The new semester of classes is just a week away, and we can’t wait to start fresh with some wonderful new themes, music and activities with your family!  Here are the class descriptions for this term.  For more information or to register please visit www.kmwithsarah.com.cn or contact Sarah at sarah@kmwithsarah.com.cn or 139 1062 5893 for more information regarding locations and class times.

Village - Newborn to 18 months

The Rhythm of My Day (February/March)

This class will help you bring more rhythm and routine to your baby’s day, as well as help develop lasting learning skills. We’ll show you how and tell you why music can help your little one soothe into the day’s schedule and help build a strong body and mind network for learning. You can bring home those same stress-free play and relaxation techniques from class, and incorporate them into your daily routines.
Home Materials:CD of beautifully arranged songs from class, The Rhythm of My Day—a  colorful picture board book with class themes, a set of Art Banners, and an instrument for music-making at home.

Hickory, Dickory, Tickle, and Bounce (April/May)
Research shows the more you expose your baby to nursery rhymes and songs, the stronger those emerging language-learning skills will be. That’s why these Mother Goose-like stories and rhymes are the main theme of this class. Plus, you’ll develop research-proven communication strategies with your child through listening activities, speaking “parentese,” and sign language.
Home Materials: CD of beautifully arranged nursery rhyme and songs from class, a rhyming picture board book—Hickory, Dickory, Tickle, and Bounce, a set of Art Banners, and an instrument for music-making at home.

Our Time - 18 months to 3.5 years

Fiddle-dee-dee
We’ll meet many animal characters in our books, activities, and songs—each specifically chosen for a toddler’s emerging interests and physical skills. With silly, bumpy lap bounces we’ll help toddlers develop rhythm while further developing their ever-emerging language skills. With a special stringed instrument emphasis in the music from class, parents can bring home the violin, cello, and orchestra sounds to help their toddlers stay happy and engaged learners at home, too.
Home Materials: Double CD featuring songs from class; two interactive storybooks—This Little Piggy Played the Fiddle and Animal Serenade to develop early literacy skills; Home Activity Book, and a pair of Fiddlestick instruments.

Imagine That! - 3 to 5 years

Cities! Busy Places ~ Friendly Faces In this unit, sidewalks, elevators, skyscrapers, and world-traveling photographers are the theme. Learning through the pretend play that preschoolers adore, we’ll be rhythmically busy playing storytelling games and handcrafting city “buildings” from wax paper at home so we can make a cityscape in class! Plus every activity has some at-home adaptations so the parent can take part in the learning. With a pair of resonator bars as a featured instrument, and a multicultural, jazzy collection of music, preschoolers will develop the social and intellectual skills they’ll need in school.
Home Materials: Two books—Razupazu Toto and Down Our Street, Cities! Game Board Set, Two Home CDs—collection of multicultural and jazzy music heard in class, Family Activity Book, and a pair of resonator bars as the featured instrument.

Kindermusik for the Young Child - 5 to 7 years

Semester One
Everything your child learns later in semesters 2, 3, and 4 begins with this early introduction to singing, reading, and writing music and rhythm. Through dances and games that focus on rhythmic development, we’ll learn a keyboard instrument—the glockenspiel—which will be used throughout all the Young Child classes. Your At Home Materials provide the music, instruments, stickers, and activities for a home version of the same playful activities you’ll hear about from class, so your child—and you!—can learn where you’re most comfortable: at home.
Home Materials: Children’s Folder with stickers, games bag, and Music At Home Cards, Family Songbook, Home CD of music from class, glockenspiel, and canvas bag (during first semester).

Family Time - all ages and stages together!

In Make Way for Music, families will sing, dance, and move their way through an exploration of several elements of music: beat and rhythm, concepts and contrasts (such as staccato and legato, high and low, the major scale, and arpeggios), the human voice, instrument families, and ensemble. They’ll engage in developmentally appropriate activities that the whole family can enjoy together, including fingerplays, songs, circle dances, story time, and family jam.
Home Materials: Two books—Drum Circle and Animals on Parade, two Home CDs,  Family Guide, Rex the lion hand puppet and finger puppet, an instrument-matching board game and two finger drums.

ABC Music and Me: Moving and Grooving - 4 to 6 years, drop off class

Rhythms of the Land (February 11 to March 11)
In this 5 week unit we’ll explore the rhythms and sounds of Native American music. As we investigate, compare, and contrast a wide variety of drums and the materials they’re made from, your preschooler develops the investigative vocabulary needed in the sciences. When you repeat rhythm patterns at home and share the activities in your Home Kit, your child gets an early start in math, too.
Home Kit: Jingle Stick instrument, Home CD, and magazine-style Family Guide (includes the class story Pedal Pump, Pedal Pump)

Sounds Abound (March 18 to April 15)
This month, we’ll explore all the sounds we can make with our mouths, bodies, hands, plus everyday objects we can find around the house. Your preschooler develops an early understanding of how one material can be used to make something else. Activities in your Home Kit help you bring these big ideas home when you take part in the listening, turn-taking, and sound-effect making activities.
Home Kit: Home CD and magazine-style Family Guide (includes the class story If I Had a Big Blue Boat)

Drums, Drums, Drums (April 21 to May 27)
This month your child will experience the concept of fractions through hearing and playing quarter and eighth notes. In class we’ll do “call and response” activities to the rhythmic sounds of African music. Meanwhile, your child will sharpen listening and attention skills, as well as fine tune her ear to finding patterns. Play the activities in your Home Kit together, and you’ll help your preschooler develop a strong foundation in math, rhythm and coordination, and critical listening.
Home Kit: Home CD and magazine-style Family Guide (includes the class story Drum Circle)