Jennifer, Ella and Liam

One of our long time families is moving to Austin. It is a bitter goodbye, because we will miss them so. It is a sweet goodbye, because we will connect them to a Kindermusik studio in Austin, so they will be able to continue there. Jennifer wrote us a short note that we asked her permission to post.

We’ve enjoyed Kindermusik for years and Studio3 has been such a great resource and playtime for me and the kiddos.  Miss Stacey and Miss Allison have been terrific with the kids, always attentive to their individual strengths and needs.  My daughter is a Kindermusik pro and knows all the hello and goodbye songs by heart.  So when Miss Allison encouraged her to be a part of her little brother’s Our Time she was elated to be a big sister/helper in class.  My son Liam is new to the program and a bit shy but having Ella in class relaxed him and he was also encouraged with kindness and sweet kisses from his teachers.   Kindermusik is one of the few curriculums around that teach moms how to interact creatively and musically with their kids and carry it over into our time at home with them.  Learning doesn’t stop at the classroom but naturally seems to flow into the daily routine.  Our whole family will miss Studio3Music! 

The feeling is mutual, Jennifer!

I was privileged to witness a most wonderful thing today. It happened in an Our Time class.  We were playing a word game. Games that are about word play and give the kids the opportunity to fill in the blank can be very dangerous- you just never know what is going to come out of a little ones mouth. 

For instance, once in an Imagine That class a student shouted out that his favorite movie was “Hell Boy”.   I’m not even sure now what we were talking about that triggered this bit of sharing, but his mother was horrified- after we all got done laughing, that is.  (By the way, the only bad thing about the movie is the title.)

But that door swings both ways and occasionally something marvelous walks through.  Today was one of those days.

So we’ve been playing the word game with “There’s a Little Wheel a’ Turning In My Heart”.  (I just wrote a blog about this game, so you can do a search and find out how we play it….) We’d played it twice already in this class and had some pretty fabulous things inside our hearts. 

The typical things are dinosaurs roaring, and balls bouncing, but this class was on an unusual roll.  We had a lovey blanket hiding and a horse making that snorting/blowing sound (Now that was funny – 15 grown-ups singing and then vibrating their lips like a horse…) I asked for one more thing so we could finish up and move on to bouncing.

Imi and Allie

But it was taking a long time so I asked one of my older students, she’s three or so, and comes to class with her little sister. “Allie,” I said, “What’s in your heart? What do you love best?” And she answered in a clear strong voice, (such a sweet little voice), “My sister, Imi, is in my heart”.

There was silence for about 3 seconds, which is a long time, really.  Then every grown up in the room spontaneously said “OHHHHHHHH!” I looked up and several moms had tears glistening in their eyes.  I did. I was suddenly reminded of how much I love my own sister, how much I miss her.  Denver is so far away. 

However, we had a task at hand, and I couldn’t leave Ali hanging, waiting to finish her song, even though every heartstring in the room was stretched taut.  So I asked “Allie, what’s she doing in your heart?” She answered quickly without hestitation.  She already knew what she was going to say.  “Imi is playing with me in my heart.”  Their Mom was crying, and everyone else was sniffling, including me, but we all bravely swung our mallets, rang our bars and sang Ali’s beautiful verse….

Imi’s playing with Allie in her heart, in her heart,
Imi’s playing with Allie in her heart.
In her heart, in her heart,
Imi’s playing with Allie in her heart. 

I’ve been thinking about my sister all day- and what a gift she is in my life.  I’ve choked back tears several times just thinking of how blessed I am to have a sister that is also my dear friend.  Thanks Allie, for reminding me that I should tell her more often how wonderful she is.  I sent her an email earlier today.

-posted by Miss Allison, who says that this is one of those days I’ll never forget. It’s one of the days that makes teaching the very best job that could possibly exist.   Thanks again, Allie. 

I love words – the polysyllabic ones and the monosyllabic ones, the ones that rhyme with each other, and the ones that don’t. I love the ones that have several different meanings but only one spelling, and the ones that sound the same, but mean different things and have different spellings.

I love that a bunch of different words mean the same thing and yet are all slightly different at the same time. Think of all the words for that wet stuff that falls from the sky so regularly around here: rain, precipitation, drizzle, mist, showers, sleet, sprinkle, torrent, cloudburst, deluge.

I love that our language gives us so many ways to communicate our thoughts, dreams, ideas and heart’s desires.

So I was really excited when I sat down to plan my lessons and discovered that it was time to do “There’s a Little Wheel Turning in My Heart” or (in my own words) “There’s an itty bitty teeny weenie circumvolution oscillating in my cardiac organ”.  I love this song because it gives children a chance to play with words.

Did you know that a four year old knows approximately 10,000 words?  A toddler is in the business of accumulating all those words.  They learn one word per hour they are awake.

In order for them to know what to do with all those words they need to hear them work – in books and in conversation, in songs and prayers, rhymes, chants and poems – and they need to practice with them in all the same ways.   “There’s a Diminutive Castor Rotating in my Ticker” encourages playing with the building blocks of language. Nouns and verbs.

First, sing the song a couple of times as written using the original words. But, the real learning in this song occurs in what you do with it.

Next, ask your child what’s in their heart. This is not a rational question, of course, but children are not rational people so it works.  You can also ask what they love, or what their favorite things or people are.  (Be sure you have the video camera ready- they may just say “grandma”)

Then, ask what the item or person is doing. Again, it does not have to be rational.  Grandma could very well be skipping rope in your child’s wacky little heart.  Now you sing the song with their words-

Grandma’s jumping rope in my heart, in my heart
Grandma’s jumping rope in my heart!
In my heart, in my heart,
Grandma’s jumping rope in my heart!

There are other variations for types of words, of course.  A little girl in one of my classes today wanted finger nail polish in her heart. So rather than asking what it was doing in there- (we all know it was sparkling) we asked where it was.  It was on her toes. Naturally.  So now the song goes like this-

There is polish on my toes in my heart in my heart
There is polish on my toes in my heart.
In my heart, in my heart!
There is polish on my toes in my heart!

With an older child you can add some adjectives-

A blue car is racing in my heart, or
A big shark is flying in my heart

Remember, it doesn’t have to make sense; a child’s sense of humor is very primitive, and the incongruous is totally hysterical to them. Flying sharks are the stuff of laugh attacks that last for hours.

I play this game with all my students from Our Time through Young Child and beyond, so get the whole family involved.  And the car is a great place to play this one…

-posted by Miss Allison, who tells you to go for it. Play with your words.

Finally! A safe, clean, stimulating, fun and engaging environment that offers flexible, hourly childcare for Eastside families. The Nest, located in the heart of Woodinville, off Highway 522, is a drop & play where children ages 2-6 can play, learn, develop social skills in the confidence of friendly teachers.

Owners, Meredith & Jana (ironically, Studio3Music mothers) understand the demand of our family’s busy lives; ‘As parents of young children we know how busy life can get. Whether attending a dentist appointment, running errands, working, or getting a pedicure… bringing kids along can be difficult, if not impossible. With experience rescheduling a doctor appointment, missing a haircut, and turning down dinner with friends simply because we had no one to care for our kids, we started wondering if there were other parents who shared our same frustrations.

Were there others like us who didn’t need full-time childcare but desired occasional, flexible childcare in order to attend an appointment or just get a few things done? We realized the options were limited, and it was from here that the idea of “The Nest” emerged… a Play and Learning Center that not only offers a clean, safe, and fun learning environment for kids, but also dependable, flexible hourly childcare for parents’ peace of mind.’ 

The Nest is a drop-off play center in Woodinville where you can check in your kids for a few hours or a Saturday evening. It’s a super-clean, super-fun place for kids aged 2-6.  They charge $8 for the first hour and $5  for each additional kid. Kids stay busy with crafts, pretend play and an indoor playground.

Today I took my daughter (2) to The Nest for the first time. We both loved it! I was immediately greeted by a woman at the front desk. She explained the procedures of putting my daughter’s backpack, shoes and jacket in a bin and then after sanitizing our hands we were led into the play area. My daughter immediately ran off to play with a little boy. I was able to see the facility which was very clean and appropriately childproofed. All the kids seemed quite happy to be there and there were lots of different rooms for the kids to play in, each with a different theme. The staff seemed very attentive too.

Originally I was only going to leave my daughter there for 2 hours but I felt so comfortable that I let her stay for three. When I returned, I know The Nest had a new fan because once my daughter saw me she started to cry and said she didn’t want to leave. We both were happy with our experience and will definitely be back.
-Stacey S.

I brought my 5 and 7 year olds to the Nest for a few hours of kid-free errands. It was an easy registration and the people were friendly.  I felt comfortable leaving, and my kids felt comfortable staying.  I got my stuff done, and they were sweaty and carrying crafts when I returned.  The final verdict: “We love the Nest! When can we go back?” 
-Becky P.

- Our Verdict: The Nest is Best! And more good news – we’ll be holding our Spring Mini Session classes at The Nest. Jana and Meredith have offered Studio3 families the sibling rate of just $5 per hour for “stay and play” for siblings during class time.

Here’s another beautiful Studio3Music birthday boy, with professional photographer Brooke’s and mom Lisa’s comments. Doesn’t he just look so kissable?

Brooke:  So oh my goodness…if every baby made it as easy as birthday boy Liam! Just seconds from being a real “walker”, happy little Liam was all smiles and love for his Mommy Lori (cooing at him just off camera). Usually, the grown-ups have to shamelessly perform like trained circus animals to get those amazing expressions from our kids, but Liam generously shared them without the usual acrobatics! He’s the type that lures all of use into having more babies…and we all know what happens when the first baby is a dream, right?

Lori:  Brooke is quite professional, does great work and has superb artistic skill. She has a great way with kids, and was very efficient with our quick little man’s attention span ; )

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who encourages you to visit Brooke’s website, and then use your Studio3Music birthday free session gift!

Brooke: I’m setting up in the camera room and I hear a little excited voice from the front lobby yell – “I’m at the studio!!!” (If only every person that came to get their portraits made had as much enthusiasm as these little girls.) We’ve been loving all of the birthday portraits we’ve been shooting as part of our friendship with Studio3Music. Twins, Piper and Casey were at Studio B in celebration of their 4^th birthday and they couldn’t have been more sweet and fun to photograph.

Laura: That was our first session with Brooke and I thought she was great.  She worked with such easy-going finesse and speed, she probably got most of the shots before the girls (and I, for that matter!) realized that she was taking actual pictures!  I can’t wait to see the rest of the shots! Thanks for such a special birthday gift – what a great partnership between StudioB and Studio3!

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who reminds you that if you miss your birthday card in the mail from us and want a complimentary mini-session with Brooke, just let me know.