Kindermusik and Babytalk's World's Biggest Playgroup Event

Once again Kindermusik International participated in the World’s Biggest Playgroup event sponsored by Babytalk. This event was held on November 10, 2009, at the Mall of America in Bloomington (Minneapolis), MN. Click here to take a look at a copy of the in-book promotional page which appears in the November issue of Babytalk, where you’ll see Kindermusik and many other child-focused companies listed as sponsors. Kindermusik provided the four musical/activity sessions during the event, and we were included as a sponsor and are being recognized in all advertising (both local and national).

Maestro educator Helen Peterson (along with a few other Kindermusik educators) led the four 20 minute Kindermusik segments during this half-day event. This brought more children into the Minneapolis area Kindermusik programs and provided Kindermusik some well-deserved national attention all at the same time. 800 to 1000 children and parents were expected to attend!

Passing the Torch!

It really doesn't seem that long ago that Rachel Roberts was in Kindermusik employee owner & educator Cindy Bousman's Kindermusik class at the Cultural Arts Center in Greensboro, NC. You can imagine her surprise and delight when she found out Rachel is currently in a Fundamentals Learning Group! It really feels good to be able to pass on the torch.

"Young" Rachel is the cutie on the left in the red striped shorts!

Women in Business

Now is the perfect time for you to start your own Kindermusik business and add valuable income to your family budget, while bringing the gift of music to children in your community.

Did you know that within married-couple families, the typical working wife now brings home 42.2 percent of her family’s earnings? And, women increasingly are the primary breadwinners. In 2008, nearly 4 in 10 mothers (39.3 percent) were the primary breadwinner in their family—either because they were a single, working parent or because they earned as much as or more than their spouse. An additional quarter percent (24.0 percent) of mothers are co-breadwinners—that is, a working wife bringing home at least 25 percent of her family’s total earnings. Women are becoming breadwinners among all kinds of married-couple families, by income, education, and race.

Above data obtained from the Shriver Report - The Shriver Report is a product of Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress. For more research on women and the economy, go to americanprogress.org/women.

The "Mary Poppins" of Kindermusik

Kindermusik educators are called a lot of things -- creative -- musical -- warm -- friendly -- compassionate -- but Lindsay Levin of San Ramon, CA, was recently called the "Mary Poppins of East Bay" by one of her parent PROMOTERS.

Here's what was said:

"Miss Lindsay is apparently the Mary Poppins of the Eastbay. I love music and sing loudly to my 80's pop hits when I am 1000% sure no one (okay, cat excepted) is within driving distance. Miss Lindsay is pretty much the complete opposite. Actually, I think she would sing her way through her day if she could."

A Parent Testimonial..Music to Our Ears!

I have always wanted to write to Kindermusik to tell you of my experience. All 3 of my children went through the Kindermusik experience and we ALL loved it.
That was many years ago, my children are now 19, 17, and 15 and they are all musical even though my husband and I are not.

The oldest plays all sorts of instruments, has a great ear, writes music, sings, and is attending college for Jazz Studies. The middle child has been playing flute since 4th grade and is now Drum Major for her high school marching band and desperately wants to continue marching in college. The youngest also plays several instruments and is in high school marching band too.

This program has touched our family's life in a big way and I wanted to say THANKS

..shared by Brenda C. whose children took Kindermusik classes in both Alabama and Virginia

Join the global community of educators who are positively impacting the lives of children with the gift of music.

As I go into my 16th year of teaching Kindermusik, it feels like a good time to reflect. I remember that first semester of teaching two classes of "Beginnings" in my church basement (for you newbies, that's what we called it before it became "Our Time"). After teaching 3 years I was up to around 50 students and decided to hire a teacher....and then another. As life was good, in my ninth year, I started feeling like there was something more I was destined to do. I didn't want to give up Kindermusik, but something was nagging at me. Then I went to convention and witnessed Sandy Taylor from Denver, Colorado, as she presented us with her work with special needs children. It touched my heart so a new endeavor began. For the next two years, I worked on becoming not-for-profit so we would be eligible to apply for more grants. We received our 501-c in 2006. This part of our program has been an uphill battle ever since, and our mainstream children are still the ones we mostly serve and value so much. They are the ones who sustain us and bring us joy every day. We're up to 3 locations, 230 children, 7 teachers and a part time Administrative Assistant. Fundraising is a new part of our yearly activities, and we currently provide tuition scholarships for 6-12 children per semester. We're so excited about receiving At Home materials from the Ruth D. Anderson Kindermusik Children's Fund for the coming 2009-2010 years. We will take free Family Time classes to Sheltering Wings which is a shelter for battered women and their children. We hope to bring some positive bonding between these mothers and children and put smiles back on their faces again. We're also moving one of our locations this year due to the center we've been in for 3 years closing down. If there's one piece of advice I can give to my fellow Kindermusik Educators, it's this. Don't say to yourself, "when is it all going to settle down?" or "when I just get this done, we'll be set." It never settles down. There's always another fire to put out. A teacher quits, or a location closes down or asks you to move, you have a huge unexpected expense come up for the program, your computer breaks down, you make a big mistake. It's called "running a business" so relax and don't take it so seriously. It's all part of the journey -- so every time there's a hurdle, don't panic -- even if others around you do. You learn something with every trial. Just look at each hurdle in the face and then calmly tackle it. It will never be perfect but it can have endless rewards. Kindermusik has taught me not only about children but about myself. As we patiently wait to receive that first grant, I am grateful for the wonderful families and staff that I currently have and continue to value the new relationships I continue to make.

Have I Got What It Takes?

Many of you may be asking "have I got what it takes to be a Kindermusik educator?" Well... we have some information that may help you in determining whether this is a good fit for you. According to a study published in the AMTA's Journal of Music Therapy Spring 2008 Issue, music education majors were primarily female, studied a band instrument or voice most frequently, 53% attended university on scholarship with 3.0 to 4.0 GPAs. They took private music lessons growing up, participated in sol0 or ensembles, were members of church/community groups, and volunteered. The trend was basically the same with music therapy majors, with these few exceptions: they were primarily females, who studied voice most frequently, 60.3 % attended university on scholarship with 3.0 to 4.0 GPAs. They both have a service-minded outlook, which draws them to these professions.

Personality traits include: Warmly enthusiastic, high-spirited, ingenious, and imaginative. Able to do almost anything that interests them with a solution for any difficulty. Ready to help anyone with a problem. Often relies on their ability to improvise instead of prepare in advance. Can always find compelling reasons for whatever they want. Live their outer life more with intuition, inner more with feeling. Usually more extroverted.

If this sounds like you, and you have a passion for music and love for children, this is the single best career choice that you can make!