your Passions Into One Business Strategy. (At Kindermusik, we bring our passion to work every day – so this will be an exciting session for us!)
• Missy Maher talking about marketing to the modern family (very relevant as you can imagine).
• Sam Bee is even going to be on the keynote panel on Saturday! Many of you may recognize Sam from her funny reports on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

3. Measuring Social Media

As an online marketer for about 10 years now, this is a hot topic for me and one I’m personally very interested in. Knowing how the Kindermusik family utilizes social media, we know this is an important aspect of marketing moving forward. We are looking forward to learning new trends in social media measurement.

4. Key Biscayne | The Ritz-Carlton | the Versace Mansion

Ok, so all of these are going to be awesome and hopefully the weather is too!

We look forward to connecting with other moms at the summit. If you’re not able to attend, stay tuned! I’m sure we’ll have lots to share after this great weekend.

– Shellie Foriska

Manager, Online Marketing

Kindermusik International

Ideas for parents: You may not have any musical background, but you can be a musical parent by the kind of environment, experiences, and encouragement you give to your child to foster and support a love of music. Playing music in the home and car and taking your child to Kindermusik classes and later, to music lessons, are important aspects of musical parenting. The best gift you can give your child is to instill a love of music in the early years and then support your child as she pursues and develops that interest throughout the rest of her life.

- Contributed by Theresa Case, whose Greenville, SC program, Kindermusik at Piano Central Studios, is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide.

I started reading the Little House on the Prairie series to Natalie a couple of months ago. (She’s 6, and unlike my boys, totally enraptured by Laura’s story.) She was shocked to learn that on Sundays, Laura had to sit still and play quietly or read. Natalie tried it, and lasted about 7 minutes.

We just got to the part in On the Banks of Plum Creek where Laura and Mary go to school for the first time. This time, Natalie was dumbfounded that Laura would have been slapped on the hands “many times” with a ruler if she had wiggled, swung her legs, or talked during school.

What a difference a 120 years makes! I’m so glad we live in a time where we know so much more about the brain, and how learning and moving go hand in hand.

Carla Hannaford (award winning author and eductor) writes, “Movement is essential to learning. Movement integrates and anchors new information into our neural networks. Every time we move in an organized…manner, full brain activation and integration occurs, and the door to learning opens.”

Combine movement, which fully activates the brain, and creates and strengthens neural networks, with music, which is the only activity that simultaneously stimulates every area of the brain, and you have a recipe for successful learning.

As a home schooling mom, here’s some things that we’ve done that combine music (or the components of music like rhythm and meter) that assist in learning. (You don’t have to home school to do these things. You are your child’s first and most important teacher!)

While singing learning songs or poems and chants, we have a small indoor trampoline for jumping on. (Trampolines are also great for getting up a taking a break. Jumping really seems to make the just inputted information stick in brains better.)

My children all sit on exercise balls. I’ve noticed that when new or more difficult concepts are being learned, their ability to sit still decreases. All that electrical energy in their brain is going towards creating new or stronger neural pathways. An exercise ball allows them to have the movement they need, without being distracting, so that brain energy is spent focusing on learning, rather than using that brain power to sit quietly. Another option is to put a balance disk on a chair and have them sit on that.

When learning to spell difficult words or skip count (counting by 2’s, 3’s, 5’s, etc.), we get up and bounce a ball back and forth, taking turns counting or giving the next letter in a word. The kids love it, and they learn faster and better.

Playing background music is great, too. One suggestion – during homework or school time, the best music to listen to has no words.

Be sure to give your children plenty of get up and play breaks to rest and refocus eyes, and allow the brain to process everything they just learned. Otherwise, the information really will be in one ear and out the other.

How do you integrate music, movement and learning into your family’s life or classroom?

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who loves that music not only helps shape growing minds, but transforms the heart and soul as well.