Vacation schedule, Feb. Feb 18-23

Village class, Wednesday is as scheduled

Imagine that class, Wednesday, will be off

Our Time class, Friday will be OFF (*this is a change please note)

Our Time class, Saturday will be off

Hands-on parents strike better chord with children

I recently read this article from the Herald sun and was written by: Fay BurstinFebruary 05, 2008 12:00am

PLONKING kids in front of music videos such as the Wiggles or Hi-5 doesn’t enhance their musical talent and may even hinder it.

New Australian research shows parents rely heavily on commercially produced CDs and DVDs for children’s musical stimulation, claiming they don’t have the time or musical talent for anything more creative. But mass-market music products, especially those with a visual component such as videos, DVDs and TV, are no substitute for musical interaction between adults and children, and may even be detrimental, according to a Monash University education study. “Singing with a young child allows for spontaneous vocal play, movement and drama that are not always possible with music CDs and DVDs,” said study author Peter de Vries. “Some products with a visual component are non-interactive . . . and detract from musical events. “These products can constrain spontaneous musical play . . . and parents need to be aware of their detrimental effects on young children’s musical development.” Dr de Vries’ survey of 63 parents of preschool pupils under five, published recently in the Australian Journal of Early Childhood, found 65 per cent of parents played music to children at least once a week and 18 per cent did so daily. But only 29 per cent regularly sang to their kids and a meagre 8 per cent played with them using bought or made instruments. Children often sang and danced to CDs but DVDs tended to “quieten children down”, with some parents noting their children “just sat there and blanked out”, the study found. “Someone will be singing and dancing and talking to the camera, asking children to join in, and all I see is my child staring at the screen,” one parent reported. Research shows music helps develop children’s co-ordination, listening, language, communication and social skills. Many parents assumed Wiggles and Hi-5 music “must be good” because they were often played in preschools and childcare centres, but the key was to be present rather than use them to babysit. “Watching together enables adults to respond to opportunities the program offers and listen to their child’s comments and observe responses, which can lay the foundation for further exploration,” Dr de Vries said. Australian Institute of Music and Childhood Development director Jenny Wilkinson said CDs often helped give self-conscious parents the confidence to sing with kids. “But just putting music on doesn’t have the same effect. Children learn by doing, especially with adults, and there are so many opportunities for spontaneous singing,” she said. Carnegie mum Simone Waterman sings daily to her three children, making up silly rhymes and playing with a basket of musical instruments. “I sing really badly and have no rhythm but until the kids beg me to stop I’ll keep going.” The ex-childcare worker attends a weekly parent-and-child music session and rarely resorts to TV.

“I like Play School but I’m not fond of The Wiggles or Hi-5.”

Winter/Spring classes underway

Classes have begun but it is still not too late to register for classes.  We had a great fall semester however, there were many classes cancelled and made up due to weather this year more than ever before.  There will be a new policy in place to make it fair for everyone involved.  I will always make up for classes if I am sick or unable to meet.  These will take place either by extending classes to cover the material or at the end of the semester.  Snow has posed a big problem due to icy conditions.  From now on, we will make up ONE weather related day of missed classes.  After that I will give each child a voucher for a semester for any upcoming semester up to 2 vouchers per child will be distributed. 

 Family absences and vacations can’t be helped and I really expect that each child will miss 1 or 2 classes due to an illness.  If you are able to come to a class on another day as a makeup, you are welcome as long as you call me first.  Please keep the blog address handy for school closings and class closings. 

 If your class is in the morning and there is a 2 hour delay or no school there are no classes.  Please check my answer machine after 2:00 for afternoon classes.  Sometimes the plows clear everything up and it is safe to drive by the time afternoon classes begin.  On the safe side, please call to check. 

Music Training Linked to Enhanced Verbal SKills

See article at http://tinyurl.com/3ao8mu
Music Training Linked To Enhanced Verbal SkillsBecause the brainstem offers a common pathway that processes music and
speech, the study suggests that musical training conceivably could help
children develop literacy skills and combat literacy disorders.by Staff Writers

Evanston IL (SPX) Sep 25, 2007

Music training, with its pervasive effects on the nervous system’s
ability to process sight and sound, may be more important for enhancing
verbal communication skills than learning phonics, according to a new
Northwestern University study. Musicians use all of their senses to
practice and perform a musical piece. They watch other musicians, read
lips, and feel, hear and perform music, thus, engaging multi-sensory
skills. As it turns out, the brain’s alteration from the multi-sensory
process of music training enhances the same communication skills needed
for speaking and reading, the study concludes.

“Audiovisual processing was much enhanced in musicians’ brains compared
to non-musician counterparts, and musicians also were more sensitive to
subtle changes in both speech and music sounds,” said Nina Kraus, Hugh
Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences and Neurobiology and
director of Northwestern’s Auditory

Neuroscience Laboratory, where the work was performed. “Our study
indicates that the high-level cognitive processing of music affects
automatic processing that occurs early in the processing stream and
fundamentally shapes sensory circuitry.”

The nervous system’s multi-sensory processing begins in the brainstem,
an evolutionarily ancient part of the brain previously thought to be
relatively unmalleable.

“Musicians have a specialized neural system for processing sight and
sound in the brainstem, the neural gateway to the brain,” said
Northwestern doctoral student Gabriella Musacchia, lead author of the study.

For many years, scientists believed that the brainstem simply relayed
sensory information from the ear to the cortex, a part of the brain
known for cognitive processing.

Because the brainstem offers a common pathway that processes music and
speech, the study suggests that musical training conceivably could help
children develop literacy skills and combat literacy disorders.

The study, “Musicians Have Enhanced Subcortical Auditory and Audiovisual
Processing of Speech and Music,” will be published online the week of
Sept. 24 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The co-investigators are Gabriella Musacchia, Mikko Sams, Erika Skoe and
Nina Kraus.

Study participants, who had varying amounts of musical training or none
at all, wore scalp electrodes that measured their multi-sensory brain
responses to audio and video of a cellist playing and a person speaking.

The data showed that the number of years that a person practiced music
strongly correlated with enhanced basic sound encoding mechanisms that
also are relevant for speech. Beyond revealing super-accurate pitch
coding vital to recognizing a speaker’s identity and emotional intent,
the study showed enhanced transcription of timbre and timing cues common
to speech and music.

“The study underscores the extreme malleability of auditory function by
music training and the potential of music to tune our neural response to
the world around us, ” Kraus said.

Previous research has shown brainstem transcription errors in some
children with literacy disorders.

Since music is inherently more accessible to children than phonics, the
new research suggests, music training may have considerable benefits for
engendering literacy skills.

Fall Registrations and classes

Can you believe this summer has gone?  We have had some beautiful weather lately but I can’t believe that my children went back to school.  Registration information will be going out this weekend, a little later than usual but I wanted to let the children get back to school and into their routine.  We will have open houses to register for classes on the following dates. 

September 14th- 9:30-11:30 Petite Productions, Route 23, Catskill September 15th- 9:30- 11:30 at the First Reformed church, 18 N. Church St. Athens and on September 17th- 9:30-11:30 at the Energy Studio, 20 Country Estates Road, Greenville. 

 If you have gotten a registration form but still want to talk with me about the class for your child, please be sure to stop by.  Sometimes your child will not be developementally ready to move up to a new class or is ready at an earlier age.  See the news in an earlier blog on how to choose the correct class for your child. 

Classes begin on Thursday, September 20th.   check out the website if you’d like to register. Welcome back!

Our Time- 18 months- 3 1/2 years

Giving class a chance

Are you new to Kindermusik?  You may feel a little awkward the first few weeks of Kindermusik especially if you have never sat on the floor and pretended to become wash in a washing machine or if you have to pretend to be dog or a snake as a parent.  We need to encourage our children to do these silly things to get them to do them as well.  It takes a lot but eventually you will see how much fun it is especially since everyone else is doing it, you don’t have to worry about being foolish.   Please don’t feel that you can get much out of our classes by sitting the first few minutes of our program.  It takes bringing materials home, perhaps listening to the CD’s.  I guarentee that Dust, Dust, Dust during our Milk and Cookies sessions will become so much fun, they won’t want you to turn it off.  Dusting? This is the time to give your child a rag or a bell and go to it!  They are only young once, so let them be young.  Any questions? 

Village- ages Newborn- 18 months

Splash into summer

Summer classes are ready and on my website.  It’s hard to believe that our semester is coming to a close.  After this week, 3 out of 4 classes will be finished until fall, but don’t forget about the summer.  This is the time that most families are looking forward to having a class when things aren’t as hectic and sometimes need a time to get away from it all and spend some quality time with their children.  I find that I can focus more one on one with my children when they have activities of their very own. 

 Please be sure to look at my websites for Kindermusik and NON Kindermusik classes… In Athens, we are featuring a class just for 3′s and 4′s.  It will be a playtime in a more unstructured preschool way.  There will be freeplay, circle time, music time, sensory table, craft,  storytime and more.  I have also had some interest in some more sensory for the 18 month – 3′s.  This was fun last year but I am trying to fit this into my own family schedule.  Keep posted and I will let you know how things are going. 

www.makingmusik.com/kindermusikathens

Moving child from Our Time to Imagine That!

If you read my post yesterday we talked a little about moving children into the most developmentally appropriate class.  Another hard decision which parents need to really think about and be honest about is moving their children to Imagine That! (3′s- 5) class.  My thoughts are that it is really an individual decision.  I have wonderful classes with almost 4 year olds in Our time.  They are so eager to be the big guy, helpers, so verbal and love having their time with mom or dad.  When I move them to Imagaine that! they are so easy to be so independent that they need to be in the class.  I have parents of almost 3 year olds that feel they don’t want them in with 18 month olds in Our Time, their child is so bright, they will do so much better in class and completely lose it when thrown in a class that they need to verbalize answers, be a part of the “game” and can’t express themselves.  Also, they feel like Kindermusik isn’t the correct choice and leave us.

In this day and age parents are so ready to push their child.  Please understand that you will NEVER have your child being 3 again.  Below is a guideline for when you child shows signs of being ready for Imagine that! class.  I love this class and the more I teach it I realize how true it is that the age ranges are only a guideline.  If you are trying to figure it out which one, here is another way to decide.  If your child is 3 (any kind of 3) and new to Kindermusik, I always suggest going into Our time for the first semester.  Get them used to being with the children, the environment etc.  Then the next semester you can move to Imagine that!  He/she is much more likely to move so easily into the next level.  There is no reason to move them so fast.  They only stay little for such a short time.
  

Moving from Our Time to Imagine That!
Children ready for this next level show many of the following characteristics:Physical

• Has a taller, thinner, adult-like appearance

• Balances on one foot; jumps in place without falling

• Holds crayons in pincher grasp rather than fist

Cognitive

• Knows if they are a boy or girl

• Can do matching games

• Knows some basic shapes and colors

• Is developing divergent thinking skills (“What animals do you like?”)

• Is beginning transition from concrete to abstract thinking (humor aids this process)

• Sits and listens to stories for up to 10 minutes

Emotional

• Recognizes needs of another person; can be empathetic

• Separates from parent without crying

• Is developing a sense of humor

Language

• Is beginning to master rules of language; speaks in full sentences (4-5 words); asks questions

• Vocabulary growing from 300-1,000 words

• Can relate a series of activities; tells stories (“We went to the grocery store, then to grandma’s and I played with the kittens.”)

Social

• Recognizes the needs of others

• Turn taking becomes harder than earlier, but beginning to understand reasons

• Is learning about patience

Musical

• Recites rhymes

• Sings simple, whole songs