COOKIES!!!

 

National Cookie Day

Milk and Cookies! Yummy in my tummy! What's your favorite kind?

And since today is NATIONAL COOKIE DAY how about dancing "All Around the Kitchen" and act out your "Cookies" book. Find some recipes in your family activity book.

While you are enjoying your cookies here's an interesting article about how different personalities eat gingerbread man cookies.

Here's a crumb of cookie trivia: 

With all of the different varieties of cookies that are baked around the holidays, National Cookie Day seems to fall perfectly on the calendar!

Did you know that the English word "cookie" is derived from the Dutch word "koekje," which means little cake? Dutch bakers used to test oven temperatures on small amounts of batter so that they would not waste the entire cake mix if the temperature wasn't right. It was not long though before they discovered that these tiny pieces of cooked batter were actually quite tasty! Thus, the birth of the cookie. 

Cookies come in all different flavors, shapes, and sizes. To celebrate National Cookie Day, bake a few batches of your favorite cookies, then invite your friends over to trade cookies and recipes!

Enjoy your time together!

Kindermusik kids grow up ......

Then they play in orchestras like this! I know 'cuz there's one of mine in there!
(Hi Claire!)
Happy holidays all!

Music goes beyond words....

NPR's Melissa Block talks to violinist Lynn Chang, who will be playing at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony on Dec. 10, honoring Chinese writer and human rights activist Liu Xiaobo. 

Chang said "An artist plays to educate, to entertain, to illuminate, but here, it's a much deeper purpose. We're trying to finish in music where words are left off." 

So beautiful and so true. I hope you will listen to this article as Chang plays his violin at the end. He plays a beautiful tune called "Jasmine Flower" and I could hum along. I recognized it instantly. It's on this CD! If you click below on the picture you can scroll down at the Play.Kindermusik.com site and hear a sample of the Kindermusik arrangement.

 

Isn't this another really wonderful reason to love Kindermusik? Babies who've listened to Kindermusik CDs have experienced a wide, wide variety of music. They already can appreciate the different timbres, tonalities and textures of music from around the world.

Fun in a BOX. Christmas gift....the best.

Here is our fun way of practicing self control...waiting and waiting...and having a great time with a box!

Younger children are just beginning the concept of understanding time, wiating and even making predictions about the future. Time isn't something you can point to! Steven will be better able to wait longer because we allowed him to determine how long he should wait. Playing this game at home will give opportunities for practicing and children love this game so much they may surprise you by keeping you singing the toast song for a looooooooong time before they pop!


A big box or a large piece of fabric is a great holiday gift for a child of this age. The open-ended objects stimulate imagination, creativity and problem solving. AND they leave room in the budget for more KINDERMUSIK! (the gift that keeps on giving!) Studies show that subsequent semesters of Kindermusik help children with inhibitory control and self control in upcoming school years.
Waiting in a box, stop and go songs and games, tapping shakers to a steady beat all help with body control, the beginning of self control (including the ability to think before we speak).

So think before you give them the latest electronic toys that have narrow imaginative possibilities. Think about 15 weeks of musical fun, musical learning, musical togetherness that these children thrive on and you will cherish. Kindermusik....a good beginning never ends.

The new semester will be online next week. Gift certificates are available: email singandtwirl@gmail.com.

Have fun singing and twirling in the kitchen this week!
Yvette

Kindermusik with Yvette begins this week Wednesday!

FINALLY!!! Here we GO!!!
Classes begin Wednesday in Arden: at Skyland United Methodist Church on Hendersonville Rd. See this link for directions.  It is just up the road!

Weaverville classes begin on Friday and the Asheville Arts Center begins Thursday.

There is still space in SOME classes. See the post below for the complete schedule and click on the class of your choice to register on line.
You don't want to miss this fun. If you're new to the idea then email and I'll invite you to visit a class. Just don't let those little ones grow up before you get in!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIPThKrwVTM

Kindermusik with Yvette

Kindermusik with Yvette: 
Fall '10 Schedule
You can find Kindermusik with Yvette in three area locations (I'm driving so you don't have to!):

The Asheville Arts Center
Joyful Noise Community Music and Art Center in Weaverville
Joyful Noise Community Music and Art Center in Arden

Classes are once a week for 15 weeks.
Classes begin Wednesday September 15th.
Please if you have questions call me: 828-242-1548 or email: singandtwirl@gmail.com
Here's the schedule with live links to enroll (each link will show the price). 

Kindermusik at the Asheville Arts Center beginning September 15th. Call 253-4000 or click on the class link below:
   Village  Mondays 11am, Tuesdays 9:30,
   Our Time  Mondays 10am or 5:45pm Tuesdays 10:30
   Imagine That!  Mondays 2:30pm
  Young Child 1  Mondays 4:30
   Young Child 3 (this is a continuation of Young Child 1&2) Thursdays 3:30pm

Kindermusik at Joyful Noise Community Center in Weaverville beginning September 17th.
Call 828-242-1548 or click on the class link below:
   Village (newborn to 18 months) Fridays at 11am
   Our Time (18 months to 3 1/2) Fridays at 10am

Kindermusik with Yvette in the Arden area beginning September 15th will be held at Skyland United Methodist Church on Hendersonville Rd.
Call 828-242-1548 or click on the class link below: 
  Village Tuesdays 6:30pm, Wednesdays 11am, Thursdays 9:15
   Our Time Tuesdays 5:30pm, Wednesdays 10am, Thursdays 10:15
   Imagine That! Wednesdays 5:30pm
   Young Child 1 Tuesdays 4:15pm
   Young Child 3 Wednesdays 4:15pm

Kindermusik Village (newborn to 18 months) description
Kindermusik Our Time (18 months to 3 1/2) description
Kindermusik Imagine That! (3 1/2 to 4 1/2) description 
Kindermusik Young Child Semesters 1-4  (5-7years old) description

And if you're new to the Kindermusik scene and you'd like to try a class for free let's do it! 

156 Countries Sing Together

What a wonderful way to start the morning! I found this beautiful video and listened and sang along.....It's very moving.....

Music is the universal language.....

Cash strapped schools make a mistake to cut music

And cash strapped families too....private lessons and classes like Kindermusik can mean the difference between a so-so musician and a musician that can really play and use their ears on a more advanced level....And can make the difference between a so-so reader and a reader who enjoys a higher academic success!

More and more research shows how music is a powerful tool for helping children reach their potential....(when I grow up I will be a neuroscientist so that I can understand all this....)

Well, someday........

But reading online about what researchers are saying happens in the brain when musicians use their ears helped me to focus the 3 1/2 year olds in our Imagine That! class this week as we are listening to layers of sound (water making waves, the bell bouy, the sea lions, and the work boat horn) and then listening to the music with the singer (the words to the song, the drum beating, the rattling percussion, the man's voice, etc) listening to many layers at once.......

"Playing an instrument may help youngsters better process speech in noisy classrooms and more accurately interpret the nuances of language that are conveyed by subtle changes in the human voice," says Nina Kraus, Hugh Knowles Professor of Neurobiology, Physiology and Communication Sciences at Northwestern University.....

Studies in Kraus' laboratory indicate that music -- a high-order cognitive process -- affects automatic processing that occurs early in the processing stream. "The brainstem, an evolutionarily ancient part of the brain, is modified by our experience with sound," says Kraus. "Now we know that music can fundamentally shape our subcortical sensory circuitry in ways that may enhance everyday tasks, including reading and listening in noise."

Read it all here.
And if you'd like to hear one of Nina Kraus' lecture click here (it's very interesting!)

Kindermusik kids now:

Anne's Michigan friend Eleanor (who was a Kindermusik student for many years) in a letter to Anne: "I am doing orchestra in school. It's really easy and the teacher uses me for examples. Are you in orchestra?"

Orchestra is one of Anne's favorite activities each week.

Talk, talk, talk........17,000 words minumum

A child’s rate of vocabulary growth, vocabulary use, and IQ score was more strongly related to the number of words a parent said per hour than any other
variable including parents’ education or socioeconomic status.

Try for speaking 30,000 words a day to your newborn to 4 year old. It's worth it!

Click to watch this video link: Introduction by Todd Risley, Ph.D.

Filling life up with words is where vocabulary comes from and starting early is critical, according to Todd Risely Ph.D., co-author Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children.

The Power of Talk is a document published online about the research of the LENA (Language Environment Analysis) Foundation. Here's a quote:

They determined that a child’s intellectual success later in life is directly related to the amount of talk the child hears from birth to age three. Research conducted by the LENA Foundation using the LENA System has indeed confirmed many of their important findings.

Key findings to date include:
• Parents of advanced children—children who scored consistently between the 90th and 99th percentiles on independent standard language assessments—spoke substantially more to those children than did parents of children who were not as advanced, confirming the Hart and Risley results.
• Parents estimated that they talked more with their children than they actually did.
• Most language training for children came from mothers, with mothers accounting for 75 percent of total talk in the child’s environment.
• Mothers talked roughly 9 percent more to their daughters than to their sons.
• Parents talked more to their first-born than to their other children, particularly first-born males.
• Most adult talk in the child’s environment occurred in the late afternoon and early evening compared to other times of day.
• Children of talkative parents were also talkative.
• Although the average daily talk for parents who graduated from college was higher than for all other parents, the average daily talk for the upper 50 percent of parents who did not complete high school was significantly higher than that of the lower 50 percent of parents who graduated from college.
• The more television time in a child’s day, the lower his or her language ability scores tended to be.
• Monolingual Spanish-speaking families were similar to English-speaking families with respect to patterns of adult talk.
• Parents of children with autism tended to talk less the more severe their child’s symptoms were. Conversely, the stronger their child’s language abilities, the more they talked.
• Parents are quite variable in the day to day amount they talk to their children, but given the opportunity to receive feedback they are able to increase the amount of talk consistently.

Meet The Harmonica Man

Music gives when you give it away. I know there are lots of toddlers with harmonicas now....when are you going to start playing in the checkout lane of the grocery store?

Music and Language and Emotions and the Brain

The other day I had a chance to sit for a while when things were quiet and listen to this radio program from WYNC's Radio Lab. It was a very interesting and even entertaining program. I really do want to know more about how the ear "hears"...how our brains get the message!

Really it was so fascinating that I listened twice to the segments about how babies are attuned to pitches as infants and how in societies with tonal languages (languages like Mandarin Chinese) it is more likely a child will grow up with perfect pitch compared to a language (like English) which is not tone specific. (Many many great composers had perfect pitch.) But that we do teach babies certain vocal inflections as part of communication and some of that is common around the world.

Also I enjoyed the segment about Stravinsky's Rite of Spring which some call the most important music written in the last century. I followed up the radio program by listening to my daughter's orchestra at the Conservatory at Lawrence University as they played a fantastic concert of mostly Stravinsky pieces!
A great evening!

(This picture is actually from the November concert with the LSO choirs. Also a really great concert.)

I play loud sounds on my drum!

Brady plays LOUD sounds on the snare drum. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
There's a pattern here...and that's related to math.

We explore the snares. You can make quiet sounds by touching the snares.

Pulling down the "ears" of the big marching drum. This drum is a revolutionary war replica. I used to have a fife and drum corps when I lived in Maryland...way back when....



LOUD SOUNDS BOOM!
Quiet sounds tap.

Playing the Glockenspiel!

Here's pictures from my Kindermusik Young Child 2 class from the South Asheville Arts Center location in Arden.

We singing, playing and reading the notes "C" and "A" and this week our new note "D"!
Above you see Madison, Alexander and Thomas. They look great. You should hear them!

Help for Haiti – A Benefit hosted by French Broad Chocolate Lounge and Café String Quartet

On Tuesday, February 16^th, from 7 to 9 p.m., Asheville’s own Café String Quartet and French Broad Chocolate Lounge will present a fundraiser to benefit the people of Haiti. 100% of the ticket price will be directly donated to Mercy Corps, for relief efforts associated with the recent earthquake. http://www.mercycorps.org/

The benefit will take place in the newly opened second floor of the French Broad Chocolate Lounge. Artisan chocolates will be offered for free to attendees, courtesy of the Chocolate Lounge. A raffle for a special occasion cake will take place, with all proceeds also being donated. Ticket prices are sliding scale, from $10-$20. “Whatever the guests are moved to give to help the affected people of Haiti, we’ll graciously accept it on their behalf,” says Dan and Jael Rattigan, owners of the Chocolate Lounge. “With beautiful chocolates and beautiful music, we’ll make sure it’s worth the price.”

The music, provided generously by Café String Quartet, will focus on French and Latin music, to reflect the history and culture of Haiti. Café String Quartet is comprised of four classically trained musicians who continue to enjoy playing a diverse collection of music together: Monique Pinelli and Elizabeth Terry on violin, Matthew King on viola and Eric Scheider on cello. The members of Café String Quartet are thrilled to partner with French Broad Chocolate Lounge for their annual fundraiser.

What: Help for Haiti Fundraiser, www.cafestringquartet.com

When: Tuesday, February 16^th, 7-9pm

Where: French Broad Chocolate Lounge, 10 S.Lexington Ave., downtown Asheville (828) 252-4181 http://frenchbroadchocolates.com/

Tickets are by donation at the door. Suggested donation $10-20

I Believe

Do you?

New Semester Begins this week

Hello Musical families,
The new Kindermusik Semester begins this week! The big news is that you can do the complete registration online right here: REGISTER NOW.

Most classes have a couple openings left. But why wait? Childhood is such a short season!

If you are interested in trying a class for free please email me at singandtwirl@gmail.com or call the Asheville Arts Center at 242-1548.

Keep yourself involved in music.

Shout it from the rooftops! Music education is good for your smarts! Make the investment....keep it up....you won't regret it, not one minute of it.

Time Invested In Practicing Pays Off For Young Musicians, Research Shows

Time Invested In Practicing Pays Off For Young Musicians, Research Shows

Time invested, money invested....You know lessons are expensive. But, yes, keep in mind the solid investment you are making in your children for their bright future.

Then there's the parenting energy investment! You are trying to be helpful, inspiring, encouraging, positive, and..... something is missing and you're shouting at them to "GO PRACTICE!"

If you are practicing with a child right now and they are resisting then work on your relationship and keep going! In our family we've been through mountains and valleys in playing their musical instruments. For a while I was considering getting a "nag mask" so that they wouldn't hate ME when they would so rather be playing legos or reading their current book. Another time I asked my son for permission to nag him to practice.

Hmmmm. Maybe a website with a million tactics to encourage, entice, convince the kids to practice!

Good luck and keep up the practicing.