Important Ordering Information

If you’re planning on ordering anything from KI soon, you need to be aware of the following information. Kindermusik International’s offices are closed the week of December 22nd as well as the warehouse. This information was included in the last eNotes as well as on the Teachers’ Lounge.

Please note the following cutoffs for orders to be received before December 25, 2008:

Regular FedEx Ground – December 15th

FedEx 2nd Day – 16th

FedEx Overnight – 18th

If you need anything for Christmas, better get that order in *FAST*!

PKE Meeting Update

Due to many conflicts and cyberspace mailing failures, the Atlanta Area PKE meeting scheduled for Friday, September 5th has been cancelled. 

Be sure to watch your inbox for a survey from the Georgia PKE, requesting your  input about a day and time in the week following Christmas that would work for you for educators to get together and preview the following semester. 

Please add kindermerri at yahoo dot com to your email address book to avoid PKE mailings being sent to your spam file in the future.

Atlanta Area PKE Meeting – Friday, Sept. 5th

Atlanta Area Kindermusik Chapter

Let’s Get Together Again!

Friday, September 5, 10:30am

Dunwoody Baptist Church

Jane Hendrix – hostess

 Hello Atlanta Area PKE!

Hope everyone had a wonderful summer – time to relax and rest a bit.  I’m hoping that many of us are available for a last minute get together before we’re all up and running our Fall programs.

 We’ll need at least 10 educators to join us for this meeting for it to take place so RSVP ASAP.  With 10 attendees, this will count towards the 100 points that will be required for licensing beginning in April, 2009. 

Bring your new ideas, bring questions, we’ll look at a new webinar, and just enjoy each others enthusiasm regarding this amazingly incredible music program we’re so blessed to be teaching.

Hope to see everyone Friday!

Amy VanderLugt, Atlanta Area PKE

Merri Williams, GA PKE

Jane Hendrix, Hostess and Webinar Facilitator Extraordinaire
*****************************************************************

From I-285 East or West:
Exit # 29 Ashford Dunwoody Road Go North on Ashford Dunwoody Road approx. 1.75 miles Past Perimeter Mall DBC will be on your left

From GA 400 South:
Exit #5 Dunwoody/Sandy Springs Make a left onto Abernathy Road go approx. ¼ mile Make a left onto Mount Vernon Road, continue approx. 1.1 miles DBC will be on your right

From GA 400 North:
Exit #5A Dunwoody/Sandy Springs Merge onto Abernathy Road (you can only go in one direction) make your way to the far left hand lane At the 2nd traffic light make a left onto Mount Vernon Road, continue approx. 1.1 miles DBC will be on your right.

Please RSVP Amy, Merri, or Jane so we can adequately plan for attendees.

Welcome, Stanton!

I just received confirmation from Helen Peterson that Ginger and John Bennett are the very happy parents of a healthy baby boy, Stanton, who arrived last Thursday, June 12th, as scheduled, weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces and 21 inches long.  It was a tricky pregnancy with Ginger limited to being 5 minutes away from the hospital at times, but I’m sure they will tell you that it’s *all* been worth it.

Congratulations to Ginger and John! 

Welcome to our world, Stanton! 

May all your days be Kindermusik days!

*Important* Info For “My Virtuoso” Users

I received this information from Helen Peterson of the PKE Board, asking us to post it for all Kindermusik educators using My Virtuoso.  This was shared by Lisa Cheney of Massachusetts:

Dear Loopers,
Just a heads up about a problem I encountered with YV 2.0. I have  already sent via YV issue log. I also told YV I was posting on the loop so that no one inadvertently send out an email like I almost did. Text sent below:

Need to send out mass email. 

Issue 1
update of 2.0 doesn’t filter out archived families emails. This is a problem since as archived they should not receive emails. It is a violation of the law to send out emails to families who have been asked to be removed from the email list. 
Issue 2
When selecting prospects only it includes ALL emails on this list.  This is problematic as I send out a very different marketing email to currently enrolled families and to prospects.

Please advise ASAP as my schedule requires that this go out as a follow-up today, exactly one week prior to Adventures start-up.

I deleted the email I was going to send when I noticed archived families were on the list. I hope that this does not send as last time I deleted a mailing it still sent.

I am going to post this request/issue on the loop so that other educators don’t inadvertently send out an illegal email.

Best Regards,
Lisa Cheney

*******************

IMPORTANT – do not send out eblasts on Your Virtuoso 2.0 until this is resolved.

Kindermusik in China

As a Kindermusik educator, I am blessed with the ability to come in contact with educators from literally around the world.  At my very first Kindermusik convention in July, 2005, in Nashville, Tennessee, I made a very good friend from Malaysia.  We have corresponded frequently since then and I hope to see her in person again one day at another convention.

I have also met, via our online group at Yahoogroups, Sarah Peel Li, a Kindermusik educator in Beijing, China.  We have participated together in continuing education webinars hosted and sponsored by Kindermusik International.  I greatly enjoy her expertise as an educator as well as her humor.

This morning, as I skimmed through the group’s posts, I read a new one from Sarah that put the China earthquake into a much more personal perspective.  I am reproducing it here.  If you feel led to participate, please do so.  The need is incredible.  And I can not imagine the anguish of many of the parents there as they face the loss of their one child that the government allows them to have.

From Sarah Peel Li, Beijing, China:

As most of you are probably already aware there was a massive earthquake in the Sichuan region of China on Monday. It is a tragedy and many thousands of people have lost their lives. Those that survived in the hardest hit areas often have nothing, and the conditions are extremely difficult.

Kara Waddell, a Kindermusik parent here in Beijing, leads the NGO Operation Blessing here in China. She is now in Chengdu to coordinate relief efforts, and I hope our community of families and schools will be able to support the work she and her team are doing to assist children in the quake affected areas. Operation Blessing is partners with the China Charity Federation and China Foundation for collecting funds legally in China and for coordinating disaster relief activities. Collection of needed goods is also normal for this type of disaster, and Operation Blessing will be making arrangements for this type of aid to be sent in the coming days from partners here in Beijing.

As Kara put it in an e-mail I received, relief experts are right – give to whoever you trust, but cash in response scenarios really, really helps. If you would like to give, I know that supporting Operation Blessing’s work will make sure your funds reach those who need it most. They are extremely professional and have experience
working with community partners in the hardest hit areas of Sichuan.  They are coordinating their work with the Red Cross and the China Social Work Association.

They are focused on relief for children and families, including an effort to reach and assist orphanages in the area. Their work is currently focused on: Mianyang City – where 3000 are being reported dead, 18,000 buried in rubble which could greatly increase the death toll; and  Dujiangyan City – they have a 2-year old friendship with the Red Cross from a district in this city. We are making local purchases of relief supplies and will help distribute with the Red Cross.

ONLINE DONATIONS:
https://www. cbn.com/giving/ obChina/option. asp

Domestic and international credit cards can be used. 100% of funds dedicated for use in China although funds collected in the U.S. All funds received this week online we’ll dedicate to this earthquake relief, recovery and development efforts.

Thank you for reading this message, and your generous support of an organization that is making a real difference in the face of incredible suffering.

Sarah Peel Li
Beijing, China

 

Atlanta Area PKE Meeting Cancellation

The next meeting of the Greater Atlanta Area PKE, scheduled for this Friday, April 25th, at 11AM has been postponed until July.  Due to several circumstances, notably construction and renovation in the music suite at Dunwoody Baptist Church where we meet, as well as many educators having *packed* schedules right now, we felt it better to postpone until this summer, giving more folks time to plan ahead. 

There are some plans now in the works for a local PDS here in July as well as our own local PKE meeting and planning for the Kindermusik convention in November in Raleigh, North Carolina.  We will have further information here as soon as details are nailed down.

Summer Curricula Update

For those of you still mulling over your summer class schedules, here is the latest update from Carol Penney of Kindermusik International and Helen Peterson of the PKE Board about usage of ABC Music & Me for summer class offerings:

PKE/KI Response to ABC use as Family Class for summer:

Dear Kindermusik Educators,  

ABC Music & Me has been officially offered to the licensed Kindermusik educator community to add flexibility to your studio offerings. Here are some things to consider when making adaptations to ABC for your summer families:

• Summer offerings are a vehicle for fall enrollment. Set yourself for success and ease your families into the core fall curricula by pricing this class carefully. If you charge $15.00 for home materials for a whole family in summer and then $60.00 in the fall, you are going to surprise your customers.

• Recommendation: Materials fee for a “family style” ABC camp matches the fee for a published camp by adding family friendly instruments, or books. (i.e. purchase SPLASH curriculum for families ($13.00) and add a mini sea sound drum ($9.00). That nets out at $23.00 – with shipping, handling, tax and markup you can fairly charge $30.00 – which is in line with summer programs. For a family of 2 or more children this is still an amazing bargain.

• Adapting ABC for families needs to include the following considerations:

Engaging Grown-ups
ABC Music & Me was written for a learning environment for children without their caregivers. They key to success in a Family class is engaging the adults. Study your Family Time Teacher Guide to be prepared to present the activities to both the adults and the children. Insert FOLs throughout the class.

Multiple Ages

Give thought to “So Many Ways” – how to make the activity fit for each age group, and “All Together Now” moments to ensure smooth transitions from one activity to the next. (Refer the Teacher’s Guide for any unit of Family Time)

Flow of the Lesson

The contour of Family Time is crescendo-decrescendo. Reconfigure the existing lesson activities to begin with low energy activities and build towards movement. Consolidate all large motor activities in the center of the lesson. Decrescendo begins with the FAMILY JAM and the activities become increasingly calm to the end of the lesson.

Hosted CD

Consider using the music tracks, skipping over the hosted introductions and transitions, to more closely represent a studio class. Or, use the Home CD for the music you will play in class.

We have come up with this outline to help you succeed in your goal of introducing new families to an outstanding Kindermusik experience through the summer and to encourage participation for continuing families – leading to fall enrollment.

Best of luck in carefully creating this new summer offering for families.

Sincerely,

Carol Penney, Director of Education, Kindermusik International

Helen Peterson, PKE Board Advisor for Communication

Welcome to the new PKE Board!

 

Your PKE Board (from left, Helen Peterson, Kathy Morrison, Julee Kowalis, Ginger Bennett and Katie Henderson) are already working away on a number of things that will have a positive impact on your business and you!

The PKE Board may be contacted at pkeboard@yahoogroups.com anytime you have a question or concern.  Don’t sit and stew over a problem when these lovely ladies are willing to listen and help!

Welcome, ladies!  We look forward with great anticipation to the days ahead under your guidance and leadership! 

She’s okay, just *SWAMPED*!

I’ve been keeping my eye lately on a certain blog of someone we all have an interest in, wondering where the lady has seemingly disappeared to.  In case you don’t know who I’m referring to, it’s Molly McGinn, senior writer at Kindermusik International. 

 

I always enjoy seeing the snippets of information that she shares on her blog.  Molly has communication down to a very fine art.  She can say more with one glance and a single sentence than I can say with an encyclopedia.   Over the past 10 months or so, we’ve exchanged emails and blog comments, and I think I can safely say that Molly has been a tremendous influence in encouraging me “finding” my voice on my blog.  (Btw, thanks for that, Molly!)

I usually check her blog two or three times a week, and I remember thinking somewhere around September 8th that it had been over a week since her last post.  Now, this time of year has been extremely hectic for me as a Kindermusik educator and the other hats that I juggle – mom, studio teacher, choir teacher, musician, etc., etc., etc.  So, I knew within reason that Molly was probably experiencing her own hurricane season of “things to do” as well, and I hesitated about adding to it by emailing and asking, “Hey, are you okay?” 

But when I began getting emails from other Kindermusik educators, asking me if I knew where she was and why she hadn’t been posting, I just decided to take action and sent her the following question this afternoon: 

Hellllooooooooooooooooooo?  Are you out there?

Dear, dear Molly,

     Your long timeframe of no blog postings has the cyberworld worried.  We are very concerned about you and want to make sure that you’re just swamped with *STUFF* at KI and not suffering from some malaise such as mal de mer, or something like that.  (I’ve always wanted to throw that in – “mal de mer”.) 

    AAAnnnnnyway – where are you, dear lady?  I’ve been concerned and not wanted to bug you, but now I’m getting emails from folks, asking me if I know if you’ve dropped off the face of the earth.  Inquiring minds want to know!

Surprisingly enough, two hours later, I received a response: 

Awww, I really need to do a post about that.

I’ve truly been so busy immersing myself in ABC Music & Me, and my own little music projects are really taking off, too. If I’m not working, I’m rehearsing, performing, writing, or running.

That leaves no to little time for blogging!

But, it’s great to know I’m missed…………. Thank you, though. It’s good to be missed. 

So, take heart, Molly fans, she’s basically *SWAMPED* with everything she’s got going on.  Price to pay for gifted creativity. 

If you’d like a taste of her own music projects, check out her MySpace page for samples of her songs.  I have my own personal favorites there. 

And you can even purchase single songs or her entire album.  Check it out - it will give you a glimpse into another side of Molly McGinn that you don’t get to see or hear in her work at KI.   Here’s some comments left on her “Recommendations” page on AmieStreet.com:

Molly McGinn is fond of children. She writes music for children, teaches music to children, and writes for Kindermusik International. But don’t expect to hear many nursery rhymes on Girl with Slingshot ($7.40), much of the record focuses on McGinn’s experiences as an adult. Several tracks, however, can easily be enjoyed by both children and adults.

*****

“Imagine Ani DiFranco bopping to the Bo Diddley beat. No, better yet, put this song on the top of your i-Pod playlist and live the dream. This is GOOD STUFF”

*****

So, the mystery of Molly is resolved.  The lady’s just plain busy, like all the rest of us.