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Beyond Raffi
Kindermusik program offers
sonic smorgasbord for the
7-and- under set.
February 23, 2001
By Beth Friedman-Romell
Kindermusik of Cleveland director Cathy Marcus Huser dances through the newborn-18 months class.
Danny Goldenberg, 4, learns about percussion with teacher Wendy Jones.
Kindermusik stimulates sight, touch, balance and hearing.
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Dogs barking. Traditional Japanese string music. Opera. Folk tunes from the American South. These are some of the sounds area youngsters encounter in classes at Kindermusik of Cleveland, a nationally recognized music and movement program for newborns to 7-year olds.
In the newborn-to-18-month class held at Christ Episcopal Church in Shaker Heights, director Cathy Marcus Huser never stops singing as babies crawl, walk or are swung by their moms to the beat. One baby seems more interested in the flash camera than the music, but that’s O.K. with Huser, too.
Next door; the 3-1/2 - 5 year-olds are butterflies, twisting colorful bolts of netting through the air to the dulcet tones of instructor Wendy Jones. Then, they happily exchange the netting for the triangles, bells and blocks.
Down the hall, the most popular age group, 18 months to 3-1/2, work on "fast" and "slow" with their instruments. Next they match sounds from barking dogs to three note patterns.
After class, participants take home a special kit packed with storybooks, instruments and a sing-along CD.
Five years ago, Kindermusik was brought to Cleveland by Shaker Heights resident Huser, a singer, mother and former retail-shop owner. Huser was looking for a quality music program for her kids, Sara and Brian, then ages 3 and 5, when she was invited to attend a seminar on becoming a Kindermusik instructor.
Huser was very impressed with the program’s practices, materials and educational philosophies.
"We take a ‘whole child’ approach, which means we use music to stimulate all parts of the child’s brain," she explains. "We work with sight, hearing, touch, movement and the vestibular systems," involved in coordination and balance.
Her engaging teaching style and retailer’s marketing savy helped Huser expand the course offerings in a short period of time. Today, five licensed instructors teach year-round in four locations: Shaker Heights, Solon and the Mayfield and Mandel JCCs.
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Recently honored as one of the top 25 Kindermusik educators in the country, Huser is particularly proud of her special-needs programming, which has welcomed hearing- and sight-impaired kids, children with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and congenital brain deformity. Being inclusive, says Huser, has therapeutic benefits for all the kids involved.
"The child feels part of the group, and the other kids are very accepting, very wonderful about helping."
Doreen Schreiber of University Heights has sent all three of her children to Kindermusik. Evan, 8-1/2, is now studying piano, and Rachel, 7, takes violin lessons. Schreiber credits Kindermusik with their rapid progress on their instruments. "My mouth drops open, how quickly they’re learning. Things that have taken other children one to two years to accomplish, my kids have done in a matter of months," says Schreiber.
Schreiber also believes that Kindermusik played a key role in helping her youngest, Jessie, now 5, overcome her language delay as a toddler.
Young Shaker residents Lindsey Heller, 5, and her brother, Benjamin, 3, "look forward to going every single week," says their mom, Becky. She appreciates the range of classroom activities and the different musical styles presented in class and on the CDs.
"A lot of families have music in the background, but this puts it more in the forefront," observes Shaker Heights resident Debby Goldenberg, a mother of three Kindermusik kids: Matthew, 7, and twins Jonny and Danny, 4.
Goldenberg particularly appreciates the multicultural aspect of the students and curriculum.
"Lots of these tunes are old songs which would have been forgotten by our generation," she says. "They’re a part of our American heritage."
All this professional quality comes with a professional price tag. Fees range from $94 to $210 per semester, which includes tuition and required home materials, with sibling discounts available. "At risk" and special needs children may apply for financial aid to the national Kindermusik Foundation.
For registration and other information, contact Cathy Huser, director, at 216-991-1063; cathy@huser.org; www.kindermusikofcleveland.com
Do-Re-Mis of early childhood
Kindermusik draws theoretical insight and practical exercises from several different, but related, schools of thought on early childhood musical training:
Dalcroze - 19th-century French educator Jacques Dalcroze developed a system which emphasizes training the body in rhythm and dynamics (Eurhythmics); training the ear, eye and voice in pitch melody and harmony (solfege); and putting together all these elements according to the student’s own invention (improvisation).
Kodaly - Hungarian system of musical training evolving from the ideas of composer Zoltan Kodaly. This developmental approach employs folk songs, singing games and chants alongside classical and art music of many cultures. Voice is the major instrument.
Orff - Developed by 20th-century German composer Carl Orff, this approach holds rhythm as the basis of subsequent musical instruction. Children use tuned and non-tuned percussion instruments, movement games, singing, and drama before learning to read or write music.
Suzuki - Following the Second World War, Japanese violinist and educator Shinichi Suzuki devised a method of musical instrument instruction for young children which stresses early beginning, listening and repetition of pieces and intense parent involvement. Note reading and theory come later.
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