Update from Ginger Bennett

I received this email tonight from Ginger and thought you all would like to hear how things are going for them.  They’ve gotten moved into their new cottage and their computer is set up and operational, so she can now receive email again. She does plan, at this time, to attend convention in November.  Just a reminder – deadline for *FREE* registration is this THURSDAY, AUGUST 31ST!!!

Ginger writes:

Subject:	Hurricane Update from Ginger
Date:	Mon, 28 Aug 2006 22:42:00 +0000

Hi Everyone, We’ve moved into our new cottage in Biloxi, Mississippi.  Of course, most everything is still in a box, but we are slowly finding more and more of our things each day.  Today I found my computer and am now set up and connected to the internet! My email will stay the same (j-g.bennett@att.net) as will my cell phone for a while (770-789-3493) Our new home address is: John and Ginger Bennett 179 Saint Paul Street Biloxi, Mississippi 39530 Our new home phone is (228) 435-0187 Our new home fax is (228) 374-1586 Tomorrow, August 29th, is the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  Here are some statistics from the local newspaper here, the Sun Herald (www.sunherald.com) ·                    329,870 customers in Coastal Mississippi were without power after the storm. ·                    2,261 miles of wire was restrung by power crews. That is enough wire to connect Biloxi, Mississippi to Vancouver, B.C. ·                    13 Casinos damaged or destroyed brings $403,000 in state tax revenues lost daily ·                    17,000 Casino-related jobs were affected by Hurricane Katrina and more that 10,000 Casino-related jobs have returned. ·                    $8.8 Million in federal funding allocated to Mississippians ·                    274,330 individuals and families received housing assistance valued at $834 million. ·                    133,118 Mississippians received other assistance (medical, dental, funeral) valued at $404.8 million ·                    More that 37,000 trailers and mobile homes occupied in the state, housing some 101,000 people. ·                    $2.4 billion paid out by the National Flood Insurance Program. ·                    $4.25 billion in private donations from individuals ·                    10.4 million hot meals served ·                    606,600 people visited disaster relief centers ·                    120,225,000 square feet of tarp covers roofs in the area. ·                    45 million cubic yards of debris removed so far.  That is enough to cover 230 football fields with 60 feet of debris. The total amount of debris is estimated at 47 million cubic yards. ·                    64,120 homes destroyed ·                    77,670 homes damaged ·                    Currently 41,000 building permits have been issued. I can’t wait to get settled and see many of you soon! Ginger Bennett – Allegrow Music, Inc. www.allegrowmusic.com (678)482-0022

TWENTY-FIVE!

 

This November, during the 2nd – 6th days of the month, twenty-five Georgia Kindermusik educators will make their way via various transportation methods to Greensboro, North Carolina for the annual Kindermusik Convention presented by Kindermusik International and the Partnership of Kindermusik Educators, held at the Joseph S. Khoury Convention Center, part of the Sheraton Greensboro Hotel at Four Seasons.  (Boy, is that a *mouthful*!)

Yes, this is sponsored by Kindermusik International, but did you catch the last part?  The Partnership of Kindermusik Educators?   That’s where you are blessed with the opportunity of hearing and gleaning from years of experience from other Kindermusik educators who are as passionate about children and music as you are! 

As of the most current Convention roster that I have, dated from August 10th, we have twenty-five – 25 – Georgia educators registered from all over the state.  It thrills me to see these names – some I know; others I have yet to meet.  But I do know that we are all one in our love for children and our love for music!

At the PDS held here in Atlanta last March, our own Jane Hendrix of Dunwoody, the Chairman (chairwoman?) and Liaison of the Partnership, made a comment that really caught my attention.  It was said in the context of a discussion about marketing and other nearby Kindermusik programs.  “I don’t worry about other nearby Kindermusik programs, because I know that I can’t fit everybody’s schedule.  I’d rather be able to send some students to the program down the street and around the corner than not have them experience Kindermusik at all.  And my program might fit their schedule better at a later time.  We need to work together and help each other out.” 

I’ll be one of the first to admit that sometimes it’s hard not to see other KM programs as possible competitors, but, believe me, folks, there’s plenty of other non-Kindermusik programs out there competing against us for our classes and teaching space.  I’ve learned this from first-hand experience!

Come be a part of the Kindermusik community when it meets in Greensboro in November.  You will never – read that - never  regret it.  I had the opportunity last summer to attend the KEA (pre-PKE) convention in Nashville and it is something I will cherish the rest of my life, Kindermusik and otherwise. 

First of all, I learned SO much about Kindermusik itself, early childhood education, beyond Kindermusik, vocal care and technique, Brain Gym, marketing, My Virtuoso, the Alexander technique, the Kindermusik Khorale, and on and on and on.  I met educators from all over the United States plus Korea, Bermuda, Canada, Australia, England, and Malaysia. 

Not to mention that we had wonderful sessions with Michelle Anthony of Signing Smart who introduced and demonstrated Sign & Sing for us.  The video clips of signing babies that she showed were what convinced me to teach Sign & Sing.  And if you’re a member of the KMLoop on Yahoogroups, you’ll be able to meet and greet other members that you’ve only “met” online.  It’s an experience of a lifetime!

And the very best part?

The convention itself is absolutely free!  You only have to pay for your transportation, your hotel room, and your food.  Compare that to last year’s KEA convention that cost over $300 plus hotel, food, and transportation.  But in order to enjoy this free convention, you must register by August 31st.  After that, it costs $225 per person.  Even if you’re not sure about going, you can still register now and, if necessary, cancel by October 2nd.  You can read more details here on KI’s website – Online Convention Registration.

Here are our current registered Georgia attendees:

Charlotte Bearden - Milledgeville

Ginger Bennett – Suwanee – soon to be from Mississippi

Janice Bevels – Suwanee

Eva Bone – Covington

Bonnie Bost – Stockbridge

Leslie Bradford – Marietta

Sally Bradshaw - Canton

Vonda Darr – Evans

Christy Dixon – Duluth

Jennifer Eiland – Dublin

Mary Beth Frasier – Lawrenceville

Pamela Garland – Gainesville

Daneille Grimes – Norcross

Wendolyn Harding – Atlanta

Jane Hendrix – Dunwoody

Tammaney Holcombe – Adairsville

Laneah Maddox – Centerville

Megan Mingone – Adairsville

Maria Mitchell – Rising Fawn

Brenda Pruitt – Kennesaw

Sharon Varner – Covington

Jennifer Walker – Canton

Merri Williams – Decatur

Sue Williams – Winder

Michele Wright – Lawrenceville

If you’ve registered and I’ve missed your name, please let me know so I can add you to the list.  And if you’ve just been putting off registering, don’t forget the deadline is August 31st for free registration.  Come September 1st, it costs $225. 

If you’re interested in driving together or caravanning together, please let me know.  I’ll see if we can get interested parties put together.  I’ve been told it’s 5.5 hours to drive to Greensboro from Atlanta – more or less. 

Ladies, we know that we are simply the best in early childhood music education.  Let’s get together in Greensboro and enjoy that fact!

Au Revoir temporarily to one of our own…………………..

When I first began training to be a licensed Kindermusik educator in 2004, I posed a question on the KMLoop, asking for recommendations about educators here in Georgia that others knew that I could go observe their classes.  One of the most frequently mentioned names , if not the most frequently mentioned, was Ginger Bennett of Allegrow Music, located in Suwanee, north of Atlanta.

Ginger is a licensed music therapist and has incorporated Kindermusik into her therapy practice, enabling many special needs individuals and their families to experience and enjoy the joys of Kindermusik.  She is also one of the pilot team members of Family Time and has brought a wealth of experience to that curriculum that we have all benefited from. 

 

Unfortunately, I never got to observe Ginger in her own classes due to the distance from my home.  Fortunately, I did get to know Ginger through the loop as well as through the PDS here in Atlanta and at the KEA convention in Nashville last summer. 

Originally from Mississippi, Ginger found herself, along with many other Americans, watching in horror as Hurricane Katrina bore down on the Gulf coast last August.  Family and friends were directly in the path of the hurricane and suffered tremendously from the devastation that resulted from the storm. 

Ginger and her husband, John, became personally and directly involved with the relief effort for Mississippi, partnering with Mission Love Seeds, a relief organization that has stepped into the gap, bringing disaster relief to the Waveland and Pearlington, MS areas that were ground zero for Hurricane Katrina.  The Bennetts have been on many of the monthly trips taking badly needed supplies to residents there still living in tents and other housing. 

On July 15th, I received an email from Ginger, as did many of you, that announced that the Bennetts were moving back to Biloxi to return back home to be closer to their families and to be of greater help there for the hurricane survivors. 

Last week, I traveled up I-285 and I-85 for the sole purpose of attending Allegrow Music’s closeout sale and, more specifically, to tell Ginger how much I am going to miss her here in Atlanta and just to hug her neck.  Thankfully, I accomplished all three of my goals. 

Walking down the hallway there at Allegrow, I found myself smiling, seeing painted flowers on the walls at varying heights which were the handprints of some of her students.  The halls and rooms were filled with children and parents, finding treasures to take home from Miss Ginger’s.  I heard in more than one room the question, “But why is Miss Ginger moving?”  And moms and dads explaining that Miss Ginger was going to help other children where they didn’t have a Miss Ginger or Kindermusik.

Next Monday, August 21st, John and Ginger will close on the sale of their home in Suwanee and prepare to move two days later to a 1920’s cottage in Biloxi, Mississippi – 894 square feet.  John has accepted a job with Lowe’s Home Centers in Biloxi and they will continue to work in the hurricane relief effort there. 

As part of the Mission Love Seeds effort there, Allegrow is hosting a Summer Fund Raiser with some fabulous prizes.  With your contribution of just $5.00 per ticket your name will be entered in a drawing to receive one or more of these fabulous gifts donated by local property owners, restaurants, and businesses.

Example Raffle Items Include:

1 wk stay at Crystal View on Snc 98, Destin               

1 wk stay at Grand View,East Panama City Beach            

1 wk stay Beach Retreat 103 Snc 98, Destin       

1 wk stay at Beach Retreat 203 Snc 98, Destin    

Ruth’s Chris Steak House

Osaka Japanese Steak House

Harbor Docks Restaurant

Pepito’s Mexican Restaurant 

Camille’s

Southern Star Dolphin Cruise                             

*Condo stays will be subject to availability after September 5^th. All ticket holders that are chosen at the drawing will be notified within 24 hours after the drawing.  The drawing will be held Saturday, August 19^th at 4:00 PM (CST) at the Mission Love Seeds office in
Destin, Florida. 

Contact Ginger directly if interested in participating to receive your tickets. (770) 789-3493 or email: j-g.bennett@att.net.

What a great way to help the Mississippi coast with a chance to win something for you!

Thank you, Ginger, for your generosity and willingness to help others here in the Kindermusik community and for your dedication to your craft.  We will miss you here in Georgia, but we know that the folks down in Mississippi need you more there and our loss is truly their gain.  Even though you’re from MS and headed back home, we’re still going to claim you as a Georgia “peach” and hope to see you occasionally here in Georgia as well as the convention in November.  Hugs and prayers go with you from the Georgia community of Kindermusik educators.

Family Time WebCT Registration is open again for two more classes

With two full classes already underway, sign up now for the five-week course on teaching Family Time. New classes start next week. You can register for this FR*E class online in the Educator Store.

I am enrolled in the second class of the first groupings and experienced my first teleconference call last night.  We were told that the very first group had 30 classmates, and ours had 29.  So, you can see that class size is limited. 

Don’t wait to take advantage of this free opportunity.  I learned a lot last night from listening in to my classmates who ranged from a very new newbie – just licensed this summer – to some very experienced Kindermusik educators, including our own Jane Hendrix who will be teaching her first Family Time class next week! 

I think this class will be a tremendous asset to anyone wanting to learn more about Family Time, even if you’re not teaching it this fall!

Great Books and a Correction/Thank You!

This past Tuesday, members of the GA Partners of Kindermusik Educators enjoyed a wonderful time at the Church Street Tea House in Cartersville, Georgia.  I mistakenly attributed the arrangements for lunch at the Tea House to Kathryn Nobles who has shared that it was, in fact, Katie Hurley from Cartersville who knew about the Tea House and made our reservations for us.  Thank you, Katie!  It was a wonderful place to eat with many selections to choose from  and all of us enjoyed our varied meals. 

We also spent time afterwards, sharing about our favorite books for storytimes.  Here are some of the selections offered.  Be sure to click on the pictures for additional, helpful information about each item.

 

Fiddle I Fee brought back many memories and laughter from around the table.  Kathryn also suggested some other wonderful books.  They are:

Sail Away by Donald Crews    

Sitting on the Farm

Another beautiful book that we saw was Who Took the Cookie from the Cookie Jar? 

 

 by David Carter, who specializes in lovely pop-up books.  Each turn of the page brought a new character behind the pop-up.  Be sure to check out Carter’s other books such as “Love Bugs” and “Easter Bugs”.  They all look wonderful! Thanks, Tammaney, for these books!

Dancin’ in the Kitchen        Rain 

Another author that was suggested was Joy Cowley.  Her Mrs. WishyWashy books are not to be missed!   Here’s two that we saw:

Mrs. Wishy Washy   

and then there’s Mrs. Wishy Washy’s Farm 

Trudy Bennett from Murphy, North Carolina shared a book that she found at the local Walmart store: 

What I Like About Me

Trudy bought this book because it reminded her of one of her students and her lovely, curly hair, but I can see where every child would enjoy reading about other children and seeing that it’s not just okay, but actually good to be different. 

Kay Bratton from Rome shared some wonderful selections from Do Re Mi & You:

  Put Your Left Paw In - a Jungle Hokey Pokey is part of a set that includes not only the book, but a CD and four magnetic animal puzzles with a carrying case.

She also showed a DVD entitled Get Up and Stomp

where a child will learn how to make instruments, create rhythms and dance routines using every day objects.  Great stuff from Do Re Mi & You!  (I’ve got to start my Christmas shopping soon!)

Megan Mingone from Adairsville brought a lovely board book Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes by Annie Kubler.  This one would be wonderful for our Village classes!

Sherry Carter from Dalton also had some wonderful selections to share.  Some of those were:

The Doorbell Rang 

Our Yard Is Full of Birds 

Feathers for Lunch     

Some other books that were discussed:

The Grumpalump   a wonderful read-aloud that captured my attention!

Raise the Roof

Old MacDonald Had a Woodshop 

Katie Hurley from Cartersville also brought an activity CD that she highly recommends:

Musical Scarves and Activities   It provides additional activities for those scarves that we all love so much!

Other books mentioned included:

Cows in the Kitchen by June Crebbin – a great read-aloud

From Head to Toe by Eric Carle – another classic

Round Robin – Ezra Jack Keat – did I already say “classic”?

Christmas Mice – I didn’t catch this author.  Kathryn, I think you mentioned this one?

Favorite places to find most of these books included: Amazon.com, Walmart, Target, and TJMaxx.  I found most of these books available through  Amazon.com, although some of them were no longer in print, but available through the Amazon Marketplace used books dealers. 

Sherry Carter and Tammaney Holcombe also shared that Scholastic.com is also a good source not only for the Kindermusik teacher, but also for your Kindermusik parents to obtain good, reasonably priced books.  As the teacher, you can put book orders together to help your parents out and earn free books for yourself in the process.  Be sure to check them out.

I have also found in my own online searches that BestBookDeal.com  is one of the best places to locate an out-of-print or hard-to-find book.  You can type in your book title, author or even the ISBN and it will pull up every available copy online and list them by price, from the least expensive to the most expensive. It also shows shipping costs and shipping times. 

Two other possibilities include Half.com as well as eBay.com.  At Half.com, you don’t have to bid on your item.  The prices are pre-determined by the seller, so, for those of you who hate to be outbid on eBay and don’t enjoy the bidding process, it’s a viable option.  Plus, you can find some great prices there.  

And don’t forget to check out your local thrift store, the Goodwill annual booksales, your local libraries’ book sales, and the $1 section at Target.  All of these usually hold some read-aloud treasures.  Have fun looking!

North Georgia/North Carolina Educators grab a bite!

This past Tuesday at the Tea Garden in Cartersville, the back dining room was filled with laughter, chatter, hugs, and voices raised in welcome to those Kindermusik educators who made the trek for lunch.  There were representatives from Rome, Adairsville, Dalton, Decatur, Cartersville itself, and even one from Murphy, North Carolina! 

While we waited on our luncheon to arrive, many ideas were exchanged.  Brochures and mailouts shared.  Promotional items  – the Mint Book created by Sharon Holmes of Texas, for one - were passed around.  Kay Bratton shared the latest and greatest from DRM&Y convention.  (Cute! Cute! Cute!) Questions were asked, suggestions were given.  New and experienced educators enjoyed the exchange of information and the fellowship of kindred spirits.  

 Even after our meal was served, the talk kept flowing between bites of delicious food.   While some of the participants sampled from the dessert menu, educators took turns sharing their favorite storytime books from their collections.  Pencils, pens, and paper were rapidly in use.  “Who’s the author?”  “Where did you find that one?”  “I love that book!”  were all phrases we heard over and over again.  I hope to post a list of these suggested books later this week. 

  

Wherever you’re located in the state of Georgia, it is well worth the effort to get together and just sit and talk with other Kindermusik educators.  The support for each other in the room there at the Tea Garden had to be felt to fully understand the depth of Kindermusik educators’ passion for sharing their love of children and music.  As we gathered up our things and began to leave, it was evident that old friendships had been renewed and new friendships had been made.  Many thanks to Kathryn Nobles for making the arrangements for us there at the Tea Garden.

All in all, for me, anyway, I know it was well worth the 63 mile drive and I’m so glad I didn’t miss it!  Do yourself a favor and find another local educator and just get together some time.  You’ll be glad you did, too!  

Hello to all you “Peach-y” Georgia Kindermusik educators!

 

Hello!  And welcome to the new blog dedicated to Georgia’s Kindermusik educators!

We are blessed to live and work in one of the most beautiful and diverse states in our nation.  We also have a very diverse Kindermusik community here as well.  From those educators teaching in small communities all over the state to those dealing daily with metro Atlanta traffic, we are all fortunate to call ourselves Kindermusik educators and share our passion for music and young children with our Kindermusik families.

This blog is for you, the Kindermusik educator who resides and/or teaches in the state of Georgia.  With a wealth of experience available in our state, we can join together to network and support one another.  There is no need to re-invent the wheel when we can ask others who have come before us. 

Feel free to leave comments and share information that you feel will help our fellow Kindermusik educators.  If you have an item or article you would like to see here, email it to me and I will gladly put it up.  Please do send me links to your websites.  I’d like to be able to feature a different educator each month so we can get to know one another.  I look forward to getting to know more of you better and being able to put faces with names.   

Check back often and let’s stay connected, how ’bout it?

Your PKE Representative,

Merri Williams                              Email:Kindermerri@yahoo.com

Decatur, GA