Natural Science

Patricia Kuhl is in the news again. The leading expert on language and author of "The Scientist in the Crib" received a French award for her work using highly scientific approaches to understand the highly scientific process babies use to learn language.

Kuhl talks more about it -- in her own endearing words -- in the above TEDTalks video.

Kuhl is a frequent speaker and internationally-recognized expert on the topic (she has her own wiki page for crying out loud). She has a way of making science sensible and relatable. Even still, every time I read a new research report, or discover another story about a scientific breakthrough on child development or parenting, something inside me goes, "Well, duh. Yea."

Some scientists literally go around the world to discover something that in the end, seems like common sense -- in retrospect. Hindsight is 20/20, right? Science and scientists use their intuitive skills to uncover the mystery of intuition.

In Kindermusik training, we learn about the science driving a parent's natural instinct to care for their baby. We also learn about the child's developmental process, so we can match the right activities to nurture and challenge those developmental milestones.

Kindermusik makes the science of parenting, sensible. Natural.

Photo by Motorito

The result for Educators is a deeper understanding of what's happening between a care-giver and a child. It's a beautiful thing to watch grandpa play "Got your nose" with his grandson. And in Kindermusik training, we learn the natural science behind this endearing moment: Grandpa has just doubled the child's chances of learning the word "nose" because he said the word when he grabbed that cute little nose. And sitting in the arms of a loving grandfather, the chances of a child remembering that word just rose exponentially.

Not duh, but "awe." As in "awww, isn't that cute?" And "awe," as in amazing.

Some parents have a "knowing" about their parenting. Some parents want more information. In Kindermusik classes, we nurture both. We can speak to both types of learning parents.

It's a natural science.

Good Beginning

"I have seen the amazing results that occur teaching students a second language through music and movement."

Not bad for a day's work, eh?

Helen Peterson is a Kindermusik educator based in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. In this video, she welcomes new families to her fall classes, and provides just a glimpse into what children and their caregivers can experience in a Kindermusik class:

• exposure to a wide variety of music -- from Classical music to multi-lingual folk songs from around the world
• activities to develop physical coordination and critical thinking skills 
• activities to develop a child's multi-sensory learning strengths
• weekly classes to create a sense of community among new parents 
• experiences to develop a new parent's sense of "parenting esteem" (self-esteem)

You can do so much for the new families in your community -- and yourself! -- when you become a Kindermusik Educator.

Give us a call, we'd love to tell you more about how to get started.

Today's Economic Conditions Require Tough Decisions

In difficult times such as these, things often come into sharper focus-we remember what's really important, and what goals in life are really worth pursuing. And in times like these, Kindermusik stands out as a source of joy, growth, and strength for young children and their families. What more important time than now to help families come together?

The investment a parent makes in a child's early years, by enrolling them in a Kindermusik class, has lasting benefits. In fact, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, states, "Studying music encourages self discipline and diligence traits that carry over into mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history and geography." Research supports that music helps prepare the mind for specific disciplines of learning; skills learned through music carry over into study skills, communications skills, cognitive skills and abstract reasoning skills useful to all parts of life, according to a 1997 article in Neurological Research.

Join our worldwide community of educators as we change the lives of children and their families with the gift of music.