Kindermusik of Clayton

Spotlight on Parenting: Village and Our

March 2, 2012 at 12:43 am | Posted in Kindermusik | Leave a comment

Spotlight on Parenting: Village and Our Time

Big idea: Kindermusik makes it easier to communicate with your baby or toddler

Traveling to another country can be exciting. New sights, sounds, customs, food, and time zones that wreck havoc on your sleep! If the locals speak a language you don’t understand, your communication abilities quickly downgrade to that of a one-year-old: the use of full-body gestures and speaking louder and louder in YOUR language thinking that will increase comprehension. Yikes! Where is the loo?

At Kindermusik, we know parenting a young child can be a bit like visiting a foreign country. New sights, sounds, customs, food, and your sleep is definitely wrecked! Plus, your little one does not exactly speak your language. Most grown-ups are no longer fluent in baby or toddler. We understand, which is why we intentionally include activities that will increase your child’s communication abilities. In class, when we use sign language, sing “Oh well, you walk, and you walk, and you walk and you stop” or when we listen to and imitate different sounds, your child is learning and practicing language. Eventually, this will lead to him speaking your language. (Well, until the teenage years, and then you’ll need your passport again!)

Everyday connection: A match made in Kindermusik. Your child loves the sound of your voice. Feed his love and grow his use of language at the same time by singing, listening, moving, and dancing to the music from class. The repetition helps increase language acquisition and retention. Plus, music is a language you both understand.

Spotlight on Learning: Village Cock-a-Do

February 16, 2012 at 9:17 am | Posted in Kindermusik | Leave a comment

Spotlight on Learning: Village Cock-a-Doodle-Moo!

Big idea: Multi-Sensory Learning

Think about something that you experienced with your child that you hope to hold in your heart forever. What do you remember? The sound of her laughter, the smell of his head, the sight of her sleeping in those footed pajamas, the warmness of his skin right after a bath, the taste of bananas when she tried to feed you her snack? Whatever the memory, you probably recall it through more than one of your five senses. There is a reason for that!

Experiences that integrate several senses simultaneously are responsible for lasting impressions. Each of our five senses (sight, smell, sound, touch, taste) activates specific neurons in the brain. For your child, multi-sensory activities provide more learning opportunities than single-sensory activities. In Kindermusik, we encourage multi-sensory learning. So, while your child listens to and imitates animal sounds vocally or with an instrument, sees the animals in the story, and moves around like them, he is learning….and making musical memories that he will hold in his heart forever.

Everyday connection: Multi-vitamins for the senses. Turn your child’s favorite book into a multi-sensory literacy experience. Hold her in your lap while you read together. Let her feel the pages. If the book features an animal, include a stuffed animal in your time together. Is it a bedtime book? Bundle her up and say good night to the real moon, not just the one in the story.

To join our Cock-a-doodle-Moo or any other class check out schedule http://ow.ly/96hsr

Spotlight on Learning: Our Time Away We

January 16, 2012 at 5:58 pm | Posted in Kindermusik | Leave a comment

Spotlight on Learning: Our Time Away We Go

Think about the last time you tried doing something for the first time. Maybe it was using your new smart phone, going for the perfect cloth diaper fold, or even figuring out how to feed your baby while checking Facebook at the same time. (Hey, we all need some outside connections!) After lots of repetition, you’ll probably master the fine art of that new thing, or at least fumble a little less.

For your child, few things build her brain and open opportuniites for learning more than consistent repetition of healthy activities and experiences. Every new activity in which she participates makes a new neural pathway in her brain. Each time that experience is repeated, the neural pathway is strengthened. That’s why in Kindermusik class we deliberately repeat activities from week to week and give you the tools to repeat them at home, too.

Everyday connection: Practice makes perfect learning. Listen to the music from class and do the activities together at home. Repeat. Listen to the music from class and do the activities together at home. Repeat. (Learning is that easy … and fun!)

http://ow.ly/8uKG3

Kindermusik: Learning through Music Spot

October 20, 2011 at 10:20 pm | Posted in Kindermusik | Leave a comment

Kindermusik: Learning through Music

Spotlight on Learning: Village

Lifting. Squatting. Twirling. Bending. Whew! Sometimes Kindermusik class feels more like a workout than, well, a workout. Okay, maybe not P90x, but still! While you are building muscles each week, your child is building early language skills.

When you lift her high “up, up in the sky” or “twirl around like a leaf” while singing the songs in class, you help your little one learn the word and understand the concept. Pre-readers rely almost exclusively on what they hear in order to acquire language. Your child’s brain makes a connection based on what she experiences (being lifted high or twirling around) and hears (“up” or “twirl”). Later, she will discover those words correspond to marks on a page which eventually leads to letter recognition and reading. Just think how toned your arms will be then!

Everyday connection: Play that fun-key music. Listen and move to music that combines key vocabulary with a movement or activity. “Up, Up In The Sky” and “Like a Leaf or a Feather” are familiar choices. Visit play.kindermusik.com for more favorites, like “I Roll the Ball to You.” Try mixing in your tunes, too. “Dancing Queen” anyone?

http://ow.ly/6BMxC The Social Customer:

September 22, 2011 at 7:19 pm | Posted in Kindermusik | Leave a comment

http://ow.ly/6BMxC The Social Customer: How Brands Can Use Social CRM to Acquire, Monetize, & Retain Fans, Friends, & Followers, November 16th at 2 PM Eastern for an informative webinar with author and consultant Adam Metz