In Celebration of International Children’s Book Day

International Children’s Book Day has been celebrated annually since 1967 as a way not only to inspire a love for books and reading, but also to draw attention to great books for children. At Kindermusik, we celebrate – and foster! – a love of reading and wonderful books in class and at home with our exclusive Kindermusik Home Materials all throughout the year.
In honor of International Children’s book Day, here is a short list of books we love to read in the Kindermusik classroom… PLUS a few of favorite books found in the Reading Rainbow app:
Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins
Dancing Feet by Lindsey Craig
Zin! Zin! A Violin by Lloyd Moss
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
On Mother’s Lap by Ann Herbert Scott
Jamberry by Bruce Degen
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
Clap Your Hands by Lorinda Bryan Cauley
And as a bonus, we also wanted to highlight a few of our favorite Kindermusik books now available on the Reading Rainbow app for free on iPad or Kindle Fire:

A Quieter Instrument
Flip-Flap, Sugar Snap!
Henry’s Parade
I Went to Visit a Farm One Day
Jenny Jenkins

We also invite you to learn more about the music-literacy connection by downloading our Music and Reading guide and by trying a free Kindermusik class. Most of all, we hope you’ll cuddle with your child and a good book and enjoy celebrating International Children’s Book Day together!

Why we celebrate Music in Our Schools and National Reading Month throughout the year

Today officially marks the last day to celebrate both Music in Our Schools month and National Reading Month. However, in Kindermusik classrooms (and homes!) around the world, we celebrate the benefits of music on early literacy skills every single day. After all, children actively involved in music classes experience the benefits of music throughout the year. It’s one of the many reasons we know that music belongs in our schools.

Earlier this month, we asked the Kindermusik Facebook community why music belongs in our schools and they responded with some of the immeasurable benefits of music:

New partnership with Reading Rainbow gives us more reasons to celebrate Music in Our Schools and National Reading Month

Of course, the benefits of music on early literacy skills offer measurable reasons why music belongs in our schools, too! So, we loved celebrating both Music in Our Schools Month and National Reading Month by officially announcing and kicking off a new partnership with Reading Rainbow. Here are some of the highlights from this month:

We announced the partnership between Reading Rainbow and Kindermusik International that will build early literacy skills in children. This partnership brings Kindermusik’s more than 35 years of experience in early childhood curriculum development with the #1 children’s reading adventure app!
We celebrated National Read Across America Day with LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow at a live event at Thomas Edison Elementary School in Burbank, CA featuring a live reading by LeVar Burton of a beloved Kindermusik book, The Drum Circle, and Kindermusik activities led by Educator Kelsey Springsted with Jamie Sterling. (Be sure to read how music in schools impacted Kelsey Springsted in Music: A prescription for healing.)
The Kindermusik “Music Mountain” island goes live on the Reading Rainbow mobile app for kids. The Music Mountain island features Kindermusik’s music-themed content, including children’s books, music, and video field trips alongside other newly produced content from Reading Rainbow. Free to try, the educational app is available on the iPad and Kindle Fire.
Kindermusik provides a guest post, “Music Makes Kids Hungry for Learning (and Reading!), on the Reading Rainbow blog.
LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow posted, “Reading and Music…Hitting All the Right Notes,” on the Minds on Music blog.

Did you miss these studies and presentation announcements that show even more benefits of music on early literacy skills?

In our early literacy curriculum, ABC Music & Me, we know that the benefits of music on early literacy include the development of active listening, vocabulary, print awareness, comprehension skills, auditory discrimination, and phonological awareness. We wanted to make sure that you did not miss these new research studies and presentations that we mentioned this month.

New study shows that if children memorize eight nursery rhymes by the age of 4 years old, they are usually among the best readers by the time they are 8 years old. Read more.
Talking and singing with babies promotes more that just bonding. It also supports vital brain development in young children. Read more.
The independent 2013 research study on our early literacy curriculum and its’ positive effect on early literacy development was recently presented at the SITE (Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education) 2014 Event.
Kindermusik will present at the Head Start’s 12th National Research Conference on Early Childhood – Collaboration and Coordination in July!

Keep reading our Minds on Music blog for all of the latest research and news on early childhood education. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest!

Music: A prescription for healing

Meet Kindermusik educator Kelsey Springsted

A spiral-bound notebook might not look like much, but to a 15-year-old girl diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma (a rare form of bone cancer), it became a lifeline. Kelsey Springsted always loved music—from creating musicals to perform in the living room for her family to piano lessons to playing the oboe in high school band. However, all of that came to a stop as a teenager when Kelsey learned she had cancer.

Chemotherapy treatments compromised Kelsey’s immune system so rather than spending her time in the typical teenager ways—hanging with friends, lamenting about homework, or performing with the band—Kelsey stayed in her room, alone. However, she did have a notebook.

“I began writing songs. That was how I got through each day,” confesses Kelsey. “I was rarely allowed to see my friends, even my twin sister, because of how weakened my immune system was, but the music allowed me to write about it and express myself. I wrote in my notebook and composed on the piano every day.”

Bringing musical healing to other children

Kelsey learned at an early age that music can indeed save us and transcend our circumstances. So, as her health improved at 16, Kelsey brought music to the hospital. She shared her notebook songs with children undergoing cancer treatment and other life-threatening illnesses.

“Music can be a therapy in many ways,” Kelsey explains. “It can get you through the day.”

Kelsey’s music led to organizing makeup parties for the girls, silly string and Nerf gun battles, and even a special gingerbread-making event around the holidays. Thanks to Kelsey and her gift of and for music, she helped make the days in the hospital a little bit better.

However, the music didn’t stop there! After battling cancer a second time when she was 19, Kelsey became involved in the Philoptochos Kids ‘n’ Cancer Camp Agape. Camp Agape offers families dealing with cancer and other life-threatening childhood diseases a refuge for four days in the summer, away from the sights and sounds of doctors, laboratories, and hospitals, where they spend so much of their lives. Children and their families engage in hands-on group activities that provide a reprieve from their daily challenges.

Each summer Kelsey runs the nightly campfires and leads families in playing instruments and singing together in Dunlap, Julian, and San Diego, California. Take a listen to her singing “No More Chemo” (with little voices singing along). The nurses taught Kelsey this song when she went through chemotherapy and she shares this at Camp Agape each year:

)

Making a difference with Kindermusik

In her early twenties, Kelsey taught for a kid’s gym. “I got excited when the kids started singing with me. That’s where I felt joy,” shares Kelsey. “A Kindermusik educator offered classes at the gym so I talked with her about Kindermusik. As that educator’s circumstances changed, so did mine. Now, I own all of her studios, with my main studio in Valencia, California.”

Kelsey loves being a Kindermusik educator: “I know that I am making a difference in the lives of children. When a child comes in to class having a bad day, the singing makes it all go away. Plus, I see how Kindermusik changes children. They are learning steady beat and sharing, language and literacy, and so much more. They are learning how to learn.”

It’s about the parents, too. “I get to be silly at work and the parents can get silly with their children in the classroom,” explains Kelsey. “I love that I can teach new parents how to play with their little ones and what a difference singing to their children can make.”

Kindermusik and Reading Rainbow

Kindermusik educator, Kelsey Springsted, and employee-owner, Jamie Sterling, with Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton and CEO Mark Wolfe.

Now, as a Coloratura soprano and a graduate of the California Institute of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Kelsey participates in multiple opera and musical theater productions each year. One of this year’s “live performance” highlights took place last month at the Kindermusik and Reading Rainbow event to help celebrate the launch of the Kindermusik “Music Mountain” island on the Reading Rainbow app.

At the event, Kelsey led the auditorium full of children through Kindermusik activities. The entire hall filled with music and clapping and twirling and laughter—in typical Kelsey fashion.

“I loved being the musical theatre person on stage,” shares Kelsey. “I got like a 1,000 high fives!” (And, we loved being a part of it with you!)

Oh, and that notebook?

It’s gone—lost at Disneyland—but not forgotten. Yes, those songs helped Kelsey through her diagnosis and treatment. Yes, those songs encouraged more children when Kelsey sang to them in the hospital and at Camp Agape. And, yes, the roots of those songs spread into her Kindermusik classroom each week. So, the music lives

on. And so does Kelsey—5 years cancer free!

Contributed by Lisa Camino Rowell, Kindermusik parent, former Employee-Owner, and lifetime believer in the power of music.

4 ways to make every day National Read Across America (AND the World) Day

Some celebrations should last more than one day. At Kindermusik, we think National Read Across America Day is one such day. It doesn’t necessarily mean we need to dress up like The Cat in the Hat every day, but we can celebrate the joy of reading to and with children every day.
On Friday, we kicked off National Read Across America Day with LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow to celebrate the launch of our partnership to build early literacy skills in children. With the addition of Music Mountain Island to the Reading Rainbow tablet-based reading service, Kindermusik’s music themed books and videos are featured alongside other newly produced content from Reading Rainbow and their partners. Of course, the celebration doesn’t stop there. Parents and early childhood educators can make every day National Read Across America Day with these early literacy tips:

4 ways to support early literacy development

Let children pick the books. Children will naturally gravitate towards specific books that reflect their tastes and interests. While you might not pick up a book about snakes or garbage trucks or fairies or kittens, those topics might be just the book to delight the child or children in your life.
Introduce children to eBooks and digital learning. Your little one will never remember a time before touch screens, eBooks, and digital learning. Try the Reading Rainbow app for iPad or Kindle Fire. From sing-along stories to nursery rhymes, enjoy the library of musical tales that will encourage your little one to sing, dance, and read! Plus, music-themed video field trips hosted by LeVar Burton will take your family around the world to discover interesting musicians, music, and instruments! You can try the Reading Rainbow app for free!
Play the part. Children learn through play. Encourage your little one to dress up like a favorite storybook character or act out the story using stuffed animals, Little People, or even the family pet. Pretending to be a part of the story helps children gain a greater understanding of the plot and characters, try out alternative endings, and even understand the world a little bit better. Added bonus: A child “in character” might be less reluctant to participate in certain daily routines and rituals, such as getting dressed or taking a bath.
Point the way to reading. With very young children, reading doesn’t always look like, well, reading. However, pointing to the pictures on the page, making letter sounds, talking about what you see together gives children an early understanding of reading.

As an added bonus in celebrating National Read Across America Day, we’d like to share this video where LeVar Burton reads poetry selections from “I Am the Book”. Recently filmed in the library at Thomas Edison Elementary School – where Reading Rainbow and Kindermusik hosted an energetic Read-And-Sing-Along event for the children. Enjoy!

Looking for more ideas on making National Read Across America (and the World) Day—every day? Follow Kindermusik on Pinterest.

Leading Education Brands Reading Rainbow and Kindermusik International Partner to Build Early Literacy Skills in Children

Partnership Combines the Power of Music with Digital Reading For Music in Our Schools Month and Read Across America Day

LOS ANGELES, CA & GREENSBORO, NC – February 18, 2014 – Reading Rainbow and Kindermusik International, two of the most trusted brands in childhood education, today announced a partnership that combines Kindermusik International’s research-based musical learning curriculum with Reading Rainbow’s award-winning mobile reading service in a digital library available on tablet devices. New digital content will launch March 2, 2014, in time for Music in our Schools Month (MIOSM), and National Read Across America Day (RAAD).

“This partnership with Kindermusik emphasizes the important, proven connection between literacy and music,” said LeVar Burton, RRKidz/Reading Rainbow co-founder. “We know that when young children are engaged by music in age-appropriate ways, they can build skills that are the foundation for reading. By integrating the other arts and sciences, we aim to further inspire a lifelong love of learning.”

Reading Rainbow’s tablet-based reading service, hosted by Burton, guides children on a reading adventure to themed “islands,” each filled with hundreds of children’s books and video field trips. More than ten million books have been read and video field trips viewed since the mid-2012 launch. With the addition of Music Mountain Island, Kindermusik’s music-themed books and videos will be featured alongside other newly produced content from Reading Rainbow and their acclaimed partners.

“Our collaboration with Reading Rainbow reinforces what our own experience and the growing body of research clearly states, that there is a clear tie between music and literacy and language development,” explained Michael Dougherty, CEO at Kindermusik International. “We are thrilled to put our research-based content into some of the best development hands and are excited this new content area within Reading Rainbow will arrive in time to celebrate Music in Our Schools Month.”

While the partnership between these two brands is new, the links between music and reading are not. Research has shown music supports a child’s literacy development in many ways, including phonological awareness, vocabulary building, listening skills, reading accuracy, and prosody. Results from a 2012-2013 study of nearly 300 preschool children by independent research firm, SEG Measurement, indicated that students who utilized Kindermusik’s ABC Music & Me curriculum for just 30 minutes each week showed greater gains in literacy. The treatment group who utilized the music and movement curriculum showed a 32% higher gain in Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) scores over the control group.

The Music Mountain Island featuring Kindermusik’s content will be available in the Reading Rainbow app and the Kindle Fire app by March 2, 2014. The app is free to try and for an unlimited reading experience, parents can subscribe for $9.99 per month or $29.99 for a six-month subscription. Additional information about the Reading Rainbow iPad app can be found by visiting the iTunes App Store here.

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About LeVar Burton:

Best known for his Reading Rainbow stewardship as well as his other

distinguished TV roles (most notably Kunta Kinte on Roots and Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation), LeVar Burton comes from a family of educators and is widely recognized for his lifelong advocacy of children’s literacy. He speaks passionately on the topics of early learning and technology and has been a keynote speaker at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, South by Southwest (SXSW) Edu and received the Eliot-Pearson Award for Excellence in Children’s Media from Tufts University as well as The 2013 Children’s Media Award from Common Sense Media.

About RRKidz, Inc.:

Respected by millions and one of the most watched children’s television series in PBS history, Reading Rainbow has been connecting families to the joy of reading for over 30 years. In 2011, famed actor/producer/educational advocate LeVar Burton and his business partner, Mark Wolfe, formed RRKidz. They hold the global rights to the Reading Rainbow brand through a partnership with series creator, WNED/Buffalo. RRKidz’s flagship product, the award-winning Reading Rainbow app, is a reading subscription service filled with a library of quality ebooks, kids videos, and educational games. New children’s books and reading activities are added every week encouraging children to “go anywhere, be anything.” Free to try, the educational app is available on the iPad (http://bit.ly/10sgjbs) and Kindle Fire (http://amzn.to/14tOPzY).

About Kindermusik International:

Kindermusik International is the world’s leading provider of music, movement and literacy programs for young children, enjoyed by more than two million families in over 70 countries. For more than 35 years, Kindermusik has helped children and their families discover how music can enrich their lives and lay the foundation for a lifetime love of learning. Kindermusik offers developmentally-specific educational programs for children ages newborn to seven. Kindermusik curriculum is taught by the best educators in the best schools and studios world-wide. Visit Kindermusik.com to learn more about Kindermusik early childhood programs and music classes for kids.

Connect with Reading Rainbow:

Facebook: Facebook.com/ReadingRainbow

Twitter: @readingrainbow

YouTube: Youtube.com/readingrainbow

Blog: readingrainbow.com/blog

Connect with Kindermusik:

Facebook: Facebook.com/Kindermusik

Google+: Plus.Google.com/+Kindermusik

Pinterest: Pinterest.com/Kindermusik

Twitter: @Kindermusik

YouTube: Youtube.com/KindermusikRocks

Contacts for Reading Rainbow:

Julie Nathanson Teri Weigel

310.854.8191 310.854.8290

jnathanson@rogersandcowan.com tweigel@rogersandcowan.com

Contacts for Kindermusik

Jamie Sterling Lauren Burke

336.543.6218 410.975.9638

jsterling@kindermusik.com Lauren@kehcomm.com

Help us name our new Reading Rainbow music island and WIN!

Author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Gabriela Mistral wrote: “Many things we need can wait. The child cannot. Now is the time his bones are formed, his mind developed. To him we cannot say tomorrow, his name is today.”
Children need both music and reading at a young age. The research clearly shows how both can impact the the trajectory of a child’s life. It’s one of the reasons Kindermusik is partnering with Reading Rainbow, the beloved leader in early literacy and education. Together we are bringing a “Musical Island” to the RRKidz iPad app. And we need you to help name the island! See below for details.

Within this educational app for kids are different ‘islands,’ each of which has its own theme. Within each island are a few short educational videos (many pulled from the Reading Rainbow archives) and a selection of the best children’s books, in eBook format. We need the help of Kindermusik families in the United States to name the new Kindermusik “Musical Island.”

Reading Rainbow + Kindermusik Island Naming Sweepstakes

The new Kindermusik Island will contain a limited selection of eBooks from the Kindermusik library and some additional videos that Reading Rainbow and Kindermusik will produce together around musical topics (similar to many of our video field trips in Kindermusik@Home).
Help us name the new Kindermusik/Reading Rainbow Music Island! Enter your suggestion by clicking on this link. If your name is chosen you will win a $100 Amazon Gift Card, a free 6-month subscription to Reading Rainbow AND a Kindermusik prize package!
(Mobile Users click here.)

Accepting entries October 9-October 31, 2013. Enter today!

Steady Beat: It’s more than just music!

Kindermusik was fortunate to contribute a guest blog post on the Reading Rainbow blog. As our missions align, in inspiring children through reading and music, we are grateful for this opportunity and are excited to share with our community!

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Special Guest Post: Kindermusik – Steady Beat: It’s more than just music!

Admit it. You know you do it. You just can’t stop yourself. There you are driving in the car and you find yourself doing it. Unconsciously, you nod your head or drum the steering wheel along to the beat of the music you hear. Thanks to the steady beat of our hearts, we are naturally wired for responding to a steady beat. Even an infant is born with the ability to keep a steady beat – his own internal beat, particularly after 9 months of hearing Mom’s heartbeat while in utero! However, the ability to consciously recognize and demonstrate steady beat takes practice – and can lead to far greater moments in child development.

Why steady beat matters in music, child development, and reading

The most basic property of music is steady beat: the underlying, unchanging, repeating pulse. If you’ve ever come to a Kindermusik class for toddlers, babies, big kids, or families, you’ll notice that we include a steady beat activity every week, in every age group from newborn to 7. It might involve instruments, reciting nursery rhymes, singing, dancing, lap bounces, rocking, or even, yes, tiptoeing. There’s a reason for that. We know that the capacity to identify and maintain a steady beat can be used for more than singing or playing an instrument.
• For babies: Exposure to steady beat (hearing it, feeling it, “seeing it”, and being moved to it) is natural, but very important for a baby’s developing sense of steady beat and the world around him. An internalized awareness of beat and rhythm helps a baby to coordinate movements.
• For 18 months through 3 years old: At this age, children are learning to control and coordinate their body’s movements. The ability to keep a steady beat helps them to walk with a smooth gait, leading to running, jumping, and dancing with confidence.
• For preschoolers and early school-aged children: Steady beat competency is central to the development of movement organization, such as marching in time, dribbling and shooting a basketball, using scissors and writing smoothly.

But that’s not all! The best thing about steady beat is its contribution to early literacy and language development.

An understanding of the concept of a steady beat helps a child speak and read with a smooth cadence, thereby enhancing communication abilities and reading comprehension. After all, the same sense of steady beat experienced in music can be experienced when reading. Ever try reading a Dr. Seuss book without a sense of rhythm or steady beat? One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish just wouldn’t be the same without it! It’s no wonder that research shows children who can keep a steady beat score higher on reading assessments. They also rate higher on math tests AND behave better in class.

4 steady beat activities for families

As a child’s first and best teacher, parents can set their child on a path to “go anywhere and be anything!” Try these activities together to reinforce a sense of steady beat and support a child’s emerging literacy skills:
1. MOVE! Turn on music and pretend to be a marching band. March, stomp or jump to the music. Dance with them around the room to the steady beat of the music.
2. Play Instruments! Use children’s instruments or make your own. Practice keeping a steady beat along with the music. Homemade drums and instruments are great additions to your pretend marching band or family dance party!
3. Read and Sing Nursery Rhymes! Clap or tap along as you recite your child’s favorite rhymes.
4. Have a Steady Beat Treasure Hunt! Search for things that make a steady beat. The clock? Dripping water? Microwave timer? How many can you find?

To learn more about enrolling in a Kindermusik class and receiving access to Kindermusik@Home where families can access musical eBooks, kid’s songs, learning games, and more parenting resources, visit Kindermusik.com.

Reading Rainbow wants to thank Kindermusik for contributing to this weeks guest blog on early literature and music. We appreciate their support in our mission to inspire a love of reading in children and connect them to the world they live in through quality literature so they can “Go anywhere. Be anything.“

Try our FREE iPad App in the App Store, download any of our Classic episodes on iTunes or learn more about Reading Rainbow and all our digital products at http://www.readingrainbow.com.