I don't even know how to start out this post. Kindermusik has been a part of mine and James's life from early on. I took him to his first Kindermusik class when we were still in Dallas when he was 7 weeks old. Soon after that, we moved and one of the first things I did was find a class. We ended up going to the Boykin Music Studio taught by Phyllis Boykin in Anderson. It was a long drive for us, but well worth it. Up to this point, most of the songs that I had been singing to James were ones I made up, ie, they were lame and repetitive. We tried the traditional nursery rhymes songs, but we just couldn't relate to them. Have you ever really listed to the words of Rock A Bye Baby? It is not a good song! With Kindermusik, we learned brand new songs that we could use anywhere. I used "when cows get up the in the morning" when James took his first pictures, "jingle, jingle, goes the baby bells" for doctors appointments, and who could forget "Hey-Ho, here we go, lets go hiking, hiking, hiking" for the semi-disastrous hike to the waterfall? The good thing about all these songs is you can personalize them for just about any situation. This class really paid off when on a drive to see the in-laws, James was just screaming and screaming...we put on his CD and all was quiet, for like 15 minutes.
Although Kindermusik is a little pricey, I think you get a lot for what you pay for. This past semester, I paid a little over $200 for classes from Jan-until end of May, 2 books, 2 CDs, and musical instruments. The books are always favorites...except for that Feathers one...that was lame.
I think all parents say, "yeah, my kid LOVES music" and I am sorry, I have to respectfully disagree, because MY kid LOVES music. I've seen your kid at the library story time, at the grocery story, at the blueglass concert, and it is always James first, front and center, dancing his little heart out. This may not be so much as James's love for music, as the fact that he is extremely Not Shy. He is a STAR.
I decided not to sign James up for Kindermusik again because of Baby#2. A lot of new moms do bring their new babies who sleep peacefully in the corner during class, but that is just hard for me to picture right now. That meant today was James's last day of Kindermusik, and I am really sad.
Here is James and Ms. Phyllis. I really can't say enough good things about her. She kept a good balance between fun and order. It has got to be hard in a toddler class. Although I am sure James was her star pupil, he might have been a little drooly for her.
James showing off his baby belly.
They are big on "rituals and routines" in class. All the kids love to put the toys away!
Something new in the toddler class - story time!
Playing with a slide whistle.
I am sad to say that James was NOT on his best behaviour for his last class. I think he knows something is up!
4 comments:
Oh no! I had no idea Kindermusik was coming to an end!
And yes, I TOTALLY agree, your kid is the biggest music lover EVER!!! As well as being a SUPERSTAR dancer!
At least you have CD's! My CD player is broken in the car, which means is just little ole me singing to the girls all the time. We have a 45 minute commute home every day, and we sing every day. Each of us takes turns picking the song we are goign to sing, and we never run out of songs. NEVER. Sigh. :-) It's a good thing, because I want my girls to love music as much as I do. I'm sorry that Kindermusik is coming to an end for you. Maybe you can pick it back up in the spring?
We just signed up for Miss Phyllis' Family Time class. I wanted to redo Sign & Sing, but it was at a bad time. We liked Feathers, actually. SB LOVES the book - we 'read' it daily.
I know you don't like talking about it, but any word on baby #2? You've got to be counting down the days!
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