Kindermusik International Archives - Minds On Music

Professional Development for all "Seasons" of Your Music Teaching Career

One of the things that sets Kindermusik educators apart is the requirement to not only be trained to teach our world-class curricula, but also the requirement to maintain and improve through professional development. No matter what “season” you are in with your current or potential Kindermusik career, Kindermusik International offers professional development that’s just what you need when you need it.

When you’re just starting out as a new Kindermusik educator

After a vocal review, the professional development for new Kindermusik educators begins with a rich, in-depth online training course that helps prepare the new educator for everything from learning about each Kindermusik curriculum level to positive classroom management techniques to successful business processes. Under the care and guidance of an experienced Kindermusik mentor, new educators are rewarded with their official Kindermusik license upon completing all of the training requirements.

Once you’ve been teaching Kindermusik for awhile

Just like the good beginning that Kindermusik gives to young children never ends, Kindermusik educators recognize that the journey towards masterful teaching never really ends. Kindermusik International works to provide that additional professional development through Virtual Conferences, recorded webinars, and suggestions for other related training opportunities outside of the Kindermusik community.

When you need a shot in the arm

It happens to the best of us. Because educators give so much of themselves in their classrooms and in the businesses, burnout can start to set in. And when it does, Kindermusik is right there to support and encourage through face-to-face local meetings sponsored by the Partnership of Kindermusik Educators (PKE), recorded webinars, and other regular training and connection opportunities.

If you’re teaching for someone else

Best of all, Kindermusik training is not just for the Kindermusik business owner – it’s for those teachers who are the backbone of that Kindermusik business owner’s program. For Kindermusik educators who teach for someone else, there are training topics about classroom management, pedagogy techniques, child development, relationship-building, and more.

When you’re ready for a change

Teaching Kindermusik is a wonderful choice for teachers, music educators, music therapists, or moms who are looking for something different – and a way to make a difference through music in the lives of children and their families. Kindermusik International provides plenty of helpful tools and lots of friendly guidance to help you make the best choice.
So, whether you are a prospective, newly licensed, or experienced Kindermusik educator, Kindermusik International is right there with you to support and encourage your professional development and personal growth – no matter what “season” you’re in.

Highlighting one of our Good Beginnings grant recipients

One of the best things a child can have is a good beginning. That’s because the early years are the most impressionable and formative for a child. At Kindermusik International, we believe this so strongly that we chose as our tagline “a good beginning never ends”.

Though we primarily focus on supporting Kindermusik programs around the globe, we’re always looking for ways to make children’s lives better and do what we can to get children off to a great start. This led to our Good Beginnings Grant Program, which was open to anyone–both Kindermusik educators and non-educators as well–in the U.S. and Canada who had a good idea for a project that would benefit the lives of children. We allowed the public to vote on the projects they liked the most.

The response was overwhelming. In the end, over half a million votes were cast in the space of just over one month. Kindermusik educator Katie Henderson of Bloomington, Illinois, is leading one of the winning projects. Her project was to provide a bilingual Kindermusik class for low income Hispanic families in her area. We recently received a wonderful note from Katie, and wanted to share an excerpt here.

“Music Connections is in its 17th year of offering Kindermusik in central Illinois. We consist of a passionate team of 10 educators who have witnessed the profound ‘Kindermusik difference’ in ‘normal,’ middle-class families. We are committed to finding a way to provide these benefits on a larger scale to children and families who have special needs and cannot afford our program. We have witnessed, firsthand, how language is greatly enhanced in normal children who are experiencing the song-rich, literature-rich environment of Kindermusik. We are SO excited by the gains the Spanish-speaking children in this project will make as they have a joyful, loving experience with their parents, our teaching team, and other volunteer English-speaking moms who can model and connect with them.”

Kindermusik International is very excited that we could play a small role in making this happen. But the real credit lies with Katie and her team. Keep up the great work! Check out the Music Connections website to learn more about Katie’s program.

Check back here at Minds on Music for regular features on the progress of our Good Beginnings grant winners.

Kindermusik International: the company behind your educator

These days consumers give serious pause when considering the company behind their favorite brands. With recession, product recalls, harmful ingredients, investment scams, CEOs going to jail, and so on. Whew! It’s enough to make us think twice about with whom we exchange our hard earned dollars for products and services.

Making the choice to entrust our children to others is among the most important work we do as parents. As a Kindermusik parent, you rely on both the Kindermusik licensed educator and Kindermusik International, the publishing and training company behind your teacher.

Kindermusik teachers are experts in early childhood music, trained to follow a proven, research-based curriculum, and a delight for your children to be around. I have trusted these teachers with my own children and I delight in the fabulous work they do for our communities. If you go to Kindermusik, you know them well.

But Kindermusik International (KI), the company that stands behind them, is perhaps less visible to you. We are North Carolina based and 100% owned by our twenty-seven employees. We have no investors to satisfy. No dream of going public. Our dreams get fulfilled every day: doing our life’s best work in service of the extraordinary music educators who teach and delight you and your child.

Before KI, many of us worked in taller buildings, wore suits and ties or dresses (as 19 of us are women), and were taught to obsess about profits. KI is our second career – the one where we work together to “do good” rather than simply to “do well.” Many of us, myself included, have been on this musical mission for fifteen years or more, an uncommon allegiance in today’s transient workforce. We are bound together by doing the hardest and most meaningful work of our lives.

I refer to KI as a sustainable social enterprise, not a company. Above all, we seek to do no harm: that is, always putting the needs and safety of families. This is why we invest relentlessly in product safety testing. Next, we focus our efforts on supporting our educators, for making a livelihood as a music teacher is not for the faint of heart. Finally, we aim to honor our communities: our environment through sustainable products and packaging; our world of less fortunate children through our outreach and scholarship programs.

Our goal is simple: make this world a more musical place for children – today and for generations to come.
-Michael Dougherty, CEO of Kindermusik International