What is the best space for a Kindermusik class?

It's been quite a while since I've posted on this blog and I apologize for the silence. Usually when it's quiet here it's wild and crazy everywhere else!

I have a new location! In west Asheville you can find me at Trinity United Methodist Church on Haywood Rd. I am very happy to make new friends there and to bring the life and excitement of very young children making a joyful noise to their building!

In my search for the perfect location I took lots into consideration including parking, distance from 240, safety, look and feel of the room, etc. It has reminded me of a story. This is a story about the power of imagination; a very strong force that can affect your experience and your memory.

A few years ago one of my Kindermusik Imagine That! students participated in a class where we were pretending to visit a city, complete with tall buildings where you could look out over the skyscrapers and see everything below. We would go to a corner of the room, squeeze in tight as if in an elevator. We'd take turns pressing pretend buttons to close the door and choose which floor to travel to and then sing with a glissando "Going uuuuuuuuuuuup!" or "Going dooooooowwn!" What fun we had with our little corner!

This student's family finished the semester but then took off a year before returning to take Kindermusik for the Young Child. When he first walked back into our classroom after so many months he looked all around and with a bewildered, surprised look on his face he asked "Ms. Yvette! Where is the elevator????"

Where indeed! This semester our new room will be a toy shop, train yard, barn yard,  an orchestra stage, a boat, a Japanese island, a meadow of flowers..... And whatever else you want it to be. Even the adults are swept away, totally forgetting the rest of the world while they sing and twirl with their children.

Find out more about Kindermusik:
www.kindermusikwithyvette.com

Money, money, money....

Kindermusik classes begin all next week! What is holding you back?
The most frequently asked question you all have been asking is:  

“My child loved your class and I know it is time so well spent with my child but our financial situation has made it impossible! Do you offer scholarship?“

I have been in your shoes! With my own children we scrimped and scraped to piece together their music education as a top priority because it is the BEST investment you can make. (Think about investing in the stock market or even putting money under your mattress—it’s value goes down!) Investing in your child will pay off in areas like higher SAT scores, leadership skills, and college scholarships. Imagine how I felt after my high school kids played in a concert and they were approached by a college recruiter! I thought that only happened with basketball and football players!!!

First, there’s always a payment option. We can break it down to 3 payments or chisel out what works best for your family.(I’m the human behind all this and if you just talk to me we can work it out!)

What if there’s just NO money to invest?
Let’s start a conversation to see how we can make this work. If you are able to take Kindermusik at either the Weaverville or Skyland locations I can start by offering a 35% scholarship. (Sorry for the Asheville Performing Arts Academy you would need to approach them personally.) I would really need you to fill out this form as it helps with fundraising for the scholarships. Disregard the due date as that does not apply to Kindermusik. The form also lists responsibilities that do not apply to Kindermusik. Please do not stay away because you think it’s not possible!

Let’s talk about this. Classes start very soon. (We prorate for starting after the first week.)

Your baby deserves this experience and we can make it happen.
Email me right away.
singandtwirl@gmail.com

Organic Fest in Asheville! (and Kindermusik fun!)

It's going to be a blooming beautiful Saturday this weekend at Pack Square beginning at 10am. Asheville's Organic Fest has a special children's area called "Imagine Fest". There will be crafts, facepaints, free munchie samples, acrobats called "The Vegetable Circus"!!! All this and Kindermusik FUN! I'm inviting my Kindermusik fans to bring their friends to my tent for singing our FAVORITES and playing drums, shakers, jingles and lots of other fun musical instruments. Got any requests? Want to SHOW me how your baby loves music...("as soon as they hear music they start dancing!") Just want to hang out where all the music is?

See you on Saturday!

 

Now, why did this photo flip over? Just shows you how far I'd go to show you the benefits of music education for your little one!

Hello Kindermusik Friends,
It's about that time! Everyone is getting settled into the fall routine. Hard to believe that "fall" is here already and that summer time has passed so fast!
 I think about the many facets of time often. Many times I've said "Mothers, if anyone, really know about quantum time mechanics! Ten minutes of soothing a crying infant at 3am is eternity and six months of their lives is a BLINK." And as a wonderful Kindermusik educator peer of mine loves to say: "Childhood is a short season." My nephew is starting Kindergarten and my own son has graduated from college and is starting his career, off on his own!
 An especially interesting dimension of time's modern quality is that it seems to go faster and faster while we simultaneously try to cram more and more into each moment. ("And the hurrieder I go the behinder I get!" Yikes!)
Where's the "pause button"?
I've got an idea. There is a pause button of sorts. You find it by being "in the moment" . And I know it happens every Kindermusik class when you are with your child; the one who really does know how to be in the moment. This is the kind of time no one regrets making time for. Your child pulls you into to the moment where sharing the music takes you away from your hurriedness and all your concerns, even if only for the short Kindermusik class time.
What are you waiting for? Have you enrolled yet for fall? The first class is the week of Sept. 12th.
Some things won't wait.
See you in class.
Yvette

Summer greetings to all my Kindermusik friends! I hope you are enjoying a musical summer, whether you are on our summer Kindermusik Zoo Train or driving across the land listening to your CDs or just singing and twirling together!
 This summer has been so full of music; quartets, duets and solos abound! I know many of you have asked me to give you heads up for family friendly live music events in the area.  Here's a very special concert "Love Notes for Haiti"  happening this Tuesday July 26, 7pm (it will be short) downtown at the Basilica of St. Lawrence. It's my own daughter, Claire, giving a violin recital here in Asheville. I'd love to share it with you. Scroll to the bottom of this post for all the details.

 Also I wanted to let you know that the fall schedule is live online . Don't  put off registering as I know certain classes will fill up.:-)
 One more great event ahead. This is a free event and I'm the speaker. I'll be talking about the parent's role in nurturing music education for their child.

Come join the Holistic Parenting Forum on Friday, August 5th from 6-8 pm in the Community room at the West Asheville Earth Fare. Our topic for August is: "Instrumental music education and cognitive development". Presented by Yvette Odell.  RSVP's requested.

It is becoming more widely known that a child's instrumental music education plays a big part in their cognitive development even to the point of boosting student's S.A.T. scores. Parents who hear this have many questions like:

"Really?"
"Would music lessons be appropriate for my family?"
"Is my child musical?"
"What if neither parent is 'musical'?"
"How young should you start?"
"How do you keep them practicing?"
"How do you find a teacher?"
"Won't they just do it in school?" 

What are your questions and aspirations? Yvette Odell will lead a discussion on this topic, adding her own experience, passion, perspective and inspiration, including many other benefits of music education for your family.

And NOW Here's the info on Claire's recital: 

7pm Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

Basilica of Saint Lawrence

97 Haywood St.

Asheville, North Carolina 28801

Love Notes for Haiti

A violin recital presented by Claire Gerhardt

Claire Gerhardt is a violinist studying performance and music education at Lawrence University. She is inspired to present this concert of classical music to prepare herself to volunteer at the Ecole Musique Dessaix-Baptiste, a music school in Jacmel, Haiti, for their summer camp. Claire will be working with young students learning to play orchestral instruments.

The recital will include works by Bach, Paganini, Biber, and DeBeriot. Assisting her will be Daniel Pinelli, violin, and Anne Gerhardt, cello. During the recital Claire will be sharing some interesting facts about the musical works, the acoustics in the beautiful basilica, and about the music schools in Haiti.

This recital is free and open to the public; donations are encouraged. Your donations will go towards her flight to Haiti, and any surplus will be used directly for music, instruments, and supplies for music students in Haiti.

 Hope to see many of you there! and don't forget if you want some ideas on how to take  young children to concerts read my blog post! "Taking your young children to live music events"

 Keep singing and twirling!
Yvette Odell
Singandtwirl@gmail.com

www.kindermusikwithyvette.com

Music education: I'm trying to be a tiger mom!

I'm trying to be a Tiger Mom to my daughter, getting her to practice, practice, practice her cello! I'm doing this because I believe playing a musical instrument well is key to developing her confidence, self efficacy, creativity, intelligence....well, to developing just about her whole self. You know when you gaze into the eyes of your newborn and say I want you to be independent, compassionate, confident, capable, trustworthy, trusting, loving, curious, intelligent, productive......(my list is quite long). But I'm not the best Tiger Mom. Ever since this "Tiger Mom" concept hit the headlines I've been thinking about how it applies to me. I'm pretty easy going (wimp?) in every other area with my daughter EXCEPT music.

This was an interesting read:

Sorry Tiger Mom, it doesn’t have to be drudgery to be productive and character building.
Getting over the “hump” isn’t just about reaching the inherent rewards, it’s an integral part of the confidence-building element of Sistema previously referenced here. Confidence, in this context, is virtually synonymous to Albert Bandura’s concept of self-efficacy, a term he used to describe our belief in our own ability to ......(go read it!)

This I found at a blog by Johnathan Andrew Govias. It's a short article and touches on music education and self-efficacy AND a program to lift children over the drudgery, the "hump" of learning to play an instrument. Do read it! The program he is talking about is El Sistema and....hark! I hear now the timpani in the distance! El Sistema is coming to Asheville. (In about 18 months.)

Here's a listening experience for you if you'd like goose bumps. The Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra contains the best high school musicians from Venezuela's life-changing music program, El Sistema. Led here by Gustavo Dudamel, they play Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10, 2nd movement, and Arturo Márquez' Danzón No. 2.

Who wouldn't want this experience for their child? I believe every child can.

Does your baby LOVE music? Does your child sing all the time?

Have you considered trying out a Kindermusik class but wondering if your child would enjoy it? Or if your child is old enough?

This FREE music, movement and story time all rolled into one really fun class is a great chance for you to try this out. You'll even receive a free CD or card to download free music to your mp3 player for your family to make music at home!

Free Preview Kindermusik class (newborn to 7+yo)
July 6 in south Asheville at Skyland United Methodist Church (1984 Hendersonville Rd.)
OR July 7 at the Asheville Performing Arts Academy (193 Charlotte St.).
We'll have 2 different times at each location:10am or 11am.
Please RSVP to tell which time and location works best for you:
singandtwirl@gmail.com

For more information on Kindermusik with Yvette see her website.