Author: Kindermusik

We have learned the hard way in this recession that things are not always as they seem. Banks are not as solvent, General Motors is not as mighty, real estate is not as valuable.  In fact, it seems as though we are in an epidemic of inauthenticity: character, genuineness, good faith, and sincerity are under siege. It’s no fun to read the paper anymore.

But from within the Kindermusik bubble, the world looks like it always has. The Kindermusik classroom bursts with authenticity: tender teachers, proven curricula, friendship, music, smiles. Perhaps what Kindermusik can teach all of us at times like these is that some things are truly timeless.  Just as a playground swing still brings delight to a child as it did before iPhones, Twitter, and debit cards, Kindermusik wraps parent and child in bona fide warmth. Provides a true, joyful, and nurturing place where we can come together, share our children, and sing.   

Nothing fancy, mighty, solvent, or newfangled.  

But valuable? Authentic? Genuine? Sincere?  

In a room full of children? Always.

contributed by Michael G. Dougherty (CEO, Kindermusik International)

I've run into this great, simple piece a zillion times (including on Kindermusik studio sites, of course), but still can't find its source. Is it possible it's from here? (http://www.pmea.net/whyteach.pdf) Anyone know more?

Why Do We Teach Music?

Not because we expect you to major in music.
Not only because we expect you to play or sing all your life.
Not only so you can relax.
Not just so you can have fun.

But…
so you will be more human.
so you will recognize beauty.
so you will be sensitive.
so you will be closer to an infinite beyond this world.
so you will have something to cling to.
so you will have more compassion,
more gentleness, more good–in short, more life.

Of what value will it be to make a prosperous living unless you know how to live? 

From Twitter, July 5-6, 2009.

• chloe_louise13: Is running the kinder room by myself today. My god is it hard work!
• reportbusiness: The kinder and more thoughtful a person is, the more kindness they can find in other people. (Leo Tolstoy)
• esachsenmaier: spent a lazy july afternoon wandering the new kinder gentler manhattan – bike lanes, high line, and lawn chairs in times square
• apmom: Is it bad that I am having panic attacks when I think about sending Alex to kinder? It's over a month away and he's my 3rd kid.
• HeidiNoelle: Finding out that traveling the kinder road is the sweeter road.
• melomargarita: Off to Kinder Camp!
• lisarosepickard: Dear Monday, I really wish we got along better. I wish you were kinder to me. Maybe one day I won't dread spending time with you.
• jennjenn323: My son's first day of Kinder. So amazing.
• tjandthesound: New backpack, clean shirt and breakfast. Kinder will never be the same. God save the teachers!
• wisebody: Good morning everyone! “Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.” Smile and make someone’s day!
• libertylights: I'm working with a friend on a project that seeks a kinder, more thoughtful conversation on today's sticky issues!
• MakikiGirl: @eggiepuff Thank YOU! I'm so happy I comforted you. I don't always succeed when I try. I'm working on being kinder in general. I care. :c)
• Guayakizy: After a three day weekend, going back to work feels like your first day in kinder garden XD

Check out Music Is Math video.

This is incredible. An Irish musician/video artist named Glenn Marshall created a program that "listens" to music and generates visuals based on what it hears. He describes the process on his blog, http://glennmarshall.wordpress.com/.

From Twitter, June 19-26, 2009

• peerybingle: Beautiful breezes through open windows, kiddie swimming pools with giggling children, and laundry on the line: does it get better than this?
• wendybear1: Silly children! Boys are running amok giggling in my house. It's all good. I need this more often.
• BlauBlau66: Hilarious evening with children giggling non-stop throughout the entire meal – complete and utter lunatics!
• celestialqueen: Auggghhhh! Children are frustrating but its so hard 2 discipline them when ur giggling
• tifmar: is listening to her children giggle and play… they're supposed to be asleep
• WFMommy: I just had fun talking to my children (through their stuffed animals). I love how they talk so openly to "toys" and how much they giggle.
• Nicole_Cam: Spending the day with my nieces! Oh the JOY of 8 giggling children!
• natpizzle: was awoken by three screaming and giggling children running in my house today :o) and im not even mad…ive missed them.
• jameelee: Little giggling children running around our office…
• poisoned_grace: Sitting in my house listening to my children giggle and laugh outside….ah summer
• LakeviewMom: absolutely love listening to the laughter and giggles of children running through the house playing hide and go seek!
• windcu: Now I get why children are called bundle of joy. Am in bootcamp of happiness and giggles y'all.
• hmcsmama: I'm in my sisters backyard eating pizza and drinking apple juice with two of the silliest children EVER! Giggle boxes they are!!!
• carole_hicks: Accomplishment du jour. I floated on an inner tube and looked up at a blue sky listening to children giggle. Perfect.

This blog post (http://yu-fei.blogspot.com/2009/06/kindermusik-trial-class.html) got me thinking about that FIRST CLASS EXPERIENCE.

Sometimes I think, as parents, we won't be happy with a new experience unless our children are squealing in delight, impressing everyone with how (brilliant/advanced/coordinated/social/musical) they are, sitting attentively, singing loud and clear, clapping, holding hands with other kids…

Me? I have a clinger. First Kindermusik class, first gymnastics class, first storytime at the library – she does what a friend of mine calls 'the starfish', wrapping all of her limbs around me so tightly that I can walk around with her 'stuck' like that, without even using my arms to hold her on. Singing? Not a chance. Pretending to be a train? You've got to be kidding me.

My friend? She has a runner. When her child transitions to something new, he just starts running and I'm not kidding you – he doesn't stop until you strap him back into the carseat. Then he's asleep before you pull out of the driveway.

What's funny – BOTH of these kids – later in the day – if you ask them, "Did you have a good time?" – will say yes. (???)

Every Kindermusik educator knows that every child is unique, and understands that everyone (grown-ups, too!) deals with transitions and new situations differently. Often, it takes a few weeks for children to settle into the routine, become comfortable with a teacher, the other children, and their parents.

And THAT'S when the magic happens. The first time he claps along, the first time she holds hands with a partner, the first time she contributes an animal idea to "Old MacDonald", the first time she sits on the floor instead of on your lap (this one's mine), or the first time she stops running and actually pretends to be a train instead.

What fun would it be if they did all these things the very first day??

1. Happy grown-ups!

Parents and teachers check their egos at the door. Grown-ups are clapping, wiggling, and bouncing just as much as the children. 

2. No one talks about the children as “musicians” and “non-musicians”:

The best early music programs for kids aren’t in the business of creating little virtuosos. They use music to grow great children instead of using children to make great music. Children who learn to love music are the ones who will end up doing it best, anyway.

3. A wonderful teacher.

Have you noticed that the most popular music programs are almost like fan clubs? When there’s a good teacher in town, you’ll hear about it! Definitions will vary, but fans seem to gather around teachers who are described not only as knowledgeable, but also genuine, and as easily able to relate (authentically) to adults as to children.

Infant brain responds with error signal when beat is disturbed, study finds

by Robin Nixon Jan 26 09

The finding, published in the Jan. 26 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, adds to growing evidence that the newborn brain is not the blank slate it was once thought to be.

Rather, scientists have shown, at birth we already have sophisticated methods for interpreting the world. Discrimination may be crude, explained lead researcher István Winkler of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest, but "the basic algorithms are in place already."

This may be particularly true when it comes to sound. Infants as young as 2 days old can process pitch and tell if a series of notes are rising or falling in scale. And it is now known they have rhythm, too. Newborns can't exactly swing their hips to prove they can jive, so Winkler and his colleague Henkjan Honing of the University of Amsterdam monitored the brains of 14 infants listening to variations of a rock rhythm — complete with drum, snare and high hat cymbal.

When "metrically-unimportant portions" of the beat were silenced, nothing much changed among the auditory-related activity in the brain, Honing said. But when the rhythm was disturbed, particularly by omitting the downbeat, the infant brain responded with an error signal: An expectation for a rhythmic pattern was not met.

"A baby's auditory system is working the same way as an adult's, in that it is always making predictions," Winkler said. If the prediction is incorrect, an error signal helps gauge "how much you are off the actual target," he said.

Perceiving emotion While spoken language can take more than a year to develop, "music is one of the earliest things parents have with their children," Honing said.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

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