Young Child - authentic music class for 5 and 6 year olds!

I'm starting a new cycle of Young Child and am so excited I can hardly contain it! With having a 7 year old son and 5 year old daughter, I have looked extensively for quality music class and lesson opportunities. I've learned that I wish more children had access to Young Child and that formal piano lessons can and usually should wait until 7 years old - which is where my son is now - and he's doing great! Before now, a private lesson wouldn't have been nearly as good a use of investment of your valuable time and money.

Here's a good video clip of what to expect in Young Child class!

Young Child is an outstanding choice for all children, including gifted children. It allows children to be children and not rush them along, while at the same time they get a solid foundation and learn to play exciting instruments, read music, understand the written and non-written language of music. It's a very developmentally appropriate, age-honoring class that focuses on teaching music through all avenues of a child's development - musical, social, emotional, cognitive, physical, and language.

Spaces are limited to keep the classes smaller. A few spaces remain Thursdays at 4:30. I hope to see you and your child in class!

Enroll Rewards in August

For the 1st time ever, enroll with a new-to-Kindermusik friend, and you BOTH save 10% off tuition and materials. Bring 5 new friends, and your semester is FREE!
This offer is valid through 8/15/08. Think of all those friends you've told how much your child loves Kindermusik and pass the word along. Ready to enroll? Call Kathy at 919-761-4290 or enroll online.

DEMO DAYS IN AUGUST

We would love to have you and your child join us for a trial class during August! Reservations are required, so just give me a call or send an email to schedule your day and time. Register on the day of your trial class and we will take $10 off your total!

Scroll down to read the posts below, where you'll find detailed descriptions of classes for all age groups. It's going to be an exciting semester and we'd love to share Kindermusik with your family!

Calling all Lap Babies, Crawlers & Walkers through 18 months!

Relish in the fleeting moments of your baby's 1st year and a half. They don't stay little for long. Village class is a place where you can celebrate these moments. The tender curriculum of Dream Pillow is about Baby's bedtime. The loving interaction that defines the rituals of rocking, nursing, cuddling and singing is the essence of Dream Pillow. You are invited to enjoy bedtime closeness with Baby at any time of day by listening more closely, sharing the gifts of singing and talking with Baby, and exploring and extending the musicality of Baby's environment. Our Kindermusik class activities are easily woven into your family's daily routines. You will find many upbeat and playful activities as well as an array of stimulating and age-appropriate things and instruments for Baby to explore. There is a swirling dream cloud dance, on the one hand ("Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland"), but there is also a dance to the exuberant and humorous recording of "Tants, Tants, Yidelekh!" Other favorite dances include, "Skinnamarink," "Sur le pont d'Avignon" and "Maypole Dance." You will enjoy quiet play with chime balls to "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and you will revel in the clatter of drums while singing "Sarasponda." Baby will handle humongous scarves, drums, hair curlers, drums, clackers, egg shakers, chime balls, mirrors and baby bells. In addition, he will hear the sound of the slide whistle and resonator bars. Favorite lullabies are "May There Always Be Sunshine," "O, How Lovely Is the Evening," "Rock-a-bye, Baby," "Manx Lullaby" and "Latvian Lullaby." Each of the musical activities in Dream Pillow was carefully planned and stimulates development in every area of Baby's growing brain, promoting Baby's physical, social, cognitive, emotional, and language development.

Zoom Baby! Zoom Buggy! How many ways can Baby zoom? Hop in the Zoom Buggy! And find out. Through a variety of songs, chants, and instrumental selections you will discover that Baby can enjoy rumbling, squeaking, chugging, bumping, vrooming, swooshing, and more. Familiar tunes and old favorites such as "Little Red Caboose," "Lightly Row" and "Canoe Song" are interspersed with new songs used in activities designed to help Baby move down that fascinating road of development. Baby's board book, Zoom Buggy! focuses on six ways to "go zoom" such as the baby buggy, stroller, wagon, train, rocket ship and canoe. The "zoom vehicles" are also featured on the art banner. Favorite songs related to this theme are "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "Travlin' Round," "This Little Light of Mine," "I Have a Wagon," "Little Red Caboose," "Riding in the Buggy" and "Zoom-e-oh!" Baby will enjoy exploring scarves, chime balls, baby bells, slide whistles, egg shakers, resonator bars, triangles, woodblocks and drums clackers while learning about fast and slow, stop and start and long and short. We will rock baby while singing favorite lullabies such as "May There Always Be Sunshine," "Drifting," "Rocking Horse" and "Suliram." Dancing to "Pretty Baby," "Travlin' Round," "Zoom-e-oh!" and "The Keel Row" brings smiles to all. Relaxation and listening to beautiful classics such as "Polovtsian Dance," "Reverie" and "Lightly Row" are included in every class. Learn about the latest research with babies with Foundations of Learning Statements.

Discover the joy of interacting with your baby and the support and nurture you will receive from being with other parents and babies at this unique stage in your lives!

Our Time for toddlers 18 months - 3 years old: Time for Milk & Cookies! Mmmmm!

Imagine the aroma of baking cookies, the coziness of the family kitchen, the chatter among sisters, brothers and grandmas, granddads, mom and dad, and the anticipation and excitement of having friends come to visit. These moments at home are times to be shared and treasured. These special moments are captured in Milk & Cookies.

We'll celebrate that time of year when we return to the home and hearth. The aromas of the kitchen, sounds of laughter, thrill of preparing the house for special occasions this fall, the joy family and friends. Relish the holidays from October to December where we find ourselves longing to connect with those we love.

As in the previous units of Our Time, the central focus of Milk & Cookies is the toddler's need for security balanced with his need for independence. Milk & Cookies songs and activities promote interaction between parent and child where the parent gently guides their child's learning and the process of scaffolding takes place. Capturing the security, excitement and familiarity of "at home" moments is the ideal theme for empowering the parent to act as teacher through scaffolding. What better way for parents to lead their child than with familiar, everyday home activities such as cooking in the kitchen, dusting and washing clothes?!

Milk and Cookies Home Materials

The child's at home materials are packaged in their own distinctive kit. The Milk & Cookies At Home kit consists of a Home Activity book, 2 CDs, 2 literature books and a stir xylophone. These items are packaged together in a high quality, deep purple insulated lunch bag.

There's no better way for your toddler to learn and grow with the joy of music & movement during this special time of year! See ya in class!

Kindermusik Class for Preschoolers 3 - 5 years old!

We've mixed it up a little this semester! This music enrichment class is designed specifically for children 3 - 5 years old, and includes keyboard time. The program consists of 12 weeks of classes this fall. Classes are 40 minutes long, with the last 5 minutes given to family time with parents/siblings/caregivers.

12:40 p.m. class: OPTIONAL LUNCH BUNCH: For children who do not eat lunch at preschool. This is a great way for your child to enjoy eating with his/her friends prior to music class and enables parents to pick up after music, therefore, fewer transitions for your child and a later pickup time for the parent/caregiver. Children enrolled at Hope Lutheran Preschool who have not had lunch during preschool may join the lunch bunch for an extra fee. Send a nutritious lunch on music class day. Kindermusik teacher will sign out your child at dismissal time (note: this will require parent to authorize teacher to pickup on designated day.) Lunch bunch is an additional $40 per semester to cover supervision and assistance.

Children coming from other preschools are welcome to come eat with their friends at no extra charge, provided that the parent stays until class time begins, or may be dropped off for the lunch bunch fee.

Each lesson emphasizes a different area of a child's development: confidence, coordination, vocal expressiveness, careful listening, and early exposure to reading skills.

Your child will receive a new kit approximately every 4 weeks.

JUMPING BEANS: Memory and sequence skills will strengthen with stop-and-go activities—all set to the music of Latin America. Tucked into stories and pretend play activities, stop-and-go games help children learn to control their bodies and follow directions on the go.

JOIN THE PARADE: You can watch this month’s theme play out in Wake Forest or downtown Raleigh with the season’s upcoming holiday parades. In class listen to marching music, play pretend parades, and help preschoolers develop rhythm and coordination skills.

Marching to the beat of his own drum—in class and at home—helps children make a vital rhythm and body connection, one that’s necessary to help master any number of movement activities such as writing, dribbling and shooting a basketball, dancing, and skipping.

ALL KEYED UP: A piano and a composer, J.S. Bach, helps preschoolers get ready for school this month. The answer is right at the tip of your fingers. The same fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination children need in order to hold a pencil are developed through the special keyboard-playing activities we’ll be playing in class. Learn from the best “hand-eye” coordination composers with music penned from world famous composers, such as J.S. Bach.

See ya at 12:40 or 3:30 p.m. on Thursdays this fall!

I am very excited to start a new cycle of Kindermusik for the Young Child!

This class for rising kindergarten & 1st graders will be held on Thursdays at 4:30 p.m.

Young Child is a rare gem to which most children don't have access. After teaching this curricula before, and knowing what I know about the Young Child program, I have not yet identified a child who I would say should go ahead with private lessons when I know what they will gain from Kindermusik. Young Child curricula is amazing in the way that it respects children's developmental needs while providing an exceptionally sound music education. Lay the foundation now with Young Child and watch your child reap the benefits now AND after graduating from the program and commencing formal private lessons. Many parents feel pressured to go ahead with private lessons to try and give their child a head start. Unfortunately, children often move at a snail's pace and often become frustration or lose interest. If you want to give your child a head start, then Kindermusik is actually the perfect choice!

Fall Semester (1 of 4)
What could be more natural than the child who explores his world through music? Children love singing favorite songs such as "Come and Follow Me," "Star Light, Star Bright," "Train Is A-Comin" and "Bell Horses," echoing vocal patterns and singing games like "Farmer, Farmer". This semester, Mozart is the featured composer and we listen to many of his compositions, including "A Little Night Music" and selections from "The Magic Flute." Other listening repertoire includes "The Clock" by Haydn, "Cloudburst from "Grand Canyon Suite," by Grofe, "The Aviary" from "Carnival of the Animals" by Saint-Saens and the percussion and brass families and their individual instruments. The children's favorite activity is playing various percussion instruments for ensembles such as "A Weather Story," "The Birds" and a barred instrument called a glockenspiel for playing melodies. Children love to move to newly composed music for stories like "Into the Woods" and "Magical Dancing Clocks." Other singing games are "Dr. Foster," "Tideo," "Here Comes a Bluebird" and "Wild Bird." Parents will love the musical concepts that the children learn as we lay the foundation for future instrumental study. Concepts in Semester 1 are quiet/loud, steady beat, fast/slow, long/short, high/low, singing/speaking, melodic direction and actual reading and writing non-traditional and traditional rhythm and staff notation.

I hope to see you in Young Child!