Mother’s Day wishes, traditions and Music
Happy Mother’s Day!
May your days as a mother bring you many fond memories.
May your Mother’s day be full of love and music, and a bit of peace and contentment.
May you feel confident that this choice you made was one of the most miraculous things you could have chosen to enrich your life, and the lives of those to whom you are the mother.
May you remember that as long as you care, you keep trying, and you keep learning more, you ARE doing your best for your children – even if it doesn’t seem like it sometimes.
May you enjoy my blog posting: Mother’s Day Sing-a-long and Traditions , where you will find a fun animated video that you and your child will enjoy singing along with, as well as unique Mother’s Day traditions.
May you enjoy my blog posting: Songs for Mothers and Fathers , where you will find a list of albums and songs that are written for parents, and help keep us focused on the miracle, the joy, the learning, and the end result of our efforts with our children.
May you find marvalous moments to bond with your children on a regular basis. MANY families have found Kindermusik to be the perfect opportunity to carve a special niche into the week just for this. I hope you find this too.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Loving the Earth through Music
My son found this video, and I absolutely LOVE it. I think you will too.
Earth Day is April 22nd each year, but I just found this and wanted to share it with you.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Kindermusik ABC Music and Me
ABC Music & Me is specifically designed for use in a daycare or preschool setting. Weekly classes are presented by a Kindermusik educator, and these classes are held onsite as an enhancement program. There are two age groups for this program; 2 – 4 years old, and 4 – 6 years old.
For each different age group, there is a different theme for each month, with corresponding home materials kit which includes a CD and a colorful catalog, as well as weekly reports from the teacher.
Every other month, Kindermusik International also includes a high quality instrument to help the students explore sounds, and how to turn sounds into music.
Themes in the 2 – 4 age range focus on themes that are familiar and interesting to the children. These programs use music and movement to enhance development of age appropriate skills and understanding of concepts.
This “Carnival of Music” is scheduled for September.
Themes in the 4 – 6 age range use movement and multi-sensory activities to create a basic musical understanding, develop their fine motor skills that to play a variety of instruments
“Jumping Beans” is also scheduled for September.
Kindermusik International, and it’s educators, place a high value on parent involvement. And so most of the core curriculum are designed to include full parent participation, or, in the older classrooms, participation during the last portion of the class. Both the students and the parents benefit a great deal from their involvement in class, and also from the unique follow through that occurs at home as well.
But due to many factors in this fast paced world, more children are spending their days in learning facilities outside the home. In order to fully reach more children and families with the marvalous process of music, and all of its benefits, Kindermusik International designed ABC Music & Me as a high quality music program that allows facilities to provide music instruction on site, AND for the parents to receive monthly materials that help them join their child in this process at home.
Some educators also use this program with children AND their families. It is easily adapted for the interactive process where parents CAN continue to participate with their child in wonderfully creative ways that continue to benefit the development of the whole child, as well as their musical understanding and abilities.
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Find an educator near you at www.kindermusik.com , where you will be able to view all the educators AND their schedules in one place.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Kindermusik Family Time
Kindermusik’s Family Time program is designed for families with children of all ages. Whether there is one child or many in a family, all will find a unique way to play and bond while learning new songs, and developing new skills. Parents and children alike enjoy the social aspects of this fun family class, as well as the fresh songs, activities, and ideas that can be incorporated into our daily lives.
Although this video is a bit LONG, around 15 min., you will be spellbound in watching the process of music come alive with these families, and learn why you might find it just the RIGHT type of program for your family!
The Family Time program is actually quite flexible, allowing educators to offer 5 week, 10 week, or 15 week semesters. These can be offered during the week days, at night, or even for Saturday classes. Some educators even offer a once a month Saturday class featuring Family Time. It is also offered as a Family Adventure Camp during the Summer. No matter how it is presented, the Family Time program really brings families together to interact in so many new ways with each other (giving siblings MANY alternatives to picking and bickering), and to socialize in such fun ways with other children and adults in a safe and fun family atmosphere.
As with ALL the Kindermusik programs, a quality set of home materials are a integral part of the program. We believe that parents, as a child’s first teacher, has an awesome opportunity to use these tools to continue the learning activities at home – where the child is able to repeat and adapt the activities well enough to really glean all the learning that is possible. For example, check out the themes and ALL of the following materials that comes with:
The Home Materials kit comes in a clear plastic zippered bag with handles and includes:
- Two CDs full of high quality music the whole family will enjoy (including songs used in class);
- Two children’s literature books; Each children’s book also contains a comic strip on the first page featuring the characters in the Jellybean Band, and a fun seek and find picture on the back page.
- A Family Activity Guide with song lyrics, as well as ideas for how to bring the learning home (craft ideas, homemade instrument ideas, etc.) and how to adapt the ideas for differing ages of children.
- Two instruments, specifically designed for children (perfect sizes for little hands and big parades),
- Two puppets, Both a hand puppet and a finger puppet, featuring a Jelly Bean Band character;
- AND a Game in which preschool and older children enjoy expanding on the concepts presented.
You will be impressed at how integrated all the elements of this kit are designed to enhance each other for a whole child learning environment.
There are FOUR units of Family Time, each with their own themes, five sub-themes, and unique parts of materials:
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Our Kind of Day
Our Kind of Day celebrates the routines of the day, offering unique ways to include music throughout the family’s daily activities. These techniques can truly enhance the harmony in family interactions.
Themes: Playtime …. Mealtime …. Clean-up Time …. Bath Time …. Nighttime
Unique Materials: Books: ”Bouncing on the Bed”, and “Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes”; Double Egg Shakers; Hopper & Bounce, the Kangaroo puppets, and a Jellybean Band Domino game.
***** Here, There, and Everywhere!
This semester celebrates they ways a family goes out and about!
There are songs to accompany road trips, no matter how long, and fun music and ideas to accent your adventures.
Themes: A Visit with a Friend……… An Outing at the Park………. A Trip to the City………….. An Afternoon at the Aquarium………. A Day at the Farm
Unique Materials: Books: ”Jingle, Jangle Jambourine”, and “Flip, Flap, Sugar Snap”; Jambourines; Wags, the Dog puppets; and a Jellybean Band Board Game.
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Moving and Grooving
Moving & Grooving celebrates all the ways to move; with our bodies, with our voices, and with music. The best way to learn concepts is through multi-sensory exploration of opposites. This is music and movement exploration at it’s best!
Themes: Tempo (fast/slow) ……… Levels (high/low) ………. Pathways (Straight/Curvy… & more) ………….. Weight (light/heavy) ………. Energy (sharp/smooth)
Unique Materials: Books: ”Put Your Left Paw In”, and “Catch Me”; Den-Den Drums; Rascal, the Monkey puppets, Card Game based on locomotor movements featuring Jelly Bean Band characters.
***** Make Way for Music ! (materials shown as example set)
Make Way for Music celebrates five magnificent aspects of music, introducing very abstract concepts through singing, moving, and personal involvement in the process of making music.
Themes: Beat and Rhythm……… Concepts and Contrasts………. Our Voices………….. Instrument Families………. Ensemble
Unique Materials: Books: ”Drum Circle”, and “Animals on Parade”; Finger Drums; Rex, the Lion puppets, Card Game featuring instruments of the orchestra.
Find out more information, and locate a teacher near you at www.kindermusik.com .
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Family Time is Fabulous in Florida
Congratulations to the following Florida Educators who were recently recognized at the Kindermusik Convention in Chicago:
Marne Gleason
Largest Kindermusik Family Time Program Worldwide
Websites:
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Debbie Mondale
2nd Largest Kindermusik Family Time Program Worldwide
Website: http://musiconnx.kindermusik.net
Blog: http://musiconnx.wordpress.com
and http://mcresources.wordpress.com
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These awards show promise that Florida is a leader in providing Kindermusik opportunities for families. Marne and Debbie have also achieved Maestro -Producer Status for several years now, which means they are in the top 5% of educators worldwide. Each of them offer all the core curricullum, including Village, Our Time, Imagine That!, and Kindermusik for the Young Child. In addition to their strong core classes, both educators started offering Family Time in the Summer or Fall of 2007, believing that the Family Time program can be JUST the PERFECT program for some families for the following reasons:
- Many families have multiple children including a variety of ages, and just don’t have the time, or energy to have each child enroll in their own age specific classes.
- Many families really enjoy spending time with ALL of their children in a fun, interactive environment.
- Families report that the older children initiate and engage the younger children in more playful and friendly ways at home using some of the ideas presented in class.
Kindermusik in Florida 
