educator Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Minds On Music

Growing up Kindermusik

Recently, we refreshed our kindermusik.com homepage (have you seen it?) with some new colors and photos. Those who visit the site often immediately started asking about the cute new homepage photo.

The photo is of Kindermusik educator Kathy Morrison and several of the kids in her class. Kathy’s program, Kathy’s Music, has been in the top 1% of Kindermusik programs for five years running.

The photo is about two years old, and in a recent email exchange with Kathy, she commented about the children pictured. She writes:

This was a Kindermusik Village class that I taught about two and a half years ago. Each time I see this on Kindermusik.com, it gives me a little jolt because that’s me and those are my students. How cool is that, and how sweet are those children?!

Now these children are 3 years old and have moved up through our Kindermusik program as the years have gone by. Teaching children as babies and having the opportunity to watch them grow and learn along the way – that’s why I teach Kindermusik. It’s why I work hard every day to provide an excellent classroom experience that is fun for the families, educational for the children, and helps make great parenting easier.

Once upon a time, it was one of my own children, as a baby, on the floor in a Kindermusik class. My children’s lives were so enriched by Kindermusik over the years and I want to pass that along to other children and families in our community.

We thank Kathy for sharing her passion, both in words and picture. It’s such a nice little snapshot of Kindermusik in action. Kathy’s Music has four locations in and around Pittsburgh. You can visit her studio’s website or blog.

Extravagant fondness and passion

I was awestruck by Luis Soriano, of Magdalena, Columbia (click here to see Luis’s story on CNN.com) whose passion for early childhood literacy takes him, astride his “biblioburro” for five hours at a time, to share books with children in rural villages. Self funded, using his weekends, his 4,200 books are now the largest library in his community.

I think of his passion as an extravagant fondness for education. Why extravagant? Because it extends beyond reason, beyond what is convenient and easy.

Kindermusik is a community of passionate educators. I received an update from an educator in the Chicago area today who has maintained her Kindermusik teaching schedule despite months of chemotherapy and radiation – all so the children can learn from her strength. In turn, she is buoyed by the children and the music.

May we all sing through our challenges, ride burros for literacy and generally act with extravagant fondness for what we know makes a difference in our world.
-Michael Dougherty, CEO of Kindermusik International

Why Kindermusik educators do what they do

There are lots of reasons why Kindermusik educators do what they do. But the story below illustrates a thread common to every Kindermusik educator in the world – to help children learn and grow into amazing adults.

This story was shared with us by Kindermusik educator, Uta Weiland in Greensburg, PA.

In early April, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette published an article about one of Uta’s former Kindermusik students. The student, Kaitlin Price, is now 16 years old and clearly way ahead of the curve, as the article’s title suggests. Kaitlin’s mom attributes lots of her daughter’s success to attending Kindermusik classes as a child. In the article, Kaitlin had this to say about her early educational experiences:

“I could already read in kindergarten,” said Kaitlyn, a senior at Shaler Area High School. “So when other kids were learning their ABCs, I went down to the principal’s office and read to him because I had nothing better to do. And he listened to me read the Harry Potter books, if I recall correctly.”

When Uta asked Kaitlin’s mom if she could share the article with others involved in Kindermusik, Kaitlin’s mom said:

“I would be honored to have you use it for the good of Kindermusik. I do often try to recruit for you guys. I KNOW Kindermusik was a large part of why my kids are as successful as they are. Sometimes I’m so jealous of them because they have that music knowledge. Being comfortable with reading music has such an impact on all aspects of learning. Hope her story can gather more to the fold.”

We know Uta deeply appreciated that, and the rest of us at Kindermusik do too. Good luck to Kaitlin on all her future endeavors. There is no doubt big things lie ahead!

Want to read the full article that was published about Kaitlin? Click here.

Mommy (or Daddy!) and Me

Have you ever been to a Kindermusik class? If the answer is “yes”, you know the music is great. You know the classes are more fun than you can imagine. Your child probably loves it! And the Home Materials help you enjoy Kindermusik even when you’re not in class, making your daily routines just a little bit easier.

But as Kindermusik teachers, one of the things we hear over and over from our parents is that the they love the way Kindermusik inspires those magical moments of bonding and together-time. These are the moments that we as parents treasure and remember forever.

Here’s one mom’s story about a simple, but special, Kindermusik day: http://www.themitschkes.com/2010/05/kindermusik-in-park.html

Music. Smiles. Dancing. Hugs. Happiness. And parents enjoying their children. . . . I think I must have the best job in the whole wide world.
-educator Theresa Case

Theresa’s Kindermusik program, Kindermusik at Piano Central Studios, is in the top 1% of all programs in the world.