Featured Artist - Nancy Stewart

Nancy Stewart is a national award-winning musician who has been writing and performing for young children and their families for twenty years. This followed a successful fifteen year-long career as lead guitarist and vocalist with a nationally known show band. Featuring original and traditional songs, Nancy’s nine CD’s for children can be heard in schools, homes, and libraries across the country. Her music workshops for teachers, parents, and librarians have been highly praised for their relevant, useful, and easy to use songs and ideas.

Nancy has also shared the stage with Burl Ives, Shirley Jones, Bill Cosby, and Lily Tomlin at concerts and nightclubs across the United States and Canada. As lead guitarist and vocalist she performed with Randy Sparks and the Back Porch Majority beginning in 1971, and recorded several albums in Nashville and Los Angeles, the Disney movie theme “The Apple Dumpling Gang”, and numerous radio and TV commercials.

For more information, visit Nancy’s website at www.Nancymusic.com

- Seattle, WA

Featured Artist - Farida Dowler

Farida Dowler shares folktales and plays guitar to accompany traditional and original songs for preschoolers and kindergarten age children along with their caregivers.

She is available to perform at bookstores, libraries, children’s parties and other venues in the Seattle area. Past performance venues include Island Books, Third Place Books, Pierce County Library System, Seattle Public Library, and the Seattle Children's Museum.

To book a program, please contact her at farida@dowler.com with information on where and when you are having your event as well as group size.

-Seattle, WA

The Attention Seekers

Ask the Expert
Q. How do I know if my child is being disobedient just to get my attention, and what should I do about it?


A.
I think the key to this answer lies in understanding your child's motivation. When my own children were small, one daughter in particular required extra attention. It seemed when I was at my busiest, she would find constant trouble. She might color the walls, pick a fight, or simply follow me around whining. Her misbehavior was simply a ploy to get my attention back on her. I soon realized that I could change her behavior by giving her my undivided attention for a certain period of time before I started the other items on my agenda each day. I began my morning by enjoying whatever activities she enjoyed. We had discussed that once the timer went off, it was Mommy's turn for "work time". This turn-taking would continue through out the day. When any misbehavior occurred, it would result in a "time out" in another room. When her behavior was good, it meant I could complete my work faster and spend more time with her. Eventually, this strategy curbed her misbehavior, because she realized that her poor behavior was not successful in acquiring more time with Mommy. The bottom line here is recognizing the motivation behind your child's actions. Once you determine that motivation, look for positive ways to fulfill that need elsewhere in their daily routine.


 
If you have a question about parenting or early childhood development, feel free to leave it as a comment here. We'd love to include it as a future "Ask the Expert" post!

Give your brain a work out!

I was doing some research about the benefits of music study today and ran across an article about the effects of music study on the brain. I found the article particularly interesting because of the following quote: "The effect of music training suggests that, akin to physical exercise and its impact on body fitness, music is a resource that tones the brain for auditory fitness and thus requires society to re-examine the role of music in shaping individual development."
Simply put, music is great exercise for the brain, particularly in those areas which affect listening, reasoning, and language skills. Parents who expose their children to musical activities, such as our Kindermusik classes, are giving their children an early advantage for enhanced development and academic success. The developmental foundation that is established in these young minds will increase memory function, listening skills, and creative learning. It is also interesting to note that this study specifically referenced these same benefits for children with special needs who participate in music training. You can read more by clicking the article below.
 How music training primes nervous system and boosts learning.

Meet Brendan, Patrick, Abigail, and Rebeca

At what age did your child begin taking Kindermusik classes?

Abigail and Brendan began taking Kindermusik classes when they were 16 months old. Patrick has been going since birth. Rebeca has taken classes off and on with Delightful Sounds since she was 4.

Number of years you attended classes?
We’ve been with Delightful Sounds for the past 5 years!

What is your favorite Kindermusik song?
Gosh, each one of my children has a favorite song. Now with my youngest just about outgrowing his ‘our time’ its neat to hear the older ones remembering the songs when they used that curriculum!


What is something that you’ve learned from your Kindermusik experience?
Never to judge a class by the first day! Each child settles into a class at its own pace.


Tell us about a favorite Kindermusik moment with your child:
I think the moments that I cherish the most is when the class finally ‘clicks’ with my child. They recognize the songs, faces and all the fun they have each week! Also, I love it when they bring home the songs and activities and play them with their siblings.

Anything else you’d like to share?
Ms. Aimee does a FANTASTIC job of offering a variety of classes for children of all ages. We’ve gone the spectrum from family time to our time to sign and sing to art and music with a bit of gardening in between. I can’t wait to see what else is next!

Shake, shake the apple tree!

In our Kindermusik Family Time classes, we have been learning fun, mealtime songs and chants. Since Johnny Appleseed day is coming up soon, I thought you might like to try this little chant for a fun way to celebrate. Feel free to add some hand motions!

Two Little Apples

Two little apples were hanging in a tree.

Two little apples were smiling at me.

I shook that tree as hard as I could,

and down came my apples

Mmmm Mmmm GOOD!

Featured Artists - BenJammin and Analisa Gauthier

Jammin with BenJammin and Analisa Gauthier gives kids a chance to move, play and sing along with Educational Music. With songs like "The Safety Belt Song", "Keep in Shape" and "Dream, Love, Live", your kids will learn about health, safety, respect and science—all while having so much fun they won't even realize they are learning!!

BenJammin and Analisa have performed their educational music at schools, museums, libraries and parties everywhere from Kalamazoo to New York to New Jersey and San Fransisco. And they can bring something special to your event. In each energized performance, they inspire children from the audience to sing along, dance, play instruments and even write new songs! With every new performance, BenJammin and Analisa get children excited about achieving goals, reading/writing, hygiene and safety all in a format to build confidence.

Michigan - www.benjammin.biz

Why music?

I found the below article very interesting. It deals with the relationship between music study and reading skills. There are overlapping areas of the brain which control language and musical awareness. Because music stimulates or exercises this part of the brain, there is an increase in the development of verbal sequencing and vocabulary skills.
Even though this study dealt with young, elementary school age children, I believe the benefits from music exposure extend beyond that age range to the very young child. Studies show that a child's vocabulary when entering Kindergarten is a good indicator of reading skills and educational success by third grade. I propose that the best way to enrich a child's vocabulary for Kindergarten entry is to provide a rich environment for your child that includes music exploration. The rhythmic patterns, rhymes, and sequencing of music, along with it's ability to actively involve young children, makes it a great tool for early childhood development. Don't know where to start? You can click here to download a coupon for a free Kindermusik preview class.

Music Education Can Help Children Improve Reading Skills

ScienceDaily (2009-03-16) -- Children exposed to a multi-year program of music tuition involving training in increasingly complex rhythmic, tonal, and practical skills display superior cognitive performance in reading skills compared with their non-musically trained peers, according to a new study. ...  read full article