Studio3Music Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Miss Allison’

Jan
22

Immediate Scholarship Openings

Do you know someone who would love and benefit from Kindermusik, but does not have the financial resources to pay for a class?

Every year we set aside a portion of our class enrollments for scholarships for children that would not otherwise have the opportunity to experience Kindermusik.

It goes without saying (but we’ll say it anyway), that we believe that music is the most powerful tool you can give your child now for future success in school, work and life, and that everyone deserves access to a Kindermusik class. Not only for the sake of your children, but for the wonderful benefits for the grownups!

Our 2012 Scholarship application can be found HERE.

If you know a family that has a financial need and would like to participate in Kindermusik, please share this post with them. Or, like this post and it will show on your wall. You never know who it will reach that you might not otherwise have thought of.

Thanks so much for your help.

-posted on behalf of Miss Analiisa, Miss Allison and Miss Beth, who are full of the blessings they’ve received over the years from our Studio3Music families.

Tags: kindermusik, learning, Miss Allison, Miss Analiisa, Miss Beth, music

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Nov
22

Miss Allison’s Blessings

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Family, Things We Love

Once, a long time ago, I had to attend some seminar for work. (It was my day job, back in my professional singer/actress/dancer years, but it had health insurance, so I took it fairly seriously!) It was a two day seminar, during which time I got paid less than I did to actually work, and although the seminar had some very stuffy and official sounding title, it really boiled down to the power of positive thinking.

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!

Tags: Miss Allison

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Nov
10

A New Holiday Tradition

Posted in Family, Symphony Concerts, Things to do, Things We Love

Oh, I love Christmas…the beautiful wreaths, the cookies, the carols, the bows ribbons and wrappings, the Yorkshire pudding. I love decorating the Christmas tree, and shopping and rehearsing for Christmas Eve mass, and I love going to mass on Christmas Eve, and singing all the beloved old carols and the new ones, too. I love making my lists of gifts and deciding what to get for my family (except for my husband’s dad – he is so hard to shop for!) And I still wait anxiously to open my own gifts. (Although I may have recently joined the same category as my father-in-law…)

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!

Tags: kindermusik, Miss Allison, music, Things to do

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Oct
19

Ben. Autism. Kindermusik. Dancing. Miss Allison. They’re all connected.

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Things We Love

The big question of what I would be when I grew up was not such a big question. I’d known since before I went to school that I wanted to be a teacher. Occasionally I get an AFFIRMED stamp on that decision, and on those days my heart just sings. Last week, on Tuesday morning, October 4th at about 10:55, I had one of those moments.

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.”

Tags: kindermusik, learning, Miss Allison, sensory child

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Sep
25

Big Fish, Little Fish

Posted in Child Development, Music and the brain, Our Time

You’ll very often hear your teacher talk about vocal development in class, and you might wonder what exactly we are referring to…. Are we talking about your child’s ability to sing or speak, or to acquire language?

Are we talking about the minute machinations we all do with our lips, teeth, tongue, and our hard and soft palettes to form phonemes?

Or do we mean the inflections in spoken language that tell a listener we are asking a question or telling a joke?

YES! Vocal development is all of these things.

I have dozens of activities I love to do in class to nurture vocal development, but I’m going to limit myself to just one today.

It’s the little ditty Above the Sea, aka “the song with the bathtub fish”. I love those fish because they open the door to world of vocal development for your child in a tangible and engaging way?

What makes this song and fish so special?

It’s a story song. Songs that tell stories engage children in a deeper way by growing and developing and changing. They have characters to connect with, so the child’s emotions are brought into play. This gives us a song the child is more interested in participating with.

Above the Sea has a conversation, and the song’s melodic pattern also mimics that conversation. When we ask a question, our pitch will naturally slide up at the end of the sentence. When Little Fish asks “What’s above the sea?”, the pitch moves up as well. So, when we sing this story we are helping our child to understand how people use language to communicate with each other.

Above the Sea also develops your child’s ability to produce spoken words. Singing is often easier for a child than speaking, because singing is slower and more deliberate. Syllables are broken down and clearly pronounced when you sing; consonants are enunciated and vowels are drawn out.

What will often times pass by in a blur in spoken word will be clearly heard and understood when sung. Now they can use those words in other parts of their life, and they can sing along with the song, too.

Each of the sung patterns has visual components to accompany them. The fish face each other when they talk, and I always wiggle the fish who is talking at that moment. When they go up to the top of the sea, we all swim our fish up and sing up a scale at the same time -nice little auditory/visual connection there!

When the fish come back down, our voices descend the scale, too. The kids can clearly see/hear/feel the patterns in the song. The more senses we include in the learning process the deeper the learning is!

My favorite part is the verse in the middle whose words we can change. Does your child love sharks? See the shark- hear him bark, his teeth are so scary!

Dinosaurs? See the dinosaur – and hear her roar, I think her name’s Marie!

What about Lightening McQueen? See Lightening McQueen – hear his engine scream, He’ll win the Grand Prix!

Come to class and sing me your verses. I’d love to hear them!

So go ahead – sing a fishy song with your child today to encourage their vocal development. By all means, play with your words! They are the best and cheapest toys our children will ever have. And, unlike plastic sharks and dinosaurs and Lightening McQueen cars, they will last the longest.

-posted by Miss Allison, who adores words, spoken, sung and written.