Can your child FEEL the emotion in Music?  Even at a very young age, your child may joyfully wiggle and giggle with upbeat happy tunes they hear.  The lullabies you sing to your little ones allow their mind and body to relax as they feel safe and loved.  The ability of music to convey emotions makes it the perfect tool to teach a wide variety of social-emotional skills because it connects us in such unique ways.

Much of a child’s development will unfold naturally. But one of the main areas of development that needs guidance, starting in infancy, is our emotional intelligence.  Our ability to recognize emotions and respond effectively to them is a lifelong pursuit. Consistent long-term research has show these skills have massive impact on so much of what makes a successful life, emotionally, socially, and even academically.

Our healthy emotional state of being is dependent upon consistent social interactions that make us feel safe, loved, and valued.  This is true at all ages.

But, how do we use music to teach social-emotional skills in a physically distanced environment, or even through virtual connections with family and friends?

We will also tackle that question during our time together.

 

In our social-emotional themed units of Kindermusik during October and November of the crazy year that is 2020, we practice a wide variety these skills through structured music and movement activities with children from toddlers up to 5 years old.  As their parent and primary teacher in the youngest years, you will be getting a good solid base of knowledge, along with the tools and support you need to continue your child’s emotional and social development.

Learn to nurture and guide your child through music:

  • to develop a strong sense of self,
  • to be proud of the ability to control their actions,
  • and to interact well with others

These are not skills that develop in children without guidance; proactive, persistent, consistent guidance. These skills are best developed through monitored interactions with others. Our Kindermusik programs are designed to nurture the social-emotional growth in each stage of your child’s development through structured activities with a group of others the same age.

Over 5 weeks of these units focusing on emotional intelligence, we will enjoy music and movement activities that have us all recognizing, expressing, and learning to regulate emotions through music.  Each week, you and your young child participate with other families in classes that are designed specifically for each age and stage of development.  All of the units at each Level focus on the development of our emotional and social selves. and each LEVEL is well researched and designed to focus on the developing skills at each age.

JOIN us for this journey into guiding your child to understand, express and manage their emotions through musical play and expressive movement.  I have gathered so many concepts and resources to share on this topic.  This has become a passion for me, as I continually realize more and more how important it is for very young children to develop age-appropriate social-emotional skills, which leads to increased executive functioning skills in their older years. 

And you will have the opportunity to join in weekly parent discussions via Zoom to talk more about what we are learning, and how to apply it in real life situations in your family.

 

Level 1:   10 – 22 months

Active Explorers 

Wed. 9 am – Outdoors 

Thurs. 11:45 am – Virtual 

Fri. 9 am – Outdoors (new)

Being a little kid is complicated.  There is so much toddlers still need help with, but so many new things within their grasp! Active exploring toddlers are gaining awareness and abilities at a rapid rate every day, which can be emotionally overwhelming for the child, and for the parent.

When children start learning social-emotional skills at this age, this feeling of confidence in oneself, and the empathy they develop towards others becomes their natural way of responding.  It becomes much harder if they do not have the needed guidance until problem behaviors surface, or even become a habit.  If we don’t teach them, they don’t know the best way to process and proceed.

In this unit’s lessons you’ll help boost their skills and confidence by exploring engaging musical activities, filled with rich language and musical concepts that will have them saying:  “I Can Do That!”  We’ll discover how daily music routines and rituals can affect their self-awareness and social competence;  how our joint attention during our musial play leads to developing empathy; and so much more.

Through this unit of online digital home materials, families enjoy a delightful album of quality music, as well as the “Watch Me” book, video field trips to experience steady beat, and a variety of games to initiate moving, making emotional faces, and making instruments.  PLUS, there are instructions on involving these little ones in chores around the home, and using sign language to promote communication skills.

Level 2:   1 – 4 yrs

Engaging Young Learners

Virtual:

  • Tues, Wed. & Thurs. 10:30 am

Outdoors:

  • Tues. 9 am 
  • Wed. or Thurs.  5:30 pm  (new)
Everyone has feelings, and children are no exception.  Indeed, at this age, they are just starting to recognize and identify their feelings, even though they have been experiencing them for a long time.  A young child can go from happy to sad and back again in the blink of an eye.

Navigating their changing emotions can be complicated for children, but the music, dances and activities in How Do You Feel? provide a fun way for them to explore and identify different feelings, learn how to express and manage their emotions, and understand themselves better.  What better way to develop these important social-emotional skills?

Through this unit of online digital home materials, families enjoy the “Feelings” book, video field trips to explore “Feelings Faces”, and a variety of games to initiate expressive movement to music and drums play. There are activities to recognize emotions in music, start conversations about emotions, and make a Feelings Shaker instrument.  PLUS, there are instructions on involving these little ones in sign language for specific emotions to help them communicate their feelings.

Level 3:   3 – 5 years

Learning through Imaginative Play

  • Thurs. 9 am – Outdoors
  • Tues. & Wed. 12:15 pm – Virtual
Your pre-school age child is still in the early stages of learning to feel and express their emotions, and it is typical at this age to have BIG feelings that are a challenge to process.  In this unit, we explore how music can be a powerful trigger for a variety of emotions, and emotions can powerfully inspire the creation of music and art.

Sometimes, we feel exactly what the composer wanted us to feel in the music.  Sometimes, we use our emotions to change the music!  Let’s investigate some music techniques and lots of instruments and learn not only to hear the music, but to FEEL THE MUSIC!

We start with the simple concept of facial expressions as they relate to music and build up to listening to and engaging with the music of one of the great masters of emotion, Ludwig Van Beethoven.

Your child will develop comfort with instruments and their ability to play them, increasing their likelihood of playing instruments as they get older.  The music and activities in this unit will invite and expand their natural tendency to sing and move with expressive emotions, allowing the development of a strong musical foundation for future enjoyment and pursuit.

Through this unit of digital home materials, your child will revel in the emotions of a story about Beethoven and a musical duel, and the seven online activities can give them a jump start to:

  • listen and recognize different sounds of brass instruments,
  • connect the music and feelings with their artistic play,
  • explore using both the right hand and the left hand in playing instruments (including a piano).  
  • Sing-a-long with a silly song and play around with  non-sense words
  • Dance to music that alternates between happy and sneaky.
  • Discriminate sounds to know which instrument to play in this game.

Enroll for these 5 weeks of our social-emotional themed units, AND two weeks of our December Winter Wonderland House Party for just two monthly payments of  $65.  This includes 7 weeks of amazing musical class experiences and access to your music and a delightful variety of activities and resources online.  All together, it is a worthy investment for you and your child, and will be the best beginning for your child’s developing social and emotional skills.

When you are part of our VIRTUAL Classes, you can participate in all of the class times available in the level you choose.  (Our Parents share what they love about our Virtual format.)

When you are part of our OUTDOOR Classes, we will get together once a week on the deck outside our studio in Lakeland, Florida.  Up to 8 families will have their own SPACE on the deck, as we safely engage in making music together, while maintaining precautions to stay safe and healthy.  (See our Safe & Healthy Guidelines.)

Start a Conversation with Ms Debbie today about your young child, and let’s determine the best option for your family.  Come visit and make music with us, while we learn together how to become our best selves.

 

Music for Celebrating Seasons

  • One Saturday each month
  • Register for one or more

9:30 –  Babies up to 20 months

10:30 – Mixed ages: 1 – 5 years

This could be your first Kindermusik experience to enjoy together, or…      This could become an anticipated monthly family ritual.