And then I wondered why I waited so long. I love being able to access email and internet anywhere(thanks to my phone). Netflix is great for the kids on long roadtrips, Angry Birds is a whole lot better on a larger screen.I’m auditing a Latin class, and I never lose my notes, now, cause they are not on paper anymore.

I love the apps for my kids. My sports minded son had no problem learn those pesky 11′s and 12′s multiplication facts with Baseball Math. And we love Jellybean Tunes. But hands down, our favorite is Where’s My Water? (It’s all about physics and logical thinking), created by Disney.

The creators of Jellybean Tunes have a a blog called Moms with Apps, that promotes quality apps for kids and families.

So, tell me, what are your favorite apps – either grownup or kid-friendly? Leave me a note. I’d love to know.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who still loves her Samsung Galaxy ANDROID phone, and has no plans to trade it in for an iPhone.

Kate swinging Up, Up, Up, Up and Down, Down, Down, Down

Every parent does it. Every parent to some extent brags, compliments and shares in the excitement of his or her child. I do it. I do it ALL the time. I am so proud of my girls. I think they are genius children and that they really could do no wrong. I sing my child’s praises to friends, family and acquaintances.

In fact, I am about to do it now. My youngest daughter, Kate, has been in the Kindermusik program since two months of infancy. We started her in Family Time, then in Village and now she is a thriving Our Timer. I watched as her progression over the past two years finally came to a head just this last week. I had Kate flying through the air on my legs when I thought – I should do this to the Our Time vocal warmup – Up, Up, Up, Up, Up, Up, Up, Up like a rocket ship… and Down, Down, Down, Down, Down, Down, Down, Down like a shooting star. (I know you just sang this scale exercise as you read that).  It’s addictive and the kids LOVE it.

I introduced this concept of using our scale warmup as a gross motor activity and by the second go-round Kate was singing it by herself.  The next day she was playing play-doh when I overheard her taking the compound containers and stacking them as she sang her scales up and down. My husband whispered, ‘She really is starting to connect things’! He was right. Kate has mastered her scales and she is applying them without my guidance. How proud am I?! Extremely. I want to scream from the mountaintop that my two-year old is a Kindermusik prodigy (though I know this is still just the beginning of her Kindermusik education).

Knowing that parents bask in the little glories of their children, we, as your Studio3Music teachers, want to hear about these milestones whether big or little, whether you deem them inconsequential or bigger than the 2012 Presidential election – tell us! We encourage our Studio3Music community of families to share these tidbits with us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/studio3music.

All geniuses dress this way...

We love our kids, your kids and our community of loving parents. Each child is so different and special in his and her own way, and finding the joy in one another’s growth is only part of the full Kindermusik experience.

My personal next step: getting Kate on video singing her scales. This precious little toddler voice will be gone before I know it. Plus, when she’s 18 and on her first date (yes, she’s not dating ‘til 18) we will remind her that she is every bit as precious to us now as she was when she was two singing her scales wearing only her diaper.

-posted by Miss Kim, who is proud of her children and her Studio3Music Kindermusik community.

Our homework on day one was to make a list of our blessings.  There were dozens of questions by the other participants- “what do you define as a blessing?  How many should we write down, should they be professional or personal? Will we have to read them to the class? Is there a minimum requirement?  Will we be graded?”  They seemed quite overwhelmed by the task.

I came back in the morning with a legal sized piece of paper, covered front to back.  The rest of them, the questioners, came back with a sticky note, or a grocery list piece of paper with a couple of things jotted down.  One gal had written her blessings on the back of a receipt from the grocery store- she’d stopped for milk on the way home, so it was a short receipt, and a very short list of blessings.  I immediately felt embarrassed…  and wondered if I had somehow missed the point of the assignment.  But no- I had heard correctly- I was sure of it.  I was, and still am, a diligent student, and have always done my very best with assignments- what’s the point in doing it if you’re not going to do it well?

When it came time to turn in our lists the instructor seemed non-plussed by the tiny little lists, and I felt even more embarrassed by my tome.  I turned it in, and she immediately picked it up off the table and looked at me- I was horrified.  I was sure I had done something wrong.  And then she smiled… glanced down at my list, read a little bit and then asked me if I would read it to the class… if she hadn’t smiled I would have said no, but her smile was joyful and her eyes sparked when she asked me to read it out loud, so I agreed.

Here are some of the things I put on that list:

God, family, friends, and friends I love so well they’ve become like family, music, a sister who is my best friend, a brother who is my best friend, my mom, also my best friend, my dad- yep- my best friend, Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, The Beatles and the B-52′s, soft fuzzy sweaters, feather pillows, snicker doodles, and steak cooked to a perfect barely medium rare, good movies and popcorn with lots of butter, friends to enjoy the movie with, to hold my hand and dry my tears when sorrow was on my doorstep, cozy furniture and books- good books, picture books, fat books and skinny books so long as the had characters I loved, and mostly happy endings. The list went on and on…

When I got done reading my list, at that seminar almost 25 years ago, I looked up and most of the women were crying.  One of them actually said that she felt all those things were her blessings too – how come she didn’t think of them when she made her list, the other women nodded their heads.  The instructor said that was the point of the activity, to find the good things in our lives, every last one of them, big and small, important and trivial and to be mindful of them each and every day.

So I count my blessings often because if you stay focused on the best things in life, the not so wonderful things will be easier to tackle.

Happy Thanksgiving- and kiss your little blessings for me.

-posted by Miss, Allison, who says that she was the only one who got a 100% in the Power of Positive Thinking seminar. And a cash bonus!

I love doing the different dances and movement activities we regularly have in class each week.  Participating in open movement activities is great.  I love seeing the varied and creative ways grown-ups and children find to dance to music, and of course, scarves and streamers always help.

But, one of my favorite things is group dances.  Some are fairly simple circle dances and are easier to pick up; others are more complicated and take a few weeks before they really begin to click.  This process is greatly helped when we dance as one cohesive group.

I never require that everyone hold hands when we dance in a circle, but I always encourage it, because, that way we truly dance as a group.  This is important for several reasons.  First, it is much easier to learn and participate in dancing when we have someone else to do it with. Not only do we see each other around the circle, but we can feel each other as well.  We help each other dance by picking up on the collective visual and physical cues of the other bodies around us, which helps us to communicate better.

What is more, being better communicators leads us to another one of my favorite benefits; when we dance together we create community.  It is my belief that group dancing is one of the fastest and best ways to create a safe and nurturing community in my classes.

Sometimes when I undertake to introduce a new dance to a class, I wonder what the outcome will be.  Will I explain it well enough? Will everyone get it? Will they like it? Usually by the time everything is said and done, all my concerns have flow out the window.  We all get up, we all might feel a little silly or vulnerable at first, but quickly realize that we can and will do something wonderful together, and in this place it is ok to be silly and vulnerable.

I see the confidence and courage of both children and adults take a steady climb upward when they feel the comfort and security created by dancing together.  We know in that moment as we see the smiling faces of those we are dancing with all around us that we are doing this thing together as a team.  It only works if we all work together to make it happen, which results in such a feeling of delight, accomplishment, and solidarity. Even if there are a few bumps and hiccups along the way it doesn’t matter, because hey, we did this thing together and it is glorious!

-posted by Miss Meresa, who thinks the world would be a happier more peaceful place if we all danced together.

It’s the traditions that make Christmas and any holiday or special event stand out in our memories.  Would it be Easter without dyed eggs and chocolate bunnies, or the Fourth of July without hotdogs, apple pie and fireworks, or a wedding without rings?  The answer: of course it would, but it might feel kinda funny, especially at first.

But every one of today’s traditions, once upon a time, were new additions to a time honored event.  “Joy to the World and “Silent Night” had premiers and were the new kids on the block.  They had to worm their way into the hearts of the people and become a tried and true Christmas tradition.  So over time the traditions of all our beloved holidays have changed.

I’ve added a new tradition to my Christmas – the family concert at the Symphony.  So a part of my Christmas preparations now is writing a script (and it’s all new this year) creating props, (all those are new, too) picking the music, (all new- well, all new old music, I guess is the better way to say that) and writing new music that none of you have ever heard before.

I’ve been deciding what kind of wacky things the Story Fairy will say and do, and wear on her head, it’ll be all new wackiness, but she’ll still be bossy (that’s traditional, after all) figuring out what Stacey and Michael will argue about and who gets to cry (Stacey is so funny when she cries…) crafting a story- yes, it’s all new and working with the arranger (he’s new!)  and the illustrator.  She stays the same, thankfully! I’ve grown accustomed to her style, and love her work, which will be –don’t be shocked – all new.  And we are adding a new twist. We have invited a choir to join us for the story… there will be lots of voices singing out with Christmas and Hanukkah spirit.

Things are starting to move quickly now in our quest toward an all new Holiday Symphony Serenade Show. The illustrations have already been sent to the photographer.  The arranger is working on the lullaby this weekend, our first read through was on Sunday, and Michael and I will begin building a very large Menorah in our garage sometime this week.   The Story fairy will be welding the Shamash – you just can’t miss that!

If you’re reading this and you feel kinda mystified, then you need to add our concert series to your Holiday Traditions.  Your children will love it and you will love it.  It’s a great way to spend a Saturday morning.  There will be group singing, of course, and a bounce, and some giggles, great harmony, a steady beat and a story and a snuggle.  If you now exactly what I’m talking about, get your tickets right here…. ‘cause it’s ALL NEW…..

-posted by Miss Allison, who will see you in the lobby after the show!

I have this little guy in that Our Time class.  His name is Ben, and he’s been in class with me since before he was born. I actually think he was in class before his mother even knew she was pregnant.  After he arrived on the outside of mom, he came as a tag along in a car-seat with his older brother, and when he could sit up, he came to Village (you don’t have to wait that long… come before they sit up!) and now he is coming to his second year of Our Time.  So he’s less than three years old and has been in class longer than that.

Ben and I have a connection that I can’t quite explain… so when his mom came to me last fall and said Ben had been diagnosed somewhere on the Autism spectrum I was literally shocked. Not this child,  who is so lively and connected,  who smiles at me and hugs me and makes eye contact and snuggles into my shoulder so tight that you couldn’t slide a piece of paper between us.  Nope. I couldn’t see it… ‘cause Ben and I are connected.

But I started watching him with other folks and I did notice that he only makes eye contact with his mom and me in class. He doesn’t touch anyone but the two of us, and he doesn’t really interact with the other children, and the other moms are treated like shadows on the wall.  He is very interested in the activities, but on his terms.  So after the shock wore off, I began to understand. It didn’t change anything, ‘cause Ben and I are, well… we’re connected.

Last week in class we we’re doing the Keel Row, just like we always do after we’ve found Lukey’s Boat (Because you dance a Keel Row on a boat- duh!) But I wanted to add a level of personal connection to the communal experience of the dance so I asked the parents to call out to the children across from them and to use the child’s name when we go in and out of the circle during the refrain. The song is highly patterned- intro, verse, refrain, interlude, verse, refrain, and interlude, verse, refrain, refrain. So, there are exactly eight times in the song where the parents were calling out the kids across from them.

Last Tuesday was a running in and out day for Ben; this means he dashes into the action, watches for second or two, or maybe longer, and then dashes back out.  Sometimes back to mom, sometimes to a spot of his choosing.  I know sometimes he’s watching, sometimes he’s absorbing, but not actively focused on what’s going on.  During the dance he ran around the outside of the circle.  I could tell he was aware of what was going on, because he knew when to back up so that no one stepped on him when we were backing out of the circle.

But what happened next was so unbelievably wonderful. As we came out of the circle for the second to the last time, Ben dashed in to the middle of the circle, threw his arms up in the air and beamed at the whole class. I took the opportunity and shouted out for everyone to say hello to Ben as we came in; I fully expected him to dash out of the circle before we got there.  We all headed back in, the whole class shouting “HI BEN!” and he squealed with delight and wriggled with obvious joy, even jumping up and down a bit.  And he made eye contact with a goodly percentage of the class and was a complete member of the community.  My heart swelled… my eyes got teary.  I blinked hard and did a Scarlet O’Hara,“ I’ll think about it another day” because we we’re about half way through class. I still had plenty of work to do and no time for tears.

So I pulled out the memory and thought it about on the way home- and I realized something really important; not only did Ben choose to make a connection with his class in a socially huge way, he knew when to do it… he knew the pattern in the song, knew it was the last chance to be a part of the dance, knew when he needed to be in the center of the circle and knew how to say “MY TURN” with out any words.  I got all teary again… no matter how far away he seems sometimes, he’s not.  He’s right there, and he’s getting it.  This was only the 4^th time we’ve done the dance in class, and he knew what the pattern was, knew this was a safe place and that he could take that leap of faith to join the community.

Today, Ben danced the WHOLE dance.  Standing right next to his mom.  He kicked, he went around, he went in and out- he squealed with delight, he made eye contact with other adults.  When we read the “Pete and PJ” he Wishy Washy Whee’d with the group, right on time, every single time.    And his WHEEEEE! was whole-heartedly spectacular.

And later, when he came to drop off his big brother for his class, he gave me the sweetest hug, with his head on my shoulder, and a pat.

-posted by Miss Allison, who says, “Here comes that stamp- AFFIRMED!  I so made the right decision back when I was five and decided to be a teacher.”

I adore a warm color palette. Most of my home is done in warm neutrals (gold, brown, red, rust, bronze, textured rattan in dark browns, etc.). We live in the Northwest, so we kind of have to “lean into” that a little bit. We won’t be able to have a ton of success with the Tommy Bahama look or the beachy neutrals. While those might look good in a magazine, doing what fits well in your neck of the woods is the best.

In thinking about the warmer color palette, I usually like to use neutral walls, but use my inspiration, like the curtain fabric above, as my jumping off. If the inspiration has more gold tones, then the neutral paint will be gold-khaki vs a red/peach khaki. I liken paint colors to a woman’s foundation. It should look nice, smooth, and lovely, but you should never really notice it. The foundation will let the other colors of the makeup (lipstick, eye shadow, etc) sing. This is how your paint should function. It should let the other inspirations in the room sing; the curtain fabric should blend, the furniture should have a layered and textural effect, and the elements that are meant to pop, should do so. This is the way for a whole room to be cohesive.

This Family room is an example of lots of different shades, in the same palette, mixed with different textures, combining to sing a lovely song together. The primary inspiration for this room was the area rug. It ties the khaki, rust, and pale blue into the khaki walls, and the gold accents. It blends well, without any one thing sticking out like a sore thumb. Also, notice the use of paint around the mantel. There are three colors overall going on, but it has a cohesive effect since they’re all in the same palette.

This terracotta paint is an example of a bold color used in a neutral fashion. This color is paired with other fun things that allow it to all be tied together. The couch is neutral, and the ottoman contains all of the colors of the paint, curtain fabric, and ottoman fabric. Also, notice the use of paint around the poster/prints. The posters on their own were a tad too small, scale-wise, so the use of paint around them creates a frame effect, yet keeps the neutral paint concept going…this tricks the eye to feel like the posters are the proper size for that wall.

Paint a ceiling? This is one of the biggest questions/comments that I have while helping clients. Yes. This is an example of painting the ceiling a different color from the walls, yet in the same color palette. Usually I advise to only do the ceiling and wall different colors, when there is crown moulding, as in this case. If there is no crown moulding, I like to advise to keep the wall and ceiling paint color the same neutral (see above family room color). This helps keep the eye moving upward, and makes the room feel bigger overall. If you are choosing a very dark or bold color, then, of course don’t paint the ceiling that color.

Find inspiration using the items you treasure, and let your walls work with the inspiration instead of in competition! If you are interested in more great décor insights, please visit my blog at www.havenfromtheworld.blogspot.com Thanks for having me her at Studio3Music!

But Luke’s story is just a little different.  He is a special needs child, but I have to tell you that when you spend time with Luke, you are the one who feels special.  Luke has been in class with his mommy for two years and this fall, I suggested to Melissa that we move him up to the next level.  This is now a class that he stays by himself with me and his classmates for about 40 minutes and then Mom comes back and does a sharing time.

The first day he started his new class, he ran in and was so excited to see me and his classmates after our summer break.  Most of the children in this class have been with Luke on his 2 year Kindermusik journey.  The parents of all the children have built a community and treasure the relationship that Luke has formed with their children as much I do!

Luke is not able to communicate verbally, but he understands everything!  Being in an Imagine That class now gives him the opportunity to express himself in different ways.  Imagine That is a child directed class, meaning that I have songs and a lesson plan, but we arrive at those musical destinations by getting the children to interact with the “story”.

Last week, we were pretending to go the park, and I asked the children how they would like to get there.  We had some great ideas about running, jumping, flying like dragons….then I asked Luke how he would like to move.  He started spinning, and so we all spun our way to the park!

If I asked a question about what color the “tree house” should be, Luke is able to answer me by pointing to the green color on the wall.  By the time we called parents back in to join us, Luke was sitting patiently on his ball (which of course is very hard to do, because it is so fun to bounce on the ball) just like the other children were doing.

We did some cooperative ball play with the parents and by the time it was we ready to sing goodbye, Luke had his hand on top of his head waiting for a stamp!  As Melissa and Luke were leaving, I said to Melissa how fantastic Luke did in class.  This time, I was the one with tears in my eyes as I had just seen how much Luke had grown in the past 2 years.  Please take time to read Luke’s story. You will truly be glad you did!

-posted by Miss Beth, who is inspired by all the remarkable children she knows!

At some point this summer, while the rest of you were thinking of suntans and beaches and nothing to do with school, Miss Allison, Miss Stacey, Michael, Chadd and I were knee deep in snow, sheep and the sea!

We’re totally tickled to be bringing you 4 concerts this year, including an all new holiday show.

All concerts sold out weeks in advance last season, so purchase your tickets early by clicking on the concert titles below. Season tickets (does not include the Holiday Show) for the 9:30 performances are here, and the 10:30 here.

Holiday Symphony Serenade

• Saturday December 10, 2011 – 9:30 and 10:30

An ALL NEW show! It’s a delightful collection of your favorite holiday things all on one stage, including the 8 days of Hanukkah and a jazz trio! Come hear holiday music from all over the world, bounce, sing, play and move.

A Birthday Party For Mozart

• Saturday January 21, 2012 – 9:30 and 10:30

Mozart is turning 4 years old, and you’re invited to his party! Come explore the delightful world of Mozart’s music, from his point of view. Watch what happens when he doesn’t get the musical present he really wanted. As always, we’ll have a singalong musical story and invite you to snuggle up to a lullaby.

A Little Barn Moo-sic

• Saturday March 17, 2012, 9:30 and 10:30

Miss Allison, her musical friends, and the Story Fairy welcome you to the cacophony of the barnyard! It’s time to for some classical pastoral moosic. Sing a funny sheepish story, and meet a wise old owl. You’ll even hear instruments that sound like animals.

Swing Me Up and Swing Me Down

• Saturday May 12, 2011 – 9:30 and 10:30

In this action-packed concert, we will be using music to teach the concepts of high and low. We’ll meet the members of the brass family, play high and low games, sing a terrific story about some ocean friends. With Mother’s Day just around the corner, we recommend bringing your favorite Mommy to the show!

-posted by the Story Fairy, who is wondering how she can turn a barnyard full of animals into a headpiece.