I will be hosting FREE DEMO CLASSES on Friday, May 16th, and full enrollment will begin on Friday, May 30th.  If your child enjoys Friday’s free class, registration forms and informational brochures are now available in the Bright Horizons office!

Join the Ms. Kat’s Music & Movement “movement!”

Now for a little bit of information about my class sessions:  I believe that all children are born with a capacity to love music, and that many of them can also develop the ability to create music of their own.  There are three basic rules I follow when developing my curriculum:

          1) Music should be fun.  Ms. Kat’s classes are never performance-based.  There’s no such thing as “out of tune” or “out of time” with children this young!  We practice familiar traditional songs and nursery rhymes, modern traditional preschool favorites, classroom-theme-based variations of popular melodies, and even some of Ms. Kat’s original children’s music.  We listen and respond with “echo” songs, we try singing extra loud or extra soft, race through a song or take it s-u-p-e-r s-l-o-w…. The only measure of success is enthusiastic vs. unenthusiastic.  I’m happy to report that enthusiasm has been the product of every Ms. Kat’s class to date!

          2) Music should incorporate the whole child, and welcome every type of learner.  Ms. Kat’s classes include both large-motor movements and fine-motor movements.  Kinesthetic learners are allowed to shuffle and wiggle at the edge of class while they integrate knowledge into their bodies.  The preschoolers’ imaginations and interests help direct the class topics — I’ve been known to redirect a lesson plan mid-class if a group has their own agenda for the day — and our discussions inspire subjects for future classes.  Classes are kept small so that each child has the opportunity to contribute ideas, which also reinforces social learning such as turn-taking and following directions.

          3) Music should be educational.  Ms. Kat’s songs and stories introduce new words to children, along with repeated phonemes and rhymes, which can help with their reading readiness.  Music may create permanent neural pathways in the brain, helping with memory and recall — how many of you still sing the Ray Charles’ “Fifty Nifty United States” song you learned in elementary school when trying to remember the name of a state?  (I do!)    Learning songs with differing meters introduces basic mathematical concepts such as counting and pattern recognition.  The themes in my repertoire were developed to accompany a typical preschool curriculum, including topics such as the seasons, weather, days of the week, animals from every habitat, colors, holidays, favorite foods… the list just keeps growing!

I’m a very active member of Austin’s association of musicians, across many genres.  I love it all!  Time and again, a shared love for music has been a jumping off point for many relationships, both personal and professional.  It is of the utmost importance to create and maintain an ongoing  community of music lovers, and to encourage the development of the next generation of Austin musicians.

To that end, I update my website regularly with Austin music news — especially when it is relevant to families with small children — and encourage active discussion on the Ms. Kat’s Music & Movement Facebook page.  I also share song lyrics, videos, recordings of original children’s songs, and suggestions for extending your child’s musical education at home.  Come and join the discussion by following me here at MsKatsMusic.com, “Like” my business page at Facebook, or find me on Twitter @MsKatsMusic.

And THANK YOU for sharing your little people with me!   🙂