Kindermusik with Develop Music

The best things in life are free. Check out these wonderful ways for your child to live it up without spending a penny.

1. We are very fortunate in Bend to have a plethora of free music concerts available to us during the summer.  Check these out:

Les Schwab Free Summer Concert Series: Sundays, June 12-Aug 14
Munch n’ Music: Thursdays, July 7-Aug 11

2. Of course, we think the best thing you can do with your child is Kindermusik! Go to play.kindermusik.com to register and receive three, free music downloads.  There are just so many incredible developmental benefits to exposing your children to music early in life. You can also preview our children’s music classes at no cost, while connecting with other parents and spending quality time with your tykes.

Check the Local Library

3.  Libraries are one of the best no-cost places to take your kids. They’re stocked full of books, music, and DVDs for your learning little one.  Deschutes County Library also offers a summer reading program where children of all ages can earn books and prizes.  Check out deschutes public library for information on summer reading and story times.

Kids Eat Free

4. Many restaurants nationwide have specific days of the week where kids eat free. Websites like kidseat4free.com will find the restaurants in your area that offer free dining for kids.

5. During the summer months, free summer lunches are available for all children at nine different locations in Bend and Lapine.  Some locations also include a Lunch and Learn reading program.  You can find more information on this program at Bend-Lapine Nutrition Services.

Free & Almost Free Movies

6. NWX hosts Munch n’ Movies.  Bring a picnic and your family to enjoy family friendly movies every Friday Aug 19 to Sept 10.

7. Last year’s Free Family Film Festival is now Regal Summer Express.  They offer kid friendly movies every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 10am for $1.  Check out this summer’s listings at regal cinemas.

Balloon over Bend Children’s Festival, July 22-24

8. Saving Grace and Balloons Over Bend have combined two of Bend’s most recognizable festivals into a brand new and exciting festival that will continue to benefit Saving Grace.  A fantastic fundraiser for Saving Grace, enjoy the day of healthy family activities.  Over 40 activities including bouncy houses, face painting, crafts, bubble pools…and so much more! The festival is free to the public but there is a fee to participate in the activities.  Proceeds from the festival benefit Saving Grace. You can find more information at balloons over bend.

Know of other events, let us know!

A recent article from Science Daily summarized some very interesting findings by the Tel Aviv Medical Center, namely that creating a musical environment for premature babies positively affected their ability to grow and thrive.  Preemies who were exposed to 30 minutes of music by Mozart expended less energy during that 30 minutes, thereby using fewer calories and allowing for greater weight gain.  Having a healthy body weight means that these babies have a stronger immune system and go home sooner.

“The TAU study is the first to quantify the effect of music, specifically Mozart, on newly born children. ‘Medical practitioners are aware that by changing the environment, we can create a whole new treatment paradigm for babies in neonatal care,’ says Dr. Mandel. ‘That’s our main goal — to improve their quality of life’.”

While the study is based on the controversial “Mozart effect” and researchers still aren’t clear on the long-term effects of Mozart’s music, one result is certain – music makes a difference.  Thousands of Kindermusik educators around the world can attest to that; we are privileged to see the wonderful effects of music on young children and their families week in and week out.  We especially love it when science confirms what we’ve known all along: one of the best gifts you can give your child is the gift of music.

Written by Theresa Case, Maestro Educator since 2000 and owner of Kindermusik at Piano Central Studios in Greenville, SC.

Winter time is always a challenge, no matter where you live.  If it’s not snowy, it’s rainy.  And often it’s cold – too cold to be outside.  Or you’re all trying to get well from the latest virus that the whole family passed around one by one.  So what’s a parent – and a kid! – to do when you’ve been cooped up inside the house for too long?  We suggest that you get moving… to some music, that is!

The easiest way to get started is just to turn on some lively music – you know, that kind that has your feet going and your hands clapping before you even know it.  Even just a minutes of carefree, not-thinking-about-the-laundry dancing with your child can turn around the day around for both of you!  Of course, movement is not just important for helping children let off a little steam or pent-up energy, but it is also a key factor in their overall development.  And it’s a great way for a child to be able to get close to and connect with someone she loves.

You might also enjoy moving in a slightly more “structured” way by making a small circle and doing a circle dance.  Remember “Ring Around the Rosie”?  Circle dances like “Ring Around the Rosie” actually help your child focus on directing and moving her busy little body.  She also becomes aware of her body in relation to the larger physical space.  She learns about coordinating her movements with the words of the song.  Plus, she increases her memory and attention span as she follows the simple sequence of steps.  Who knew a little dancing could accomplish so much?!

By the way, if you’re looking for some new music, or you just want some high-quality children’s music recordings that the whole family will love, now is the perfect time to peruse the hundreds of selections at play.kindermusik.com.

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

All children require help at times when trying something new or engaging in a task that is a little more difficult than usual.  You can help your child master a new skill by scaffolding your child’s learning.  Just as a physical scaffold gives temporary support to workers building a sky scraper, so does educational scaffolding provide the social, cognitive and emotional support required for your child to reach further in building his knowledge and understanding of the world.

Scaffolding is an interactive means of learning that occurs between adult and child.  In this process the adult gently guides and supports the child’s learning, responding to the child’s level of participation by asking questions, making observations and issuing new challenges according to the child’s responses.  Together one layer at a time, the adult and child discover new ideas, experience new emotions, learn new language and strengthen their trusting bond.

Steps to Scaffolding

As a parent, you have probably used the process of scaffolding without even realizing it while helping your child do something that he couldn’t have done on his own.  You have used scaffolding when you have helped your child put a puzzle together by asking questions, making suggestions and giving hints.  you may have noticed that the next time your child put that puzzle together, he needed less help.  Through scaffolding, skills are mastered.

Examples of scaffolding strategies include:

• asking questions to help children clarify or extend their learning
• making suggestions or providing materials that lead children further in their exploration
• encouraging and sustaining effort with your presence
• supporting as children struggle with new challenges
• demonstrating and teaching new information and skills that children need to proceed
• reinforcing learning by providing opportunities for children to practice or communicate about their learning

from The Essentials of Early Education, by Carol Gestwicki, pg 98.

At Kindermusik, we’ve known for a long time that our program is wonderful for children with special needs. The 2010 Kindermusik Educator of the Year, Ally Trotter, believes this so strongly that she is leading the way with an exciting new initiative called Kindermusik for Every Child.  Her vision is that Kindermusik for Every Child will be a collaborative compilation of resources for educators specifically geared toward reaching children with special needs and their families in the Kindermusik classroom.

Ally’s inspiration for this project is rooted in the fact that one of the many strengths of Kindermusik is its focus on the different developmental needs of each stage of childhood. Each Kindermusik class level is designed to give every child the most appropriate and stimulating environment to nurture their developmental needs.  In fact, it is Kindermusik’s musical and developmental basis that makes the program such a natural and effective way to augment occupational, physical, or speech therapy.

Each child has his or her own developmental patterns of growth, and the special needs child is no exception.  Instead of rushing ahead, Kindermusik celebrates and explores each stage, fostering joy and creativity and respecting a child’s unique pattern and pace of growth.  As a result, Kindermusik classes provide a unique place where the child with special needs can actively participate with peers of all abilities without pressure to perform in any way.

Dr. Melissa Johnson, a pediatric psychologist and advisor to Kindermusik International, says that Kindermusik can be an effective part of the educational and therapeutic plan for young children with developmental challenges. She points out three reasons she sees Kindermusik as a wonderful resource for children with any variety of special needs.

1. It facilitates inclusion. Beyond just mainstreaming these children, Kindermusik offers them full involvement in community activities, while giving them the support necessary to succeed. For example, children with motor disabilities such as cerebral palsy or spinal bifida may not be able to participate in children’s activities that focus on developing excellence in motor skills. But Kindermusik activities are accessible or readily adaptable to these children’s capabilities.

2. It is based on a multimodal, multisensory design. Kindermusik curricula are enriched with stories, pictures, creative movement and a wide variety of interesting objects as part of activities that pull children into the interaction no matter what their preferred learning style and mode might be.

3. It nurtures the individual child’s emotional and social development. The emphasis on the joy and pleasure of music, on the sharing of this joy with one’s caregiver and peers, and the support of the child’s self-esteem make it particularly appropriate for children and families who face psychosocial stresses and difficulties.

There is one pediatric occupational therapist in particular who agrees. We recently came across her blog entry where she describes first-hand the amazing effects Kindermusik can have, and she has become a vocal advocate of the program.  “I have had many OT (occupational therapy) clients who weren’t learning to talk with just speech therapy or developmental services, but did learn to speak after attending Kindermusik classes! Now, it is not designed just for the special needs child yet these children potentially can benefit greatly.”  To read her blog post in its entirety, including a powerful testimonial about the way one little boy benefitted from Kindermusik, click here.

Children ages newborn to 7 years around the world love and benefit from their Kindermusik classes every day.  But don’t just take our word for it… try it out for yourself!  Click here to sign up for a free preview class.  We’d love to meet you!

Written and compiled by Theresa Case, whose Maestro Kindermusik program at Piano Central Studios in Greenville, SC is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs world-wide.

Ever had a great idea for a project that would make children’s lives better but you didn’t have the financial support to make it happen? An idea like:

- Collect new children’s books for children in foster care
- Add universally accessible playground equipment at your local elementary school
- Create a database of service providers who work with children with special needs in your area
- Offer a “Craft Camp” for preschoolers with a military parent who is currently deployed

Well, the Kindermusik Good Beginnings Grant Program is just for you! Anyone can apply for a Good Beginnings Grant. (Note: you must be 18 or older and live in the U.S. or Canada.)

At Kindermusik, we always say “a good beginning never ends.” Our worldwide network of Kindermusik educators will tell you that nothing compares to getting a child off to a good start. We’ve been doing it for 30 years, but now it’s YOUR turn! We are looking for parents, teachers, individuals, organizations, schools, or small businesses with a passion for making a child’s life better.

Our Good Beginnings Grants are your chance to put $1,000 toward a project that will make a difference in the lives of children. The project can be education, playful, musical, or whatever!

From now until December 16 we will be accepting applications. Then, starting in early January the public will vote on their favorite ideas! Get your friends and family to vote (and keep voting each day) to better your chances of winning. The top five vote getters will have their projects funded.

Ready to complete your application? Or want to learn more? Head to:

www.kindermusik.com/grants

Have questions? Post them below in the comments area. Good luck!

Aesthetic awareness has been described as one of the defining qualities of being human. Becoming aware of the beauty of sound – a part of aesthetic awareness – requires key listening skills.

Sometimes the most unusual sounds and beautiful sights can strike a chord within us, and even within a precocious young child!  Learning to search for beauty, listen for beauty, and discuss beautiful sounds – these are the building blocks to developing an aesthetic awareness that lasts a lifetime.

As adults, it’s up to us to model an appreciation for loveliness  around us and also create environments to help awaken a child’s aesthetic senses. In order for a child to become a truly creative, authentic learner and creator herself, this awareness must first be developed and fostered.

Even simple Kindermusik activities like taking a pretend windy walk, reading about Michael Finnigan’s antics with the wind, or making wind chimes, are part of helping a child seek out and understand the aesthetic beauty around us. A nature walk, singing, painting, drawing, playing an instrument – all these activities are effective.

Here are a few tips to help your child continue to build aesthetic awareness:

1.  Expose your child to experiences that heighten his sense of the aesthetically pleasing – museums, concerts, nature walks, etc.

2.  Point out the beauty already around your child – in nature, fine art, and music.  Talk about what he likes, or doesn’t like, and why.

3.  Play good quality music in the home and/or in the car, surrounding your child with a variety of musical genres and styles.  Discuss what she is hearing and how it makes her feel.

4.  Encourage your child to express himself musically and artistically.  Let your child pick the music he listens to while doing a little project.  Keep kid-friendly art supplies within reach for those moments when inspiration strikes.

5.  Keep your child enrolled in Kindermusik!  From newborn up, Kindermusik is seven musical and magical years of preparation for a lifetime of aesthetic awareness.

Posted by Theresa Case whose Kindermusik program at Piano Central Studios is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide.

You’ve probably heard the old proverb: “Variety is the spice of life.” When it comes to music, musical variety is definitely the spice of life! When you expose your children to music from around the world, you expose them to different cultures, countries, ideas, and experiences, along with these developmental benefits:

Greater language proficiency
Just as you read a variety of books to expand your child’s vocabulary, exposure to a wide variety of music and sounds expands your child’s “ear vocabulary.” High quality musical recordings and real instruments help your child “fine tune” her ear to recognize and imitate the sounds that make up words and language.

Spatial awareness
When a child listens to music, her mind perceives the sound in multi-dimensional ways. The sound is loud or soft, fast or slow, it moves up and down, or left to right. Eventually, she’ll use that “awareness of space” to work with her body when she walks through the living room and tries not to hit the coffee table. Much later, this same awareness is necessary skill for learning how to get around things, jump, run, and move in zig-zag ways.

Temporal reasoning
You see this skill in action when a preschooler tells a story. He starts with his own experience and then moves to some imagined place with a princess or a superhero then goes back to something real again. Music does the same thing. It goes back and forth between established places (the chorus) and to new places that take you somewhere else (the verse). The ability to go back and forth from something established to something imagined comes from temporal reasoning, a skill used in music writing, storytelling, and problem solving.

Emotional intelligence
With exposure to a greater variety of musical styles-like jazz, folk, or classical, this increased exposure to music increases a child’s awareness, and understanding of different moods and emotions.

Cognitive skills
Research shows that music contributes to the development of a child’s ability to reason, his sense of patterning, and his memory skills.

Try this at home… Your child is naturally musical. Hearing you sing and listening to recordings are like food for her musical appetite. Sing with child at least three times a day. Consider these song sessions musical breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (By the way, “lunch” can be interpreted loosely. Just plan the routine of singing together at a time that works for your schedule – when your child wakes up, in the car, doing dishes, at naptime, fixing supper, etc.!) Once you start, you will find that there is a song for everything. If you can’t remember what that song is, make one up!

Posted by Theresa Case whose Kindermusik program at Piano Central Studios is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide.

Have you ever sat in a movie theater, and several people in the row behind you are all talking? I bet you found it difficult to concentrate on the movie.

What does this have to do with your child in a Kindermusik class? Just imagine this scenario: your Kindermusik teacher brings out a basket of rhythm sticks and sings “two for you and two for your grownup”. Most of the grownups in the room start encouraging their child to go get the sticks. They encourage them with their voices and now we hear 10 adults telling their child to go get sticks. At this point, some of the children will start to “tune you out”. I like to call this “selective hearing loss”. (I have teens at home and I am very familiar with this temporary, albeit sometimes annoying ailment.)

Although we highly encourage you to talk to your child throughout the day and label movements, sounds, and objects to help with language acquisition, there are times when we have to allow them to figure out what to do without being told. Allow them to problem solve.

I want to share with you an experiment we did in a few of my classes. I asked the adults not to give directions to their child during this class – just sing when it was appropriate in the lesson. The toughest part was the “no talking”. But they all agreed and were curious to witness their child in this somewhat altered environment. I encouraged them to guide their little one by being a model and using non-verbal cues.

Here is what some of the adults said at the end of class:
* They showed more patience
* They were more “in the moment” with their children
* Their children were more attentive and focused
* Their children felt freer to create, explore, and express themselves

Try a version of this experiment at home. Take time to explore with your child without giving them opinions or directions. Be a model for them through your actions and not your words. It’s not easy, but it may allow you to be “in the moment” with your child in a way you have not been before.

Special thanks to Kindermusik educator Cathy Huser for sharing this insightful post from her blog.  Cathy’s program, Kindermusik of Cleveland, has been a top ten Kindermusik Maestro program for 10 years running.

Steady beat, the unchanging, steady pulse of the music.  Steady beat helps a child walk, run, ride a bike, bounce a ball, cut with scissors, dance, read and speak with smooth cadence.  Researchers have also found that children who can feel, move and play to a steady beat are better readers and more successful in math.  They are also reported to be better behaved in class and have less aggressive physical contact with other students.

Here is another one of our students practicing his steady beat.