If you live in Greenville, SC and enjoy old movies, make your plans to head to Falls Park on Wednesday evenings to watch classics like Rudy, Superman, or The Shop Around the Corner. Every Wednesday night in September, Fidelity Investments sponsors Moonlight Movies. Showing begin around 8:00pm - about sundown, and you're welcome to bring blankets, lawn chairs, and a cooler packed with snacks. For more information, visit the city of Greenville's website by clicking here.

Looking for a quality piano for a beginner or intermediate student. The Yamaha P22 is specifically geared for schools and rehearsal halls. This specific piano was manufactured in Thomaston, GA in 1990 and has been kept in near-new condition. The retail price is around $2,500. You can email the owner by clicking here.

Originally Posted by Theresa Case on Kindermusik's Blog

Early childhood education is important, and Kindermusik International believes that you – the parent – are your child’s first and best teacher.  But what to do with your child until he is 7 years old?  We’d like to recommend Kindermusik!

9 Ways Music Classes Prepare Your Child for School

Music classes in the early years that include parental involvement and focus on learning in a fun, developmentally appropriate way inspire a lifelong love for learning.

Practice with steady beat, enjoying movement activities, and playing instruments help develop coordination and motor skills necessary for cutting with scissors, holding a pencil, or kicking a ball, for example.

Music classes that are teaching children rhymes and then later, the basics of beginning to read music pave the way to literacy.

Music classes give your child a place to practice those all-important social skills, like cooperatively play, sharing, and following directions.

The best music classes will encourage your child to think creatively, developing critical thinking skills and the ability to problem-solve.

In an environment where process, not performance, is stressed, music classes build self-confidence and a willingness to try new things.

Music classes that gradually increase a child’s independence at the class help the child more successfully transition to the school classroom.

In these classes, children have the opportunity to bond and interact with their teacher, learning to listen and respond to someone other than the special adults who surround them at home.

Science and research have proven time and time again that music positively impacts a child in all areas of development – social/emotional, language, cognitive, physical, and language/literacy.

From music skills to life skills, it’s all there in Kindermusik, where music and learning play!  Visit JessicasPianoStudio and try a free Kindermusik class on us today.

My boys and I love to play with playdough - The only problem we run into is that I like to keep the colors separate and they like to mix them together. Oh well!!!

In early childhood education and elementary school - including piano lessons - playdough provides some wonderful benefits for youngsters: creative thinking, eye-hand coordination, fine motor skills, etc.

You probably watch each week as I point out a wide variety of musical symbols to your child! We talk about how "a quarter note gets ONE count," "a rest means that we have to be quiet," "the treble clef means we use our right hand to play," etc, etc, etc! Occasionally we use crayons to color these symbols, or we search for them on a page filled with musical notation.

Playdough is just one more way to review these important theory symbols with your budding musician - whether they like to mix colors or not! Have them fashion a green bass clef followed by pink quarter notes, and complete the rhythm pattern by adding bar lines - don't forget the double bar line at the end. They can even make those quarter notes go up and down on the table as they sing the melody of a song!

A little person's creativity is boundless - and they aren't bothered with how things are "supposed to be done." They're learning and discovering new things everyday!

So, pull out that playdough and spend some time creating music with your child. You'll probably be amazed at how many musical symbols they remember from their lessons!

Originally Posted on Kindermusik's Blog, Aug 12, 2013

One of the fabulous benefits of your enrollment in Kindermusik is Kindermusik@Home – a whole new way to access and enjoy your Home Materials throughout the week.  But how can Kindermusik@Home make parenting a little bit easier?  Well, you might turn to Kindermusik@Home when you…

• need a lullaby to calm your baby to sleep
• are looking for a special way to connect with your child and sneak in a few giggles or cuddles
• are desperate for a diversion in the long line at the grocery store or the waiting room at the doctor’s office
• can’t remember the words to your child’s favorite song from class
• can’t get out on a rainy day and an educational activity for kids like a video field trip or kid-friendly recipe might be just the thing
• want to help your child get even more out of his or her weekly Kindermusik class
• have a few minutes to really engage with your child and need some inspiration to make that time meaningful and fun
• have a child begging you to read his favorite story from Kindermusik class and you’re not anywhere near the bookshelf at home (Gotta love these mobile apps for kids!)
• want to play a developmentally appropriate, kid-friendly game together
• are ready to download all of the great music from your Kindermusik class
• need expert advice and a window of insight into the precious miracle that is your child
• are looking for an easy way to begin expanding your child’s awareness and understanding of the world around her
• need some great music and activity ideas to soothe or clam, play together, chase away the blues, or share some giggles
• need all of this with you wherever you are – at home or on the go
  
  Visit JessicasPianoStudio.com to sample Kindermusik@Home!

The Instruments have gone missing - and it's your job to find them! Join Violet on an instrument safari, guided by her venerable uncle Ollie, and help her collect all the instruments of the orchestra. You'll hear strains of Benjamin Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, and the full version once the instruments are all found! Click here to play. (Ages 7 and up)

It's been so much fun to watch my Little Mozarts - my 4-year-old and 5-year-old students - learn all the notes on the keyboard. Now, we're moving on to finding notes on the treble and bass clefs.

As I was looking for extra activities to help reinforce this new way of reading notes, I found these Search and Find worksheets created by Susan Paradis. I can't wait to try them out this week!

If you're little musician is getting bored of simply playing these new notes and doing flashcards (two great ways to learn notes, but the repetition can get a little tedious), these worksheets would be a great option to use. I will probably laminate my copies so I can use them over and over again!

And parents, if you choose to print a worksheet for your child, you can definitely count it toward their practice time!

Originally posted on Kindermusik's Blog, Minds on Music: July 31, 2013

With so many choices out there for young children, we thought we’d try to help make the decision a little easier by sharing our top 10 benefits of enrolling in Kindermusik.

Benefit #1: Kindermusik gives your child that unique head start you’ve been looking for – musically, cognitively, and academically.

Benefit#2: Kindermusik inspires a love of music from an early age with songs, instruments, and activities that are just right for each age and every stage.

Benefit #3: Kindermusik enhances every area of your child’s development – we are so much more than just music!

Benefit #4: Kindermusik gives you the time and the tools to enjoy quality time with your child – in class and at home.

Benefit #5: Kindermusik Home Materials let you take the music, fun, and learning with you all week long, wherever you go.

Benefit #6: Kindermusik classes provide a happy social outlet for your child and a valuable support network for you.

Benefit #7: All Kindermusik activities are research-proven and giggle-approved, and all are supported by a developmental and musical focus.

Benefit #8: Kindermusik lays a strong foundation for future success in school and in formal music lessons later on.

Benefit #9: Kindermusik is something you and your child will use every day – at home or on the go!

Benefit #10: Kindermusik offers a comprehensive program with the potential for positively impacting your child from newborn all the way to 7 years of age.

From Music Skills to Life Skills, it's all there in Kindermusik! Best of all, your child will love it and so will you. Check out one of our age-appropriate classes today!

One of my student's parents introduced me to The GiggleBellies, and I can't wait to get some of these familiar songs for my boys. My boys absolutely love the colorful characters and the entertaining songs! This YouTube video features one of our favorite songs, we love to do the Finger Play while we sing:

Music provides so many benefits for youngsters. The calming lullabies on these digital downloads or DVDs may calm your child and lull them into sleep, while the upbeat songs will provide a great opportunity for dancing, singing and using their boundless amounts of energy - all in the safety of your playroom! Music has also been found to increase children's brain development in many areas, including Cognitive Development, Emotional/Social Interaction, Physical Development, and Language Acquisition.