"C" is for cookies

Here's a snap of pre-K specialist Candy Banks, "greeting clients with a plate of cookies, with my sales letter on top, to read while eating a cookie!"

Smart girl. Can I have one?

It may look like a Starter Set, but the things inside the box will help us make sure that every child--regardless of social or economic background--is ready for preschool.

Carol Stripling

I've watched Carol shine in so many different ways over the last few years. She's helped so many children benefit from a Kindermusik style of learning by providing books and music to her local public schools. A Kindermusik Maestro, and last year, Inspiration Award recipient at the 2006 Do-Re-Me & You! conference. The award is given to the woman who most embodies the spirit of Do-Re-Me & You!

Carol, we are so looking forward to watching you grow with ABC Music & Me, too.

"I have definitely become a CHILD ADVOCATE after teaching 28 music classes a week for 19 years.

"The top picture includes a few of the 160+ children I taught every week, and the bottom picture shows part of our PDNAEYC (Paso Del Norte National Assoc. for the Education of Young Children) board of directors on the Texas Capitol steps. We wore '3 ½ to 1' ( for every $1 invested in high quality pre-k yields at least $3.50 to Texas communities) buttons, and met with legislators.

"I moved out of the classroom a few months ago, and I have found MANY NEEDS for Kindermusik curricula and products in our schools. I am looking forward to continue as a consultant for school districts in the Southwest. "

Simone Velez

When Simone sent in her pictures, she wasn't sure which photo to choose. There's a professional side to her, and a playful one. Quite frankly I couldn't decide either. I'm fairly sure that she's a good balance of both.

Simone, all of us will be cheering you on next week at the Florida conference!

"I am most proud of my family. My husband, Nelson, and I have been together for 17 years, married 11, and we have two amazing children. Serena, 8 years old, plays the piano beautifully and is so caring with animals and all nature. Xavier, 5 years old, is a true gentleman, with a solid sense of justice and diplomacy and an incredibly gentle and loving nature; he is also a T-ball star. My husband, Nelson, shares my passion for family and outside of his regular work day, volunteers his time teaching parenting classes. We also have Peaches, our 16 year old cat, and Fin, our 3 year old toy poodle.

"One of my favorite songs is They Dance Alone by Sting.

"One thing I will do with my 1st commission check is sign up for a local Advanced Life Mastery workshop I have been longing to take."

Karen Schanerberger

Psst. Hey Karen. Ever been to the live gaming concerts, like this one? So. Tell me. Are you an Xbox or PlayStation kind of girl?

"I have a degree in classical music, but dream of running away from home to join a rock band. I'm also into PC gaming (adventure, not action), cryptic crosswords and other word puzzles, and fantasy & mystery fiction.

"I love children and animals and am owned by a cat. I've been married 23 years and have 2 boys - ages 10 and 18 (because God has a sense of humor) . I am active in my church and am in charge of the PTA website for my son's school.

"I don't have a favorite song - depends on my mood. I've attached a picture from the Myst games because it looks like someplace I'd really love to be. I'm very proud to be a Kindermusik Maestro and to be somewhat successful at raising my two boys.

"Dealing with my interesting children has helped me be a better teacher."

Karen Schanerberger

Keys to early reading

Preschoolers who were given music keyboard lessons improved their spatial-temporal reasoning. A peer group, who were given computer lessons, showed no improvement. Spatial-temporal reasoning is the abstract reasoning that is used for understanding relationships between objects such as calculating a proportion or playing chess. Spatial-temporal reasoning is important in subjects such as mathematics and science.

source: Educational Leadership, November, 1998, p.39Association for Supervision and Curriculum Developmentarticle: The Music in Our Minds Norman M. Weinberger, Professor of Psychobiology at the University of California, Irvine, referencing research of F.H. Rauscher, G.L. Shaw et al, 1997, Neurological Research , 19, 2-8

First graders who received instruction in music listening had significantly higher reading scores than those first graders who did not receive the instruction but were similar in age, IQ and socioeconomic status. The same teacher taught reading to all the students. Those given music instruction were taught for 40 minutes a day for 7 months and learned to recognize melodic and rhythmic elements in folk songs. They scored in the 88th percentile for reading performance and the non-instructed control group scored in the 72nd percentile.

source: Educational Leadership, November, 1998, p.38 Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development article: The Music in Our Minds Norman M. Weinberger, Professor of Psychobiology at the University of California, Irvine, referencing research of Hurwitz et al, 1975, Journal of Learning Disabilities, 8, 45-51

Elements of music and reading are highly related in first graders. Students were tested on various elements of music and reading and a strong relationship was found between a student's awareness of pitch and their ability to sound out material in reading--material that included standard language and phonetic material.

source: Educational Leadership, November, 1998, p.39 Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development article: The Music in Our Minds Norman M. Weinberger, Professor of Psychobiology at the University of California, Irvine, referencing research of S.J. Lamb and A.H. Gregory, 1993, Educational Psychology, 13, 19-26

For more, visit Americans for the Arts