Kindermusik by The Half Notes

Morning Dew

2008-05-09T14:59:00.001-04:00

Playing at the Toy Shop

2008-05-09T09:56:00.001-04:00

Our Time to Play!

2008-04-25T10:27:00.001-04:00

Young Child class

2008-04-25T10:02:00.001-04:00

Build Me a Boat

2008-04-25T09:55:00.001-04:00

Dew Drops

2008-04-25T09:47:00.001-04:00

Summer Adventures!

2008-04-01T09:45:00.025-04:00

Kindermusik Adventures draws on the child's natural curiosity and nurtures it to support each child's creative potential. Using an integrated approach with music, movement, storytelling and, for the upper ages, pretend play, drama, and art, Adventures stimulates imagination, spontaneity, curiosity and a love of music.
Enroll now!
513-232-5713 or http://kindermusikbythehalfnotes.kindermusik.net/

Peekaboo, I Love You! Age: newborn - 18 months

Thursdays 6:00 - 6:45 p.m. May 29 - June 26

Saturdays 9:45 - 10:30 a.m. May 31 – June 28

Thursdays 6:00 - 6:45 p.m. July 31 - August 28

More than just a curious story, Mother Goose games like peek-a-boo help your baby understand language. Uncover more ways to say "I love you" using American Sign Language, soap bubbles, and parent-baby dances. Plus, meet other families in the community and learn how music improves the child development process. Home Materials include: Book, CD, Duck Wash Mitt, Baby Duck Gertie Ball, and Poster.

Creatures at the Ocean Age: 1.5 - 3 years
Mondays 10:00-10:45 a.m. June 2 – 30
Thursdays 6:00 - 6:45 p.m. May 29 – June 26

Sing sailor songs and head to the beach! We're sure to find sand in our sandals, fish in the sea, the wind and waves, and maybe even a boat or two! Home Materials include: CD, Seashell Castanet, Story card set and Picture Folder set.

Zoo Train! Age: 1.5 - 3 years

Mon, Wed, Fri 10:30 – 11:15 a.m. July 16 – July 25

Toddlers and trains make a natural match—always on the move. Tag along this summer with a traveling zoo train! Home Materials include: Book, CD, Animal Shaker, and Poster.

Confetti Days! Age: 3-5 years

Tues & Thurs 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. June 10 – 24

Let's have a party! From clowns to carousels, puppets to parades, monkeys to marching bands, balloons to bicycles, your child will have fun just being a kid. Home Materials include: CD, pair of confetti bells, story kit and picture folder set.

Around the World Age: 5-7 years

Mon - Fri 12:30 - 2:00 p.m. July 21 - 25

Take an imaginary trip—exploring the exotic cultures of Germany, Japan, Africa, England, and Mexico. Lots of travel fun! Home Materials include: CD, Arts & Craft materials, Picture Folder set, and Travel Bag.

=> New this summer! Check out our Putumayo World Playground for our older Explorers! Tell your friends and bring your neighbors!

Explorers World Playground Ages 7.5 - 11 years

Mon – Fri 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. August 11 – 15

We'll visit many exciting and exotic places all around the world: North and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia! We'll discover great multicultural music from Putumayo, make instruments, dance like the natives, learn songs from around the world, and much more! Materials Kit includes: CD, Instrument Pack, Arts & Craft materials, Passport Journal.

Call now register or register online. Early-bird enrollment through May 15. We also offer bring-a-friend and sibling discounts.

513-232-5713 http://kindermusikbythehalfnotes.kindermusik.net/

Paper bags

2008-04-01T09:44:00.001-04:00

Fun on the Farm!

2008-03-30T13:52:00.001-04:00

Goin' on a Hayride!

2008-03-30T13:44:00.001-04:00

Imagine That! Boats

2008-03-30T07:28:00.001-04:00

Village Babies Play!

2008-03-08T09:29:00.002-05:00

Young Child 4

2008-02-29T16:55:00.005-05:00

Let's go to the Toy Shop!

2008-02-29T15:25:00.002-05:00

Our Time Kids: Away We Go!

2008-02-26T10:42:00.001-05:00

Change in Play, Change in Kids

2008-02-24T14:50:00.003-05:00

Friends,
Here is an article from NPR's Morning Edition which I found fascinating and might encourage us to re-think all the toys, gadgets, and electronic babysitters we have used to medicate our children. It's a tad long, but a very good read.

Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills
by Alix Spiegel
Morning Edition, February 21, 2008
On October 3, 1955, the Mickey Mouse Club debuted on television. As we all now know, the show quickly became a cultural icon, one of those phenomena that helped define an era.
What is less remembered but equally, if not more, important, is that another transformative cultural event happened that day: The Mattel toy company began advertising a gun called the "Thunder Burp."
I know — who's ever heard of the Thunder Burp?
Well, no one.
The reason the advertisement is significant is because it marked the first time that any toy company had attempted to peddle merchandise on television outside of the Christmas season. Until 1955, ad budgets at toy companies were minuscule, so the only time they could afford to hawk their wares on TV was during Christmas. But then came Mattel and the Thunder Burp, which, according to Howard Chudacoff, a cultural historian at Brown University, was a kind of historical watershed. Almost overnight, children's play became focused, as never before, on things — the toys themselves.
"It's interesting to me that when we talk about play today, the first thing that comes to mind are toys," says Chudacoff. "Whereas when I would think of play in the 19th century, I would think of activity rather than an object."
Chudacoff's recently published history of child's play argues that for most of human history what children did when they played was roam in packs large or small, more or less unsupervised, and engage in freewheeling imaginative play. They were pirates and princesses, aristocrats and action heroes. Basically, says Chudacoff, they spent most of their time doing what looked like nothing much at all.
"They improvised play, whether it was in the outdoors… or whether it was on a street corner or somebody's back yard," Chudacoff says. "They improvised their own play; they regulated their play; they made up their own rules."
But during the second half of the 20th century, Chudacoff argues, play changed radically. Instead of spending their time in autonomous shifting make-believe, children were supplied with ever more specific toys for play and predetermined scripts. Essentially, instead of playing pirate with a tree branch they played Star Wars with a toy light saber. Chudacoff calls this the commercialization and co-optation of child's play — a trend which begins to shrink the size of children's imaginative space.
But commercialization isn't the only reason imagination comes under siege. In the second half of the 20th century, Chudacoff says, parents became increasingly concerned about safety, and were driven to create play environments that were secure and could not be penetrated by threats of the outside world. Karate classes, gymnastics, summer camps — these create safe environments for children, Chudacoff says. And they also do something more: for middle-class parents increasingly worried about achievement, they offer to enrich a child's mind.

Change in Play, Change in Kids
Clearly the way that children spend their time has changed. Here's the issue: A growing number of psychologists believe that these changes in what children do has also changed kids' cognitive and emotional development.
It turns out that all that time spent playing make-believe actually helped children develop a critical cognitive skill called executive function. Executive function has a number of different elements, but a central one is the ability to self-regulate. Kids with good self-regulation are able to control their emotions and behavior, resist impulses, and exert self-control and discipline.
We know that children's capacity for self-regulation has diminished. A recent study replicated a study of self-regulation first done in the late 1940s, in which psychological researchers asked kids ages 3, 5 and 7 to do a number of exercises. One of those exercises included standing perfectly still without moving. The 3-year-olds couldn't stand still at all, the 5-year-olds could do it for about three minutes, and the 7-year-olds could stand pretty much as long as the researchers asked. In 2001, researchers repeated this experiment. But, psychologist Elena Bodrova at the National Institute for Early Education Research says, the results were very different.
"Today's 5-year-olds were acting at the level of 3-year-olds 60 years ago, and today's 7-year-olds were barely approaching the level of a 5-year-old 60 years ago," Bodrova explains. "So the results were very sad."
Sad because self-regulation is incredibly important. Poor executive function is associated with high dropout rates, drug use and crime. In fact, good executive function is a better predictor of success in school than a child's IQ. Children who are able to manage their feelings and pay attention are better able to learn. As executive function researcher Laura Berk explains, "Self-regulation predicts effective development in virtually every domain."

The Importance of Self-Regulation
According to Berk, one reason make-believe is such a powerful tool for building self-discipline is because during make-believe, children engage in what's called private speech: They talk to themselves about what they are going to do and how they are going to do it.
"In fact, if we compare preschoolers' activities and the amount of private speech that occurs across them, we find that this self-regulating language is highest during make-believe play," Berk says. "And this type of self-regulating language… has been shown in many studies to be predictive of executive functions."
And it's not just children who use private speech to control themselves. If we look at adult use of private speech, Berk says, "we're often using it to surmount obstacles, to master cognitive and social skills, and to manage our emotions."
Unfortunately, the more structured the play, the more children's private speech declines. Essentially, because children's play is so focused on lessons and leagues, and because kids' toys increasingly inhibit imaginative play, kids aren't getting a chance to practice policing themselves. When they have that opportunity, says Berk, the results are clear: Self-regulation improves.
"One index that researchers, including myself, have used… is the extent to which a child, for example, cleans up independently after a free-choice period in preschool," Berk says. "We find that children who are most effective at complex make-believe play take on that responsibility with… greater willingness, and even will assist others in doing so without teacher prompting."
Despite the evidence of the benefits of imaginative play, however, even in the context of preschool young children's play is in decline. According to Yale psychological researcher Dorothy Singer, teachers and school administrators just don't see the value.
"Because of the testing, and the emphasis now that you have to really pass these tests, teachers are starting earlier and earlier to drill the kids in their basic fundamentals. Play is viewed as unnecessary, a waste of time," Singer says. "I have so many articles that have documented the shortening of free play for children, where the teachers in these schools are using the time for cognitive skills."
It seems that in the rush to give children every advantage — to protect them, to stimulate them, to enrich them — our culture has unwittingly compromised one of the activities that helped children most. All that wasted time was not such a waste after all.

1st birthday party!

2008-02-16T21:41:00.001-05:00

Village Babies - Cock-a-doodle-MOO!

2008-02-15T16:25:00.001-05:00

See What I Saw! preschool class last day celebration at Grasshopper Park

2008-02-15T16:22:00.001-05:00

Is Music Important?

2008-01-25T22:20:00.000-05:00

What Activities Are Best for Parents to Choose for their Children?

2008-01-25T21:48:00.000-05:00

It's always difficult to know what the best and right choices are for your child. With swimming, tumbling, gymnastics, dance, cheerleading, soccer, and a multitude of other activities for parents and children to choose from, what is the single best choice a parent can make? Several experts weigh in:

Music Advocacy’s Top Ten for Everyone *
1. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania School District analyzed its 1997 dropout rate in terms of students’ musical experience. Students with no ensemble performance experience had a dropout rate of 7.4 percent. Students with one to two years of ensemble experience had a dropout rate of 1 percent, and those with three or more years of performance experience had a dropout rate of 0.0 percent.
Eleanor Chute, “Music and Art Lessons Do More Than Complement Three R’s,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,April 13, 1998.

2. Two research projects have found that music training - specifically piano instruction - can dramatically enhance children’s spatial-temporal reasoning skills, the skills crucial for greater success in subjects like math and science.
Shaw, Grazianow, and Peterson, Neurological Research, March 1999.

3. School leaders affirm that the single most critical factor in sustaining arts education in their schools is the active involvement of influential segments of the community. These community members help shape and implement the policies and programs of the district.
- Gaining the Arts Advantage, The President’s Council on the Arts and Humanities, 1999.

4. Students with band and orchestra experience attend college at a rate twice the national average.
- Bands Across the USA.

5. Music students out-perform non-music on achievement tests in reading and math. Skills such as reading, anticipating, memory, listening, forecasting, recall, and concentration are developed in musical performance, and these skills are valuable to students in math, reading, and science.
- B. Friedman, “An Evaluation of the Achievement in Reading and Arithmetic of Pupils in ElementarySchool Instrumental Music Classes,” Dissertation Abstracts International.

6. One in three of today’s school-aged children will hold an arts-related job at some time in his or her career.
- Education Commission on the States.

7. The College Board, in a publication about college admissions, states, “preparation in the arts will be valuable to college entrants whatever their intended field of study.”
- Academic Preparation for College: What Students Need To Know and Be Able To Do, The CollegeBoard.

8. Music therapists working with Alzheimer’s patients have found that rhythmic interaction or listening to music resulted in decreased agitation, increased focus and concentration, enhanced ability to respond verbally and behaviorally, elimination of demented speech, improved ability to respond to questions, and better social interaction.
- Carol Prickett and Randall Moore, “The Use of Music to Aid Memory of Alzheimer’s Patients,” Journalof Music Therapy, 1991.

9. Medical researchers have reported that subjects lowered both their systolic and diastolic blood pressure as much as five points (mm/Hg) and reduced heart rates by four to five beats per minute following music listening sessions. People with high blood pressure can help keep their blood pressure down by listening to tapes of relaxing low frequency music in the morning and evening.
- Tony Wigram, “The Psychological and Physiological Effects of Low Frequency Sound and Music,” MusicTherapy Perspectives, 1995.

10. A 1997 Gallup Survey on Americans’ attitudes toward music revealed that 89% of respondents believe music helps a child’s overall development, and 93% believe that music is part of a well-rounded education.
- Americans’ Attitudes Toward Music, The Gallup Organization, 1997.

So choose Kindermusik! It's the single best choice a parent can make!

*Children's Music Workshop http://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/advocacy/index.html

Get Ready for Our Time!

2008-01-10T09:57:00.000-05:00

This semester, our toddlers will receive a couple of fun harmonicas with their at-home materials. If you want a little inspiration for your little one, or just some good 'ole fun, check out this guy on the harmonica!

Ya just have to know he was a Kindermusik kid, don't ya think?

Sign & Sing Children PLAY!

2008-01-01T09:57:00.001-05:00

Photobucket Album

Thanks for a fun five weeks, everybody!

Thanks to All Our KM Students and Families!

2007-12-28T21:23:00.000-05:00

We are grateful for all our students and families, and had a wonderful time with you all this year! We're looking forward to seeing you again in January. Thanks for a fun and musical 2007!

12 Days of Christmas

2007-12-25T16:40:00.000-05:00

Straight No Chaser
The original members of Straight No Chaser perform their comedic version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" at the Musical Arts Center, Bloomington, Indiana. December 7th, 1998.

Young Child 3 highlights

2007-12-19T22:18:00.000-05:00

Intermission at a DCI-Blast! concert

2007-12-19T19:35:00.000-05:00

If you enjoyed that, check out Gee, Officer Krupke below.

Blast! Gettin' silly with Officer Krupke

2007-12-19T19:33:00.000-05:00

What a hoot!

Gee Officer Krupke

You just have to know these folks started out in Kindermusik!

What a Blast!

2007-12-19T07:28:00.000-05:00

This is pretty incredible! Try the Drumline Battery Battle if you have several minutes to enjoy. It builds from 2 lone dummers at the beginning to some very incredible stuff! Relax for a few minutes and enjoy some WILD music and movement!

Drumline Battery Battle

Sign Up Now for Spring Classes!

2007-12-15T13:40:00.000-05:00

Early-Bird Discount? $10 free?

Find out how...

Take advantage of our early-bird registration now. Class information and registration fees can be found by clicking on the link below. There are also course descriptions in the November blog archive. Surf on over and sign up now! Enroll a friend with you and receive $10 off your registration!

http://kindermusikbythehalfnotes.kindermusik.net/Classes.html

A Silly Little Holiday Greeting!

2007-12-14T13:24:00.000-05:00

from the Half Notes...

Click on this link and get ready!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1397774645

5 Ways to Fill Your Home with Music

2007-12-13T20:31:00.000-05:00

1. Cut Loose. Ditch your inhibitions by starting music play with a wild kitchen dance or some loosey-goosey movement.

2. Sing Out. Anywhere, anyhow, anytime. Kids learn by repetition, so incorporate songs into your daily routine.

3. Feel the Rhythm. To help prewalkers (and even older kids) catch the beat, gently bounce or tap your child's body while you sing or listen to music.

4. Shake, Rattle, and Roll. Keep a basket of shakers, whistles, bells, tambourines, drums, harmonicas, and xylophones on hand. And take them out of the basket — often.

5. Give Them an Earful. Expose kids to the sounds you love — not just children's music.

Written by Rani Arbo in Wondertime Magazine (April/May, 2007)

Sign & Sing

2007-12-06T21:34:00.001-05:00

Updated 12-11-07

Give the Gift of Music

2007-11-30T17:40:00.000-05:00

Don't forget to give the Gift of Music this holiday season! If you were thinking about giving someone on your list a rum-ti-tum-tum, a root-ti-toot-toot, or a jingle-lingle-ling; even if this was the first time you thought about the possibility, now's the time to act!

Kindermusik by The Half Notes has put together a flyer of popular instruments, shakers, and scarves for all KM age groups (0-7) so your family can enjoy them at home.

Flyers and order forms went home last week, and were sent to you by email as well. If you did not receive one, please let us know and we can get one to you right away. Deadline to order is this Friday, December 7 to allow enough time to get your instruments to you before we break for the holiday.

Don't forget to include the Gift of Music this year, and watch those little faces light up! It's a gift you can enjoy all year long.

Imagine That!

2007-11-29T22:05:00.001-05:00

Village Fun!

2007-11-27T23:05:00.001-05:00

Wiggles & Giggles - Our Time

2007-11-23T11:52:00.001-05:00

New pix have been added 12-11-07.
Thanks for all the fun, everyone! We'll see you in January.
Happy holidays!

Dance of the Reed Flutes

2007-11-22T10:58:00.000-05:00

St. Luke's Bottle Band

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

2007-11-22T08:15:00.000-05:00

from The Half Notes

Count your blessings,

give thanks, and enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving

with family, friends, and loved ones

Michelle James & Sara Potts

REGISTER NOW for Spring 2008!

2007-11-21T07:39:00.000-05:00

Newborns to 18 months
Hop on the hayride—it’s time to head for the farm! In the first unit of Kindermusik Village, will will sing songs about the farm, engage in rituals and playful activities for baby and caregiver, including infant massage, lap bounces, exercise, and quiet time. During our second unit, we will stop and smell the roses—and lily of the valley, and tulips, and pansies as we play and move together to songs about spring.
At Home Materials include 2 CDs of beautifully arranged songs from class, 2 fun and beautifully illustrated board books, and 2 age-appropriate instruments for music-making at home, and more.
18 months - 3 years

Hop on the train, get in the car, board the plane, and Away We Go! This delightful unit focuses on transportation, a favorite topic for toddlers who are on the go, go, go! Explore fast and slow, smooth and bumpy, and high and low. Read stories about ways to get around. Move, play, and sing together in developmentally appropriate activities created just for 1 1/2 to 3-year-olds.

At home materials include 2 CDs, a Home Activity Book, 2 storybooks (Shiny Dinah and Giddy-Up!), 2 harmonicas, and a train carrying box.
3 - 5 years

What’s more exciting to a preschooler than a new toy? How about an entire Toy Shop full of toys! This unit is focused on creating a stimulating musical environment that integrates music, pretend play, story telling movement, and more. Toys I Make, Trips I Take introduces the musical environment of a remarkable toy shop, filled with boats, trains, balls, jack-in-the-box and many other toys that bring a glimmer into a child’s eyes. Each week provides your preschooler an uninterrupted session of imaginative play that's guided in a very specific, sequential way—with a special Family Sharing Time with you in the last 15 minutes of class.

At Home Materials include two CDs, Family Activity Book, Toy Shop play set, a drum, two beautifully-illustrated storybooks and a backpack.

5 - 7 years

A pressure-free approach to learning, but concrete enough because his mind is ready for the more abstract thinking processes that music requires. Play remains the primary way a young child learns, so throughout the curriculum there is a consistent effort to balance active learning with the emotional reasoning aspects of a young child’s development in mind. At Home Materials include Children's Folder, Music At Home cards & stickers, Games Bag, Family Songbook, Home CD, recorder, and purple canvas Carry Bag.

New this spring!

newborn - 7 years

Our Kind of Day features music and activities which involve the five things that happen around your house: playtime, mealtime, clean-up time, bath time, and nighttime.
The Home Materials include 2 CDs with music from class; a family guide with fun, musical activities, information and facts; Jellybean Band puppets - a Kangaroo and a Joey (hand puppet and finger puppet); 2 double egg shaker instruments; 2 Jellybean Band books with activity pages, comic strips about the band and stories - Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes and Bouncing On the Bed, all in a clear vinyl bag.

Enroll online at http://kindermusikbythehalfnotes.kindermusik.net/ or call 513-232-5713.

WHY MUSIC?

2007-11-20T18:02:00.000-05:00

Music is a Science.

It is exact, it is specific and it demands exact acoustics. A conductor's score is a chart, a graph which indicates frequencies, intensities, volume changes, melody and harmony all at once and with the most exact control of time.

Music is mathematical.

It is rhythmically based on the subdivisions of time into fractions which must be done instantaneously, not worked out on paper.

Music is a Foreign Language.

Most of the terms are in Italian, German or French; and the notation is certainly not English - but a highly-developed kind of shorthand that uses symbols to represent ideas. The semantics of music is the most complete and universal language.

Music is Physical Education.

It requires fantastic coordination of fingers, hands, arms, lip, cheeks and facial muscles in addition to extraordinary control of the diaphragmatic, back and stomach muscles, which respond instantly to the sound the ear hears and the mind interprets.

Music is all these things, but most of all, MUSIC IS ART.

It allows the human being to take all these dry, technically boring (but difficult) techniques and use them to create emotion. This one thing science cannot duplicate: humanism, feeling emotion, call it what you will.

That is why we teach music!

Not because we expect you to major in music.

Not because we expect you to play or sing all your life.

But, so you will be human, so you will recognize beauty, so you will be closer to God beyond this world, so you will have something to cling to, so you will have more love, more compassion, more gentleness, more good - in short - more life."

The Clarence (NY) School District's Position Statement on Music
(Text quoted from the district web page)

Did you know...

2007-11-19T19:52:00.000-05:00

MUSIC CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

Music plays an important part in the lives of people. Everyone can learn and benefit from the study of music. There is musical potential in every individual and like all potential, it should be developed to its fullest. Music can connect us to our history, tradition and heritage while providing a constructive use for leisure time.

The study of music aids in mental, physical and personal needs.

Music is a uniquely powerful means of involving and integrating the activities of both the right and left halves of the brain, combining the rational and the aesthetic. There is a proven correlation between musical study and the following:

• Muscular Development: It improves a child’s small motor skills, hand-eye coordination and over-all physical coordination.

• Increased Listening Ability: This helps to increase the attention span, concentration, and long and short term memory.

• Increased Primary Mental Abilities: (verbal, perceptual, number, and spatial) This sharpens a child’s communication, critical thinking and problem solving skills. He or she learns to understand, interpret and use symbols in new contexts.

• Creative Potential: This promotes awareness of student’s capabilities using imagination and self expression.

• Development of Personal and Social Skills: It can help to build confidence, self-discipline and responsibility. They learn to work for and cooperate with others.

Through participation in music, children learn the gratification of work shared
and challenges met. It helps your child learn how to learn.

Mom Song

2007-11-16T15:51:00.000-05:00

Music lessons pay off in higher earnings: poll

2007-11-16T14:38:00.000-05:00

TORONTO (Reuters Life!) - Those hours practicing piano scales or singing with a choral group weren't for nothing because people with a background in music tend to have a higher education and earn more, according to a new survey.
The poll by Harris Interactive, an independent research company, showed that 88 percent of people with a post-graduate education were involved in music while in school, and 83 percent of people earning $150,000 or more had a music education.
"Part of it is the discipline itself in learning music, it's a rigorous discipline, and in an ensemble situation, there's a great deal of working with others. Those types of skills stand you well in careers later in life," said John Mahlmann, of the National Association for Music Education in Reston, Virginia, which assisted in the survey.
In addition to the practical skills gained from studying music, people questioned in the online poll said it also gave them a sense of personal fulfillment.
Students who found music to be extremely or very influential to their fulfillment were those who had vocal lessons and who played in a garage band. Nearly 80 percent of the 2,565 people who took part in the survey last month who were still involved in music felt the same way.
"That's the beauty of music, that they can bring both hard work and enjoyment together, which doesn't always happen elsewhere," Mahlmann added in and interview.

Meet Molly!

2007-11-16T13:53:00.000-05:00

We are pleased and excited to welcome our newest Kindermusik educator, Molly Blaker, to our teaching staff! Molly grew up in the home of a professional musician, and enjoyed her experiences with music and dance as a child and young adult. She also brings to the Kindermusik classroom a background in education, her degree in Special Education. Molly is mom to two active young boys and is excited to join the Half Notes this spring. With the addition of Molly to our teaching staff, we will be able to offer additional classes during the week and increase our class options, so we are very pleased to be able to build and expand on a great program! Please join us in welcoming Molly!

Fall 2007 Class Offerings

2007-11-16T10:41:00.000-05:00

Newborns to 18 months

Welcome to a world of feathers! Experience a wide range of songs, movement activities, object play, and vocal play relating to our feathered friends. The Austrialian Kookaburra, the African Ostrich, and many more birds from across the world are featured in songs, dances, and poems. Both Jazz and Classical selections, a Yiddish Folk Song, a Muskogean melody, and Mother Goose rhymes set to music are just a few of the colorfuland exciting pieces introduced in this curriculum. At home materials include CD, a bird shaker/bell, richly colored posters, and a board book full of birds.

6 months - 3 years

Sign language curriculum for parents with hearing children -
A different approach from other sign language programs. Through songs, toys, and loving playtime between you and your child, Kindermusik Sign & Sing shows you more than 50 signs your child can use to communicate with you. Using research-proven methods shown to speed language development in hearing children, you'll see how sign language can ease frustration and enhance long-term learning abilities for your child.
Already accustomed to fingerplays and rhyme-songs—such as "This Little Piggy"—you'll easily substitute American Sign Language (ASL) signs in familiar songs, improving your child's language skills, fine motor skills, and strengthen fingers for zipping zippers and using scissors.

18 months - 3 years

Wiggle and giggle, and wiggle and giggle some more! There are a hundred ways (and more!) to wiggle and giggle! We'll stomp like an elephant, jump like a kangaroo, and hop-a-doodle our way through an engaging musical world of wiggles and giggles while building confidence, self-control, and communication skills. Singing, imitating sounds, rhyming, and object identification foster language skills. Creative movement and dance develop a sense of balance, timing, and spatial awareness. Listening and turn-taking encourage blossoming social skills. At home materials include two CDs of class songs, a Family Activity Book filled with ideas and activities to do together, a pair of zig-zag blocks, and two brightly illustrated story books.

3 - 5 years

In this 15-week semester, your preschooler uses his real experience playing in the park to create imaginative, story-telling scenarios with music. Each week provides your preschooler an uninterrupted session of imaginative play that's guided in a very specific, sequential way—with a special Family Sharing Time with you in the last 15 minutes of class. At Home Materials include two CDs, Family Activity Book, "Grasshopper Park" play set, a slide whistle instrument, two beautifully-illustrated storybooks and a backpack.

5 - 7 years

A pressure-free approach to learning, but concrete enough because his mind is ready for the more abstract thinking processes that music requires. Play remains the primary way a young child learns, so throughout the curriculum there is a consistent effort to balance active learning with the emotional reasoning aspects of a young child’s development in mind. At Home Materials include Children's Folder, Music At Home cards & stickers, Games Bag, Family Songbook, Home CD, dulcimer, and purple canvas Carry Bag.

New! November 2007 - Kindermusik Sign & Sing

2007-11-16T10:35:00.001-05:00

The Half Notes are excited to bring you a new class option, Kindermusik Sign & Sing, a sign language class for hearing children ages 6 months to 3 years of age.

Through songs, toys, and loving playtime between you and your child, Kindermusik Sign & Sing shows you more than 50 signs your child can use to communicate with you. Using research-proven methods shown to speed language development in hearing children, you'll see how sign language can ease frustration and enhance long-term learning abilities for your child.

Learn when you play. You'll never have to memorize a list of signs. This curriculum gives you the ASL signs that are most useful to you, and most interesting to your child. So playtime and everyday items around the house—ball, bubbles, mom and dad—become the objects of learning in the classroom, and sign language becomes a natural, happy part of your child's day.

We'll use American Sign Language (ASL) signs in familiar songs and finger plays and play time, improving your child's language skills, fine motor skills, and strengthen fingers for zipping zippers and using scissors.

Patrick Henry Hughes - Inspirational Story

2007-11-16T09:56:00.000-05:00