Kindermusik offers early start to lifelong learning

Lewiston Porter Sentinel, August 26, 2006

School-age children will head back to school in the next few weeks, but what about their younger brothers and sisters? With the older children back in the classroom, this fall is the perfect time to introduce their younger siblings to the excitement of lifelong learning through Kindermusik.

Kindermusik is the world’s leading music and movement program for children from birth to 7 years old. Research has shown that early music and movement activities positively impact whole child development in areas such as cognitive, emotional, physical, spatial and literacy skills.

Amy Teal’s Music Studio in Lewiston offers a complete music program in which both children and parents learn through music and movement. Classes are taught by Amy Teal, a state certified music teacher and a licensed Kindermusik educator with experience teaching students from newborn to adult.

Parents and children ages birth and up are invited to experience, first hand, the world’s leading music and movement program for infants and toddlers at an open house and free preview classes on Thursday, Aug. 31, at Teal’s Studio, at Messiah Lutheran Church, 915 Oneida St., Lewiston. Families who come will enjoy food, games, door prizes and will be able to participate in a free preview class. Free previews offered include:

•9:30-10 a.m.: Kindermusik Our Time (18 months-3 years)

•10:15-10:45 a.m: Kindermusik Sign and Sing (6 months-2½ years)

•11-11:30 a.m.: Kindermusik Family Time (birth-7 years)

•4:30-5 p.m.: Kindermusik Village (birth-18 months)

•5:15-5:45 p.m.: Kindermusik Family Time

•6-6:30 p.m.: Music For Little Mozarts

In addition to Kindermusik, Teal has taught vocal/general music for Niagara-Wheatfield for six years and is currently an applied adjunct voice faculty member for Niagara County Community College. She also teaches private voice and piano lessons in her home studio in Lewiston, and is the vocal director for the award-winning Academy of Theatre Arts in Williamsville. Teal holds both bachelor’s and master’s of music degrees in vocal performance and music education from The Eastman School of Music in Rochester.

Amy Teal’s Music Studio offers a full program of Kindermusik classes, including Kindermusik Village for newborns to 1½ years; Kindermusik Our Time for children 1½ to 3 years old; Kindermusik Imagine That! for 3-to-5-year-olds; and Kindermusik for the Young Child for 4½ through 7-year-olds. New program offerings include Kindermusik Sign & Sing for 6 month to 2-½-year-olds as well as a multiage family class for parents with newborns to 7 years called Kindermusik Family Time. For those looking for piano or voice lessons, the studio also offers Music For Little Mozarts, group piano class for 4-6-year-olds, as well as private voice lessons (8 years to adult) and private piano lessons (6 years to adult).

Created by early childhood music educators and informed by the latest research in child development, Kindermusik programs provide early childhood learning opportunities through innovative music and movement curricula and involve families in the joy of their child’s development. Kindermusik curricula are designed to be developmentally appropriate – each child is encouraged to learn at his or her own pace.

The most current research on child development indicates that a child’s fundamental learning takes place between birth and 7 years. Kindermusik’s belief is that all children are musical. Kindermusik offers a child a broad assortment of activities to promote language development, social interaction, cognitive development, coordination and emotional development. Research supports that music helps prepare the mind for specific disciplines of learning, including math, science and language. One study referenced in a 1997 article in Neurological Research indicated that music training is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children’s abstract reasoning skills, the skills necessary for learning math and science.

Due to limited class size, pre-registration for the preview classes is required. To register, or for more information, contact Teal at 628-3454 or kindermusikwithamy@adelphia.net to register.