Kindermusik is so much more than music.

Early INTERACTIVE music experiences can have a significant impact on a child’s developing language skills, as well as on literacy and reading.
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Long before a child is able to speak, they are listening, recognizing that words flow into phrases.  And their brain is processing how rhythm and pitch interplay with these phrases.  Reading rhymes and singing songs helps the brain lay a foundation for the skills that will develop.  Babies begin to see the connection between words, signs, pictures, and real objects… and later, ideas.   Talking with your child about everyday objects and routines, AND their interests, helps build these connections.  Using Sign Language also helps reinforce these connections in a multi-sensory way, leading the way to comprehension and language skills.
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Long before beginning to read, critical language skills are necessary to develop.  In every level of Kindermusik, at every age, we include active listening, vocabulary, phonological awareness, and print awareness all through age-appropriate musical activities and materials. Plus, we give you the tools and insights into helping your child develop these skills.
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My reading loving boys; they fill my heart !

Learning to LOVE books is also a key factor in their desire, and therefore their ability to read.  This is developed over time, through thorough explorations of books that capture their interest and engage their minds and bodies !   In Kindermusik, we may read the same book each class for 3 – 5 weeks, expanding on new ways to discuss the illustrations, or use our bodies to explore the ideas in the book.

Each unit of Kindermusik, from infants to preschool ages, include special books we read in class, and each family gets their own copy to continue reading, and moving, at home.  Yes, movement is integrated into our reading times to help books come alive with our children.

 

One of the all time favorite Our Time books is in the  Away We Go unit, and features “Shiny Dinah”, a delightful book about a train.  We become friends with Dinah, and share her song at the end of every page with four fun hand movements to accompany the fun train sounds.  We share her fast moments, we share her slow moments, and we share the moments when she is hidden from view in a tunnel.  Ask any family in this class, and you will realize how important Shiny Dinah has become to their child…  all through pictures and words on paper, bound together in a book.  They will want more books, and will be delighted to meet more friends through words.

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In the book in the picture above, these Imagine That! students join the children in the book in a game of hide and seek in nature, exploring the animal “houses” that may be found up in a tree.  They LOVE knowing the answer before we turn the page.  And they LOVE when we take the parts of the children and animals from the book, and act out the story using props.  And they LOVE walking through the park with their parents another day, looking for “houses” in the trees, and thinking about who may be living in them.

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These music, language and literary experiences prepare children to listen well, to understand much, to speak clearly, and to read fluently.  And that’s no song and dance. Well, okay maybe it is, but in a good way!
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On the Kindermusik International Website, there are some FABULOUS E-books on child development available.  Check out one or both of books under Music & Literacy: On the Path to Reading by Suzanne I. Barchers, Ed.D and Heidi Gilman Bennett.   One focuses on the development of these skills for the child between 1 1/2 to 3 years.  The other focuses on the child between 3 – 5 years.  Download your copy and enjoy the delightful illustrations along with the easy to read research, and what activities can be done at home to reinforce the activities that we start in class.
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If you haven’t tried Kindermusik, or if your child has grown into a different age group, PLEASE contact us to set up a free preview class today.  Most likely, we’ll read a book as one of our activities – sometimes even in the Village class for Babies.

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According to experts, learning to read depends on acquiring a variety of skills including phonological processing, oral language, and comprehension. The early musical experiences your child gets in Kindermusik can have a significant impact in all these areas.

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We truly believe  “A good beginning never ends.”