Preschool & Kindermusik

Wondering about how Kindermusik is going to fit into your preschoolers life this year? Transitioning to preschool can be made easier by maintaining some school year routines that have brought joy to your child in the past. Re enrolling in Kindermusik this fall will actually help your child adjust to their new preschool schedule. Knowing they can count on spending time with you and music will add a sense of comfort and security to the new school experience.

You are my little flower

Mollie Greene has a beautiful blog where she shares her amazing gift for word and picture. Today her blog introduced me to Elizabeth Mitchell. If you are reading this, do yourself a favor and surf over to hear some of this wonderful music. I am going to buy them all.

What a Wonderful Shadow Puppet Show

GREAT Shadow Puppetry - Funny video clips are a click away

thanks Molly

Taste and see . .

Our friend Peder Eide is giving a concert at Hosanna! Lutheran Church in Lakeville on Wednesday at 1:00 in the afternoon. It will be a nice end of the summer treat for the whole family.

Images

At-ten-tion!

Lorelei and Tucker enjoy the snappy new marching uniforms for our band.
(sans shoes)

6 to 8 and 17

6 to 8: For each hour a day that babies 8 to 16 months were shown such popular videos as "Brainy Baby' or "Baby Einstein" number fewer words that they were able to recognize compared with children who do not a watch the videos, according to a study of the vocabularies of 1000 babies in Washington and Minnesota.

17: In the study percent of parents who had their children watch the videos for more than an hour a day.

Simply Perwinkle

Our new Kindermusik home is taking shape.

Demo Days!

Good Advice

Toy Recall

With the latest toy recall from Mattel, and so many millions of children's products slipping through the cracks of safety testing it is nice to know there is a place like Mahar Drygoods. These are lovely toys, they can be costly, but just a few quality toys that inspire imagination and can be played with in lots of different ways, and in different venues may be worth it.
How many ways are there really to play with a toy army jeep?

Simple is best

This is a newsletter worth getting. Kids Craft Weekly, will send you links to good activities once a month. I love this one. Twelve simple, no fuss craft ideas

Check it out

I35W Bridge

Just one week since the collapse of the I 35W bridge in Minneapolis. We continue to keep the families of those killed, hurt and still missing in our thoughts and prayers.

Baby Einstein - more harm than good

In the Journal of Pediatrics today there is an article about the effects of Baby Einstein and similar videos on vocabulary of very young children.

For every hour a day that babies 8 to 16 months old were shown such popular series as "Brainy Baby" or "Baby Einstein," they knew six to eight fewer words than other children, the study found.

Parents aiming to put their babies on the fast track, even if they are still working on walking, each year buy hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of the videos.

Read more HERE
And another article HERE

movies

I have learned how to add some video clips to my blog. Just look to the right, and click on any picture that says "powered by google" underneath it. After you click the picture the video will show at the top of the page, so scroll back up to watch.

Green

I am trying out this new look. It is so dry and hot I am feeling like a little green. How do you like it?

If you ain't got it in ya

We loved Paris!

Home from France, Lorelei and I are forever changed. Spending time with our dear friend Charline (above). This sweet girl walked us over every inch of Paris. We were so blessed by the whole Brune family who welcomed us into their home, taught us about French cooking, and culture. We spent time at their house in the country and saw many small villages, beautiful cathedrals and even the beaches of Normandy. Also this amazing monument, which although I have seen the image a million times seeing it in person was breath taking.

Bon Jour

This blog may be quiet for the next few weeks - unless I can find a cyber cafe somewhere here in Paris - the city of love. In which case, I will post a picture of Lorelei and I near something old and beautiful. Au Revoir

A lovely poem

Poem: "At the Children's Violin Concert" by Susan Cataldo, from drenched: Selected Poems of Susan Cataldo 1979–1999. © Telephone Books.

At the Children's Violin Concert

Firmly bowed
strands of horse hair
tightened or
gathered up by
a small hand to play
a piece by J.S. Bach
who drank 36 cups of coffee every day.

I like him because he was
inspired by his belief in God
& he played the organ in a church
in Leipzig & he walked on
cobblestone streets to his home
every evening where he fathered
many children & wrote music
for his wife to clean house by.
He worked hard all his life
& when he died, he left us
all the little notes he made
for himself while he was alone.

Mowing

What mowing the lawn can get you. A Dean ML electric bass for my electric boy.
Way to go Tucker!

What do you hear?

Listening to the brush strokes, the colors mixing in this room that was the place where so much was created. A few hours packing of body casts (for eye training I am told) unscrewing of paint dropped easels and still life props, this room is slowly readying itself for a new kind of art. The kind that jingles, taps, colors, skips, hops, rolls, massages, loves, shares, sings, and more and more and more. I can almost hear the sweet songs, squeals of delight and toddling footsteps.

Caponi Art Park

The Caponi Art Park in Eagan is one of our areas most wonderful spots to see huge outdoor sculpture, hear music, see a play or join a discussion group. Tuesday is FAMIL DAY at Caponi art park. Check their calendar here. There are some great concerts and performances coming up.

Music in our Schools

The beautiful thing about music is that it can give kids skills that transfer over into their reading, writing, and math.”

Andrea Peterson, the 2007 Teacher of the Year

Watch Andrea on ed.gov

(from Molly McGinn)

yum

This is what we are planning for our 4th of July Picnic this week. This
Peach Vanilla Pie just sounds too good to pass up. Maple Brined Turkey roasted on grill.

The sweet corn isn't quite sweet yet up here - so maybe something else, baked sweet potato fries sound good.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! Enjoy the celebrations
Click on the patriotic family to see a great parade.

Marvelous Me Camp

If this slideshow could sing you would hear . . .

Look at me Marvelous Me! See what I can do.
By Myself thats right just ME!
See what I can do.

Music Education Counts

“Music education opens doors that help children pass from school into the world around them — a world of work, culture, intellectual activity, and human involvement. The future of our nation depends on providing our children with a complete education that includes music.” — Gerald Ford, former President, United States of America

The National Association for Music Education narrows down the benefits of a music education into four categories:

• Success in society
• Success in school
• Success in developing intelligence
• Success in life

“Every student [should] have an education in the arts,” they write. “Music is the fabric of our society.”

Read this inspiring article here and congratulate yourself for a choosing to give such a gift to your children!

Thanks to Mollie Greene for finding these words.

Good Reads

If you would like to be my reading friend, I will be posting books that I like. Mostly great stories to check out for your kids - but I do like novels too, and I will let you know what I am reading. Just click below to check my shelf so far.

my 'read' shelf:

Can you hear it?

Can you hear it? Today a cast room for still life and cast art classes. On August 1 jingle bells, singing voices, tapping, shaking and lullbyes, our new home. Kindermusik of the Valley is moving to the Arts at River Ridge.

I am thinking about wall colors, carpet textures, sound systems, if you would like to weight in with any "feel creative" colors please do. I will keep pictures posted on the progress, exciting!

Daisys

Two summers ago my sister gave me a few stray daisys that had wandered out of her garden and into the grass. I forgot about them in my car for a day or two, then planted them in my front garden hoping for the best. I was pleased last summer when a few came up and gave me some cheerful daisy blooms. This year they have shown their true strength. Springing up everywhere with a riot of confident white and yellow smiles. Thanks Elizabeth.

2007 Maestro

I am proud and honored to announce that Kindermusik of the Valley has received the Kindermusik Maestro Award for the 8th connsecutive year. Beyond this lovely honor I have received a special MAESTRO IN OUTREACH award in recognition of serving children from underserved populations in North Minneapolis.

Thank you all for helping us to achieve this honor, it is your beautiful children and the relationships we share that makes our work such a blessing.

call a story

Free Telephone Story Line

StoryLine is a phone line kids can call anytime, day or night, and hear a local actor read an excellent children's book. The stories change every week, but the stories every month are grouped by theme or subject area. This service is free unless longdistance charges apply.

A new story starts every Sunday at noon! Call 952-352-1350 and enjoy!

Jazz Kitchen Highlights

5

Free Concert Tonight

Our friend Peder Eide is performing a free concert tonight at Prince of Peace Church in Burnsville at 7:00. Families with children little to large will have a wonderful time!

Jazz Kitchen

Noodles from scratch, noodles from scratch,
We MADE a big batch of Noodles from scratch

Nine children, two teenagers and one teacher are having a great time this week. We are singing, dancing, reading, rocking, playing and cooking! Our home made noodles were a big hit! Both the making and the eating!! Visit tomorrow for more pictures of our Kindermusik Adventure - We have Muffins in the Pan coming up tomorrow, yum.

Gastro Kid

Surfing around the world wide web in preparation for the JAZZ KITCHEN coming up next week when I ran across this cool website about cooking with kids. Gastro Kid has gear ideas, lots of recipes and advice for feeding kids.

Its Trygve's Birthday!

He remodels the house for a Kindermusik camp. He catches and fries fish for the boys scouts. He walks the Dinah in all weather. He takes us to see the Twins game. We love you honey. Happy birthday!