A Musical Week!

Hello everyone!

I wonder if you could think for a moment about what you did yesterday...and where music featured in it! Maybe you were listening to the radio in the car, maybe you sang to your baby as you put him or her to bed. Maybe you tested out one of our new songs from Tuesday's class & sang whilst chasing a ball around the lounge :)

A major philosophy behind Kindermusik is that you, the parent, is the child's first and most important teacher, and the home, not the classroom, is the best place for the child to learn! Our class only takes up 45 minutes of your week, but by using your home materials & finding the music in your home environment, the Kindermusik experience can be a part of every day :)

A favourite activity around our house this week has been 'I roll the ball to you' - after having so much fun using the big exercise ball on Tuesday, we've been chasing it around the house with great enthusiasm! Jarvis is still crazy about the Cock-a-doodle-Moo! book, which we read often. It has so many opportunities for vocal play - and he has started making 'brrrrrrrm' noises when he plays with his toy tractor which is a new development!

I really hope you're enjoying the special time you have with your child in class, life is so busy that it's nice to have 45 minutes when you don't have anything else you need to be doing except for enjoying music with your beautiful baby!

How have you been using your At Home Materials this week? Where have you found music in your day? We'd love to hear all about it!

Have a wonderful day :)

Kath & Jarvis

Ready for Reading!

A very belated post this week - who knew life would be so busy with a gorgeously curious little boy to play with!

Jarvis & I really really loved our first Kindermusik session for the term - welcome back to our friends from 2009, and a big welcome to our newest friends; Fiona & Taikorekore, and Jacquie, Jake & Bonnie. It's lovely having you as a part of our Kindermusik family in Gisborne!

A highlight of lesson one for us was sharing our new Kindermusik book with the class. Cock-a-doodle-Moo! is one of Jarvis's favourite things - not only favourite books, but favourite things overall! The bright colours, the cheery animals, and the endless potential for making ridiculously cool noises, make it number one around here.

Reading with your baby is such a wonderful thing to do, for so many reasons. Storytime is a perfect time for a cuddle, and reading in a cozy & happy environment will help baby associate reading with pleasure & fun. Another positive is that by exposing babies to a variety of vocal sounds, we're helping them learn about language! Every sound which you & your baby make is a learning experience :)

We're also sharing other useful tips when reading with our children, without even realising it - things like which way up to hold a book, which way we turn the pages when reading a story (in English anyhow!), and that what's written on the page is the same as what we're saying out loud. Obviously our babies using these examples is a fair way down the track, but all of these clues about literacy will build up over the years!

What's your favourite book to read with your baby? How does your baby respond to a favourite book? We'd love to hear about your experiences here :)

Have a musical Monday - and see you tomorrow to our Kindermusik friends!

New Website!

The website has been suffering from a bit of an illness lately, and after trying very hard to fix it, I've given up and created a new one instead!

Come & visit us at http://serendipitystudio.webs.com and tell me what you think! It should be all go - registration forms ready to download, paypal working perfectly. Once I'm sure it's working well & coming through search engines, I'll wind the old one down.

I also wanted to welcome the new members of our Kindermusik family - it's going to be a wonderful group this term!

Have a musical day :)

Kath & Jarvis

Cock a Doodle Moo!

How many ways can you sing hello? Animals come to life in this exciting unit Cock-a-Doodle Moo when singing a “Morning Song” like a pig, horse, snake or cow…….

How many noises does a cow make? Find out how to smack, munch and snore like a cow in a fun chant “This Little Cow Eats Grass”.

In Cock-a-Doodle Moo, enjoy walking down memory lane when you share some other old favourite chants and songs, such as: “Skip to my Lou”, “Old MacDonald”, “The Farmer in the Dell” “Hey Diddle Diddle”, and “Yankee Doodle”.

Lie down and enjoy listening to a beautiful “Cantonese Lullaby” or “You are My Sunshine”, with your little one or read quietly in a corner.

This unit’s literature component “Cock-a-Doodle Moo” has beautifully presented pictures, which follows along with a chant, describing each animal by using an expressive voice – Moooo, Peep, Baaaa, Nei-eigh-eigh! Jarvis is totally crazy about this book - as you'll see when you come to class in a couple of weeks, it's been well used!

Bounce, sway, hop, dance, zoom and groove

in our next village unit, “Cock-a-Doodle Moo”

See you soon!

Happy New Year!

Hello! A quick message to start the year - don't forget to enroll now :)

Our Village class for term one is almost full already - the class will be a little smaller than last term as the babies are getting more mobile & my lounge is only so big...be sure to get in touch & get your deposits in soon!!

If you've already handed in your enrollment form or expressed interest in the class I'll be in touch soon, if you're interested but we haven't talked yet I'd love you to give me a call on 8686146.

I hope everyone's enjoying their summer holidays - see you soon!

Keep on Jingling!

I had a lovely email from Sally & Shawn this week! They were listening to their Dewdrops cd, and it had Shawn giggling like mad every time 'Come Follow' played :) Awesome!

Remember to add a little music to every day, even though we're between terms :) Christmas offers many wonderful opportunities for music making - Jarvis is demonstrating how much fun singing Jingle Bells can be when you have a cage bell on hand. (And a duck. Maybe the duck isn't so much a part of the song, but he's included nonetheless).

Think about the sounds you hear when you go outside at this time of year - sit quietly under a tree with your little person & listen to the birds singing, the cicadas chirping, the wind rustling through the leaves. Find a crunchy leaf & squash it, bang on the grass with your hands. All of these things make wonderful sounds! Music isn't confined to a classroom, or made solely by instruments :)

A Christmas cd I wouldn't mind getting hold of this year is Frank Sinatra's Christmas Collection - I can imagine having a wonderful time dancing around the lounge with Jarvis to a bit of Frank. For something a bit more up-beat, there's a very cool sounding album calls In the Christmas Groove, a collection of funk/soul tunes! Sounds like a bit of a laugh & good for a boogie :) I might just have to investigate! Dancing with your baby is one of the most wonderful things you can do - read this great article from Kindermusik International I posted back in October if you want to learn a little more about why!

I would really love to hear any of your Christmassy musical ideas! Post yours as a comment - if you have any trouble please email it to me using the link on the top right & I'll post it for you :)

Have a musical day!

Kath

Give the Gift of Kindermusik!

Looking for the perfect present this holiday season? Know someone who would be interested in giving a gift that truly “keeps on giving”? As you know, the benefits of Kindermusik not only last a few months or a few years—they last a lifetime.

This year, Grandma, Grandpa, aunts, uncles, friends, or anyone, can give your little ones the gift of Kindermusik. I have Kindermusik gift certificates available in any denomination. Gift givers can get in touch with me by email (there's a link on the top right hand side!) or phone 06 8686146, and I will provide simple instructions for purchasing a gift certificate to be applied toward Kindermusik tuition and/or home materials! Gift certificates purchased before December 18th are sure to arrive in the mail in plenty of time to find their way under the Christmas tree, into stockings, or get hand delivered with a hug.

(And don’t worry, we won’t tell your gift givers that this isn’t just a gift for the little ones—it’s also a gift for you! After all, you’re the one who gets to sit crossed-legged on the floor each week, enjoying that special time to bond with your child.)

Are you wondering if grandparents love giving Kindermusik as a gift? Just check out this video of a Kindermusik grandma who has pledged to sponsor Kindermusik for any of her 17 grandchildren who want it!

If you have any questions about purchasing gift certificates, I’ll be happy to answer them for you.

Wishing you the happiest of holiday seasons!