Tis the Season!

Christmas is the perfect time to give the gift of music or art! In a time of economic uncertainty, if you have to pick only one enrichment activity for your child, let it be music or art. The study of music and art helps to lay a solid foundation for lifelong participation in and appreciation for the arts.

There is also evidence that the study of music is helpful in the academic realm. A recent study by Harvard Medical School tested the effects of instrument study on both verbal and nonverbal test scores with 59 students. The students that were studying music had higher test scores than those who did not study music; verbal scores were 15% higher and nonverbal scores were 10% higher. Ellen Winner, the author of the study, writes that it makes sense that thinking musically would facilitate other thought processes: "Music involves grasping patterns, and the nonverbal reasoning task involves grasping patterns".

This Christmas, give the lifelong gift of music or art! CSA offers a variety of music and art programs for students of all ages. Please visit our website for more information! (and stay tuned for a new website in the coming months...) Merry Christmas!

An Early Childhood Music class at Community School of the Arts

Creating Gifts and Memories

The Christmas season can easily turn into a time full of empty meaningless gifts. Children love to create their own gifts and cards. I have seen children more excited about giving a gift than receiving gifts. Usually homemade gifts are very inexpensive but will take an investment of your time. This creating time will often turn into a messy but great parent child memory. Forty years later I still remember printing wrapping paper in the basement with my mom. Our family has a tradition of creating Christmas cards. Set aside time on your calendar to create some memories and gifts.
Helpful reminders to make a successful time are:
Make sure you have all the supplies you need before you begin.
Have enough supplies for extras in case something gets ruined early on.
Have realistic expectations of the end product. It will be just as treasured even if the recipient isn’t quite sure what it is.
Allow plenty of drying time; kid’s creations are usually thick!
Let this be your child’s creation.
Some fun ideas are, stamping bookmarks, creating your own cards, making an ornament, painting a box or frame. Supplies for these are easily found in any craft department. There are many more ideas found at
http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/specialfeature/holiday_gifts_ms/

Music and the mind

In September, I had the fortune to travel to Canada and visit McMaster University where some fascinating research is occurring at the McMaster Institute of Music and the Mind. Dr. Laurel Trainor, a well respected researcher and David Gerry, also a researcher (and a fellow Suzuki colleague) invited me to see the pilot trials for their latest study. They were testing 6 month old babies for joint attention. They were testing to see how they baby responded to the researcher with looking and gestures. They are in the process of testing 60 babies! Half of these children will attend several months of a Suzuki Early Childhood Classes, with the control group having an unstructured gathering time. Then the babies will be tested again to see how participation in a music class affects joint attention.

At the institute, in their auditory lab, they study the perception of sound in infants, children and adults. They also study music and language acquisition and how music training affects brain development. They also do research to answer such questions as: Do babies recognize songs? If so, what do they perceive: structure, pitch, patterns? In some of their studies, the babies wear a cap with sensors (looks like a cap of marshmallows!) to assess stimulation of the brain.

Another study tested 7 month old babies to see if they could distinguish between music that had duple meter (feels like a march) or triple meter (feels like a waltz). The babies were bounced to music of certain meter. They then listened to selections played from speakers. One speaker would play the familiar meter then the other speaker would play music with the unfamiliar meter. Their length of time looking at a certain speaker playing the music showed their preference. The conclusion of the study showed that babies with music class experience could tell the difference between the meters. Some of the other studies include results from researching Suzuki instrumental students compared to children with no music instruction and the difference in brain development and response..
On the link below, you can read the paragraph summary of several of their studies. The pictures are fun to see too! Enjoy!
Research proves what we teachers believe: music grows beautiful minds and people!
www.psychology.mcmaster.ca/ljt/research.htm

Get The Most out of Music Class--some tips!

You are your child’s most important teacher. Give yourself permission to be a musical role model by participating fully in class— enjoy singing with gusto, moving freely and listening attentively. You will convey to your child that music is a valuable activity, not to mention fun!

Do not worry about the quality of your singing voice. Instilling a joy for making music is far more important than “getting the notes right.” Language can sometimes get in the way of tonal development so feel free to be playful with sounds like “bah”, “bum” and “dah”. You may find that your child will join in song with you more easily.

Repetition is vital to your child’s learning process. You will surely become tired of listening to your child’s CD, but it is through repetition that the music gets inside your child and greater learning (nuance) takes place.

Keep chatting with friends in class to a minimum. Your focus and attention will rub off on your child and will signal to him/her that what you are doing in class is important and special.

Observe and enjoy quiet time in class and in the music (e.g. listening time, rocking, story-telling, some imaginative play). Quiet times encourage the child to practice self-control, serve as calming moments for the class, and allow for (musical) processing i.e. audiation.

Have fun with vocal exploration—sirens, wind, train whistles, animal sounds are all ideal ways for children to begin to master the high and low ranges of their voices which will improve their ability to match pitch as they develop.

Learning styles are different and that’s okay. Your child may exhibit one or more of the following learning traits. The visual learner likes to observe in class and then try it out at home. This child appreciates lots of good modeling in class. The auditory learner enjoys aural learning experiences and often matches pitch well. This child likes to sing parts of songs or engage in sound play. The kinesthetic learner prefers to learn by doing and enjoys dancing, creative movement and playing instruments.

ENJOY! Music is a gift that lasts a lifetime. By week 5 or 6, you and your child will begin to form a music class “community” that we hope will strengthen and last for years to come.

The Power of Music in the Learning Process

Looking for educational, music-related activities to do with your young children on a rainy day? Check out this article from Community Play Things, which also speaks to the importance of music in a child's learning process.

Music is good for your family and the culture

Congratulations! You've enrolled in an early childhood music class! What a significant choice you have made for your child and your family. The songs you sing, the games you play, the stories you tell together not only affect the dynamic of your family, but in the end, affect how culture is transmitted.  The parent/child bond is essential, and its influence can not be underestimated. The games, songs, stories you share with your child create deep, emotional ties that are indelibly etched upon their minds and hearts.  As adults, it will be those songs, stories, etc. that bubble up when they play with their own children. What songs will they sing?  What stories will they tell?  What lullabies will send their children to sleep?

Listen to what Roger H. Brown, president of Berklee School of Music (alma mater of contemporary musicians such as Quincy Jones, Branford Marsalis, Diana Krall and John Mayer) says about Music, Culture and Early Childhood Development:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOM8Z2UQKR4

The Importance of Play Time

Kathy, one of CSA's Early Childhood Music teachers, recently found an interesting article on NPR, an article describing the benefits of the kind of free, imaginative play that children used to engage in with regularity but is no longer as common with today's temptation to overschedule children. Imaginative play is the kind of activity that early childhood music classes encourage and promote.

Click here to read the very informative NPR article that Kathy has shared. Long live play time! :)

Early Childhood is a great time in your child's life

...and now is a wonderful time to sign up for Early Childhood Music or Art classes at the Community School of the Arts. Our class schedule and registration forms can be found on our website (scroll down the page to find our Early Childhood information). Fall semester classes begin Friday, September 5. Some of our classes have already filled up, but we still have room for more! We would love to see you and your child in a class this fall.

Why study Early Childhood Music at the Community School of the Arts?

To quote Musikgarten, one of our Early Childhood Music curriculum suppliers:

"In today's multimedia-saturated world, young parents are bombarded with programs and products that are supposedly good for their children. Spurred on by research that places the early childhood years as the most crucial time in a child's development, parents are under great pressure to explore all the options. Parents want what is best for their children...[But] many products geared to young children are visually stimulating. Very few are concerned with the aural development of the child."

CSA's Early Childhood Music classes, however, "provide a music-rich environment in which parents and children, together, can play and grow musically...music-making truly becomes a family activity."

We hope that you will join us this fall for Early Childhood classes at the Community School of the Arts!

Summer at CSA

Our annual Summer Arts Junior camp was held last week at CSA. Over 50 of our Early Childhood students and families joined us for mornings of music, art, and movement/dance classes. A good time was had by all! Here are some photos:

The Orff class added musical accompaniment to the story of Swimmy.

One of the art classes, working on their flowerpots.

One of the preschool music classes sitting in the drum circle.

One of the movement/dance classes performed a patriotic-themed dance.

Moms and toddlers playing the jingle bells together in the toddler music class!

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