Kindermusik's uniqueness stems from the fact that it recognizes parents as the child's best teacher. Besides attending classes with their child, parents can help the child derive much more benefits from the activities experienced in class by playful engagement in these activities at home. A foundation of the Kindermusik philosophy is the belief that young children learn best in a family environment and that music needs to be a part of everyday life, rather than simply a once-a-week activity. In order to accomplish this, families must think of their Kindermusik class as the springboard for a week's worth of play and idea development.
Home materials, carefully designed to suit the child's stage and the family's needs, provide the tools for this portion of Kindermusik learning. Parents often mention how the entire family including other siblings have benefited from these activities at home. Children who use the materials on a regular basis have keener participation and enhanced ability to focus in class.
Professionally recorded CDs provide songs, chants and music used in class for dancing, singing along, creating and playing along with homemade 'instruments,' or just for joyful listening as songs from class time are remembered, reinforced and committed to memory.
The Home Activity Book/Cards, besides containing the lyrics and notation for the songs and chants on the CD, also provides many great ideas for fun activities parents may share with their child at home. The Book/Cards provide the family with tested ways to expand the week's themes beyond the classroom experiences with games, parenting information and craft ideas.
Storybooks enhance a home library and are much loved developers of early literacy.
Additional items suit each level's developmental play style- whether wall banners/picture cards for infants and toddlers, specially designed instruments for older children, or play sets for the creative mind of the preschooler.
The home materials are to Kindermusik what lesson books and instrument are to formal lessons, or shoes and leotards are to dance class - an essential part of full participation in the class as a whole.
Kindermusik with Lori Burkhardt
Licensed Educator 1995
Kindermusik Maestro since 2007
H/W ~ 314.692.8032
www.KMwithLori.com
Let’s talk finances. Why doesn’t Kindermusik cost less?
When you buy a dress, you don’t just pay the flat cost of the materials it cost to make the dress. You also pay for the time it took to make the dress, the person who designed the dress, the cost for marketing and shipping and getting it into the stores, the equipment used in making the dress, etc. You also pay for the name brand that is associated with the dress. Similarly, the fees that you pay to attend Kindermusik cover a multitude of items. For instance:
1. Kindermusik is the leader in Early Childhood Music and Movement programs. Being a part of “KINDERMUSIK” ensures that you are getting an internationally tested and tried product that works and is the leader in the field. It is the “Designer” label as opposed to a local or “in-store” label.
2. Kindermusik regularly consults with experts in the field of Early Childhood development, music and movement, as they develop their curricula, such as: Don Campbell, author of The Mozart Effect; Melissa R. Johnson, pediatric psychologist; Anne Green Gilbert, author of Creative Dance for Children; Claudia Quigg, founder and executive director of Baby TALK; Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, author of Raising Your Spirited Child; Patricia Campbell, author of Songs in Their Head: Music and Its Meaning in Children’s Lives, and others. These experts, along with an amazing Creative Team, bring their knowledge and experience into your lives. No other program can boast of such backing. This is worth a lot.
3. The materials produced by Kindermusik International are of the highest quality. The CDs, Literature and other home materials are unsurpassed. The talented artists, musicians and arrangers make the music come alive. You only have to listen to one CD to know that this is no ordinary children’s music CD. Music learning with the family in the home is a fundamental cornerstone of Kindermusik and this is accomplished best through the use of home materials. Other programs may offer no or optional home materials which makes it hard to continue the experience at home. Very worthwhile.
4. When you take Karate, Gymnastics, Dance or even music lessons, there are always uniform and costume fees, recital fees, instrument rentals or purchase and music fees, etc. When comparing total prices, Kindermusik is often less expensive than these other programs.
5. A variety of instruments, props and equipment, are necessary to provide a wide range of learning experiences in the class - Inventory costs.
6. Overhead & Materials...there are many costs in running a business, which is my sole income. To name a few:
Kindermusik License fees, BBB fees, internet and advertisment fees, office supplies, liability insurance, monetary contributions to the Church locations, time in planning classes and following up w/phone calls and emails, my experience teaching Kindermusik since 1995 and my BS in Music Therapy from Maryville University. PLUS state and federal taxes...all involved in running a business. Materials are sold to you close to my cost + sales tax and shipping.
7. “You get what you pay for!” - and more! To quote Carla Hannaford, author of Smart Moves,“Kindermusik is elegant in its integrated approach to a child’s development. Physiologically, touch, movement, rhythm and sound are the keystones to . . optimizing brain growth. The importance of having families working together, where everyone benefits from the sense of belonging, gets directly at the heart of what we, as a society, are needing at this time to raise healthy, loving children. . . All of this is provided in the Kindermusik program.” Priceless!!
newborns to 7 years
Spring & Fall
15 lessons
newborns to 18 months
Spring & Fall
15 lessons
3½ to 5 years
(3½ in Feb or Sept, not in Kindergarten)
Spring & Fall
15 lessons
5 to 7 years
(Kindergarten/1st grade)
Spring & Fall
15 lessons
1½ to 3½ years
Spring & Fall
(1½ in Feb or Sept)
15 lessons
newborns to 7 years
Summer
5 lessons
Imagine...up to seven years of Kindermusik with the same Educator for your child and family.
Class Descriptions, Materials, Costs
