Monday 22 January 2007

Spring 2007 Kindermusik Schedule

Village (0-18 months, 16 45 minute classes)
Hickory, Dickory, Tickle & Bounce and The Rhythm of My Day
  • Tuesday - 11:15am
  • Wednesday - 10:15am
  • Saturday - 11:15am

Our Time (1.5-3 years, 15 45 minute classes)
Fiddle-Dee-Dee

  • Tuesday - 10:15am
  • Wednesday - 11:15am
  • Friday - 10:15am
  • Saturday - 1:15pm

Imagine That! (3-5 years, 15 45 minute classes)
Cities! Busy Places - Friendly Faces

  • Wednesday - 12:15pm
  • Friday - 12:15pm
  • Saturday - 10:15am

Family Time (0-7 years, 10 45 minute classes)
Our Kind of Day

  • Friday - 11:15am
  • Saturday - 12:15pm

Can't find a class that fits your schedule? Email the Nanaimo Conservatory to be placed on a waiting list for a new class. Classes begin February 13 and require a minimum of 5 students to run, so please register early.

Wednesday 17 January 2007

What Level is Best?





Transitional Ages and Stages
How do I know if my child is ready for the next class level?

The Kindermusik philosophy springs from genuine respect for each child's individual rate of development. Class activities and at-home materials are designed to honor, support and celebrate the wonderful uniqueness of each child. Classes have overlapping age ranges to help parents accommodate their child's own needs.

While a child should be at least the minimum age to enroll in any given class, there are three critical "transitional stages" when parents have an important choice to make about which class is most appropriate and beneficial for their child: at age 1 1/2, when broaching age 3 1/2 and at age 4 1/2.

If your child is near a transitional stage, the following guidelines may help your decision.

Moving from Village to Our Time - Children ready for this next level show many of the following characteristics:

Physical

  • Improved walking skills, feet are together, knees flexible (vs. the "just walker" who has a wide-based, legs apart gate with locked knees)
  • Beginning to imitate/explore a variety of traveling movements -- run, jump, leap

Cognitive

  • Reliably point to correctly identified body parts
  • Can follow two-step direction
  • Understands what "one" means (vs. a handful)
  • Learning to use toys and objects in symbolic ways (moving beyond just enjoyment of sensory properties)
  • Can interact in a directed activity
  • Able to shift attention with transition
  • Connects to an activity; initiates a play sequence
  • Reliably responds to own name (refers to self by name in secure environments)

Emotional

  • Uses gestures and language to deal with frustration (as opposed to just crying or whining)
  • Sustains interest and attention in activity for several minutes (Note: not wanting to give something up, such as bells or sticks, can be a sign of maturation)

Language

  • Can express wants and needs symbolically (gestures, words)
  • Has vocabulary of 20 words; receptive language is still stronger than expressive
  • Reading with caregiver becomes cooperative. Child will select book, sit, relate to the story and interact

Social

  • Interested in what other children are doing
  • Capable of distal communication (i.e. following verbal instructions from farther away)


Musical

  • Moves to music, perhaps to steady beat

Moving from Our Time to Imagine That! Children ready for this next level show many of the following characteristics:

Physical

  • Has a taller, thinner, adult-like appearance
  • Balances on one foot; jumps in place without falling
  • Holding crayons in pincher grasp rather than fist

Cognitive

  • Knows if they are a boy or girl
  • Can do matching games
  • Knows some basic shapes and colors
  • Developing divergent thinking skills ("What animals do you like?")
  • Beginning transition from concrete to abstract thinking (humor aids this process)
  • Sits and listens to stories for up to 10 minutes

Emotional

  • Recognizes needs of another person; can be empathetic
  • Separates from parent without crying
  • Development of humor


Language

  • Beginning to master rules of language; speaks in full sentences (4-5 words); asks questions
  • Vocabulary growing from 300-1,000 words
  • Can relate a series of activities; tells stories ("We went to the grocery store, then to grandma's and I played with the kittens.")


Social

  • Recognizes the needs of others
  • Turn taking becomes harder than earlier, but beginning to understand reasons
  • Learning about patience

Musical

  • Recites rhymes
  • Sings simple, whole songs

Importance of Re-enrolling

A recent study found that repeated enrollment in Kindermusik improves a child's ability to plan, guide, and control their own behavior.

"Children currently enrolled in Kindermusik showed higher levels of self-control than those never enrolled and those previously enrolled. ...This suggests that in order for children to reap the benefit of increased self-control as a result of Kindermusik participation, it is important to have repeated and recent Kindermusik experiences and remain enrolled in the program."


  • "Four-year-old children who had been exposed to Kindermusik for longer periods of time are better off in terms of self-control—namely a child's ability to plan, guide, and control their own behavior—than similar children with less Kindermusik history."

  • "These experiences, stop-go, high-low, fast-slow, short-long, and loud-soft, whereby children's motor behavior is guided by the music, appear to be good exercise for young children's emerging self-regulatory skills."

The study, "The Effects of Kindermusik on Behavioral Self-Regulation in Early Childhood," was conducted in 2005 in the psychology department at George Mason University in Virginia.


Results were made available to Kindermusik in May, 2005. The study was conducted by Adam Winsler Ph.D and graduate student Lesley Ducenne in the Department of Psychology at George Mason University.
The 15-month study included 91 children between the ages of 3 and 5 who were split into three groups: 23 students currently enrolled in Kindermusik, 19 students previously enrolled in Kindermusik, and 49 students of similar family backgrounds from local preschools who had never had Kindermusik.


The children were observed doing a variety of tasks that required self-control such as slowing down their motor behavior, delaying their gratification, refraining from touching attractive but forbidden toys, quietly whispering, and compliance with instructions to initiate or stop certain behaviors. Parents also completed surveys.


The study was supervised by Adam Winsler, Ph.D, Applied Developmental Psychology in the Department of Psychology at George Mason University.

Monday 15 January 2007

Welcome!

Welcome to the Kindermusik Nanaimo blog where you can learn all about Kindermusik music and movement classes for children newborn through age 7 offered by me, Miss Nicky, at the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music.

I look forward to learning and growing with you and your families!