As a parent, you may be tempted to keep your baby cocooned in the safety of your own home, away from the germ-ridden playgrounds and other children. However, research shows that socializing with other babies and children can provide numerous benefits for your little one. Lets explore the benefits of babies socializing with each other.

1.    Boosts Cognitive Development

Interacting with other babies and children can help your baby develop their cognitive skills. When babies engage with other children, they learn how to communicate nonverbally, make eye contact, and use their own voice to communicate. This helps them develop their language skills and improve their social and emotional intelligence.

2.    Enhances Motor Skills

Playing with other babies can help enhance your baby’s motor skills. When babies are around each other, they learn how to crawl, walk, and move around in different ways. They also learn to grasp objects, throw things, and manipulate toys. These physical interactions help build their fine and gross motor skills.

3.    Boosts Confidence and Self-Esteem

When your baby socializes with other babies, they learn how to interact with different personalities and temperaments. They learn how to share, take turns, and cooperate. This helps build their confidence and self-esteem, and they feel more comfortable around others.

4.    Encourages Empathy and Compassion

As babies grow and learn to socialize with others, they begin to develop empathy and compassion. They learn to recognize and respond to the emotions of others. This can help them develop a strong sense of empathy and compassion that will serve them well throughout their lives.

5.    Builds a Strong Social Foundation

Socializing with other babies and children helps your baby build a strong social foundation that will benefit them throughout their lives. As they learn to interact with others, they develop communication skills, social skills, and emotional intelligence. These skills will help them build healthy relationships with others and navigate the complexities of social situations.

 

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So, don’t hesitate to take your baby out to meet other babies and children, and let them develop their social skills from an early age. Of course, Kindermusik is such a great option for this socialization.

Try a Kindermusik class for your baby or toddler at Grow and Sing Studios for only $5.
CLICK HERE FOR A $5 IN-PERSON PREVIEW
CLICK HERE FOR A $5 VIRTUAL PREVIEW

We can’t wait to meet you!

👣Barefoot is often considered best for babies for a few reasons:

1.    Helps with sensory development: The soles of the feet have numerous nerve endings that help your baby understand their surroundings. By being barefoot, baby can feel different textures and surfaces, which can help with their sensory development.
2.    Promotes proper foot development: When babies are barefoot, they can move their feet and toes freely, which allows for the natural development of the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in their feet. This can help with their balance and coordination as they learn to walk.

3.    Allows for better grip: Bare feet can provide a better grip on smooth surfaces, which can help with walking and prevent slipping.

4.    Allows for natural cooling: A baby’s foot can be a natural to regulate their body temperature. Being barefoot allows the baby’s feet to breathe and cool down if they become too warm.

However, it’s important to note that in certain situations, such as when a baby is outside in cold weather or on rough surfaces, it may be necessary to provide them with protection for their feet. It’s always a good idea to consult with a pediatrician for advice on what is best for your baby’s specific needs.

 

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Dear Families,

It’s time for Kindermusik International’s annual  “We Love Kindermusik” week ALL around the world. Kindermusik is enjoyed by so many, and once again we can all share our experiences and love for this amazing enrichment program together.

“WE LOVE KINDERMUSIK” week is truly intended to be a week of happy reminders of why we all love Kindermusik and most importantly, of all the special people – educators, families, and children – who come together every week to change the world through music…. one child and one song at a time.

Read below for details on how to share the love, and enter to win $100 of IN-PERSON OR ONLINE CLASSES AT GROW AND SING STUDIOS! Two lucky winners will be announced. One for our We Love Kindermusik giveaway, and another for our REEL/STORIES/TIKTOK giveaway. You can enter both, entries are unlimited. Hashtags are KEY for your entry!

We hope you enjoy sharing the love, and good luck! — The Grow and Sing Team

GIVEAWAY #1 – WE LOVE KINDERMUSIK 

Here are all the different ways to get an entry into our SHARE THE LOVE GIVEAWAY. (entries are unlimited, so have fun!)

1. Color a “We Love Kindermusik” coloring sheet complete including a testimonial of WHY your family loves Kindermusik classes. Not in Kindermusik yet? That’s okay, tell us how you incorporate music at home with your kids. (THIS PART IS REQUIRED FOR ENTRY). Take a photo of your coloring sheet and post to any of our socials (IG, FB, or TIKTOK) or you can even email it to . Be sure it’s set to public so we can see it. Use #growandsing Click here to print coloring sheet.
2. Comment on any of our posts, reels or tiktoks including the hashtag #growandsing. (each comment is an entry)
3. Tag us in a REEL, POST, or STORY. Be sure to use the hashtag #growandsing (each tag is an entry)

GIVEAWAY #2 – REELS/STORIES/TIKTOK GIVEAWAY – Share videos or photos of your child(ren) or family telling us or showing us why you love Kindermusik, music making, our team at Grow and Sing Studios, you get the idea!  You will automatically receive an entry into our main contest, PLUS the Grow and Sing Studios staff will be voting for their favorite REEL, STORY or TIKTOK and that winner will automatically win $100 of classes (you can choose in-person or virtual). Be sure to include the hashtag #growandsing. Creativity counts!  Good luck! 

FOLLOW US:
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
TIKTOK

We will be keeping close track of entries, and submit your name accordingly. However, you are welcome to email us your entry count. If you choose to do so, please be sure you let us know exactly how many and WHERE your entries are, so we can verify and get your amount right! Do not send us several emails to verify, just wait until you are done and then send us one complete email listing all the ways you entered (and how your name appears on social!). Thank you! The contest begins Monday, February 13, 2023 and will close at 11:59pm Sunday, February 19, 2023. Prize may be gifted to someone else if you are not able to use it and can be redeemed for ANY service offered by Grow and Sing Studios including lessons or birthday party. Each prize value is $100 and can be used for any of our services throughout 2023. Winners for our giveaway will be chosen by random draw with the exception of the reels/stories/tiktok entry (photo/video) contest which will be chosen by our staff. Winners will be announced sometime during February on our socials once we tally up all the votes, so be sure to like our social media accounts and select get notifications so you don’t miss the announcement of winners.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. ODDS OF WINNING WILL DEPEND ON THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ENTRIES RECEIVED. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH KINDERMUSIK INTERNATIONAL, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK OR ANY OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLET.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

Our accredited, skilled and caring teaching staff is fully dedicated to delivering families the highest quality and most enjoyable experience possible. Our goal for each and every class is to lead families through an enriching experience with care and compassion. All of our Accredited Kindermusik Educators are background checked and participate in ongoing professional development to ensure curriculum in class is always new and exciting! Our staff are all wonderful musicians and teachers, and we truly LOVE what we do.
Grow and Sing team, we appreciate you!!!!!!!

Hello friends! We have officially finished our Summer classes, and we can now safely say that it was a total success! I mean, check out this completely joyful moment from this week! After a VERY long time only doing virtual classes during Covid, we returned to the classroom for in-person classes this Summer. We want to send a HUGE thank you to all the amazing parents who worked with us in adapting for covid safety. We all have a single goal which is to keep our littles safe. We did it! Our virtual classes were a blast also. We love all the interactions and ideas from our Kindermusik Virtual kiddos!

We are excited to share that for the first time since our studio creation in 2005 we are running a full school year with both in-person and virtual classes running at the same time! Never, in our wildest imagination did we ever think this would be something we would do. Our goal is to continue to learn, grow and evolve as a studio so we can serve our musical community far and wide as best we can.

So, with that said, we of course want to encourage you to head to our website, find an offering that works for your family, and sign up. : )

Everyone who can attend in Eastern Standard Time – virtual classes are available (even in afternoons/evenings for those in preschool!). Try a FULL week of unlimited classes for only $5!

WOOHOOOO!

growandsing.com

Note: this is an amazon afilliate link. If you purchase through this link, a bit comes back to help our studio. Thank you!

Hi there, I’m Holly, founder, owner and director here at Grow and Sing Studios. 15 years ago, when my son was 6 weeks old, I created my studio which offered a very simple TWO Kindermusik classes per week total. I had previously taught Kindermusik and worked as a music therapist but had been on a break to have my second child.

I began my Kindermusik journey because I yearned for connections with other parents. I discovered Kindermusik through my first passion, music therapy, and it seemed like the obvious fit because Kindermusik is about how music affects a child’s development. I found Kindermusik to be a happy, smiley, positive place, and I wanted to create that for as many families as I could.

Even during the 2008 recession, Grow and Sing Studios thrived. It not only thrived, but won awards. Lots of awards. Through the years, I’ve added various classes, a wonderful staff, birthday parties, piano lessons, voice lessons… frankly, the list is VERY long because not all things I tried stuck.

Yet, throughout it all, the goal was simple.

Though I’m not sure I saw it for a long time. On the surface it was to have a career and support my family. I wanted to be the best I could be in my field. But it was also to make music and inspire my own children. However, it took many years to realize that the ultimate goal was to help inspire laughter, smiles, and connections.
So, I finally figured it out. It’s the constant Kindermusik joy guarantee in a life full of variables.
And boy has 2020 thrown us some major life variables!

I am always trying new things, testing the waters, figuring things out. Due to Covid-19, I’ve had to think WAY outside the box so that the laughter, smiles and connections didn’t stop.

That is where our Kindermusik Virtual program comes in. Back in March, I had NO idea what I was going to do. I had to take a step back, breathe, and remember that the ultimate goal was to create joy through music. Thankfully, we have an incredibly talented and DEVOTED team of teachers who were ready to try anything I put in front of them.

You know what? It worked!

Our Kindermusik Virtual program has been a complete success over the past several months. A community of families from ALL OVER have embraced this new way to learn with their young children. I can’t express enough how heartwarming it is to witness! Friendships are being made between parents, between children, and even closer connections are forming between our teachers.

I’m starting to realize that if you can find a constant that makes you the happiest, you WILL succeed even in the middle of a pandemic. So, I finally figured it out. HAPPINESS is my dream. LAUGHTER is what I long for. CONNECTIONS are what I strive to create each and every day.

Mission accomplished.

So, what’s your story? I’d love to know more about YOU!

May your day bring you much happiness, peace, and many giggles.
Thanks for reading.
Love, Holly

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR UNLIMITED TRIAL WEEK

Hi Parents! We KNOW it’s been a hard time for you. As much as we would LOVE to return to the classroom in person we aren’t quite ready yet. After much reflection, we came to the decision to continue our very popular ONLINE CLASSES through Summer. Here’s why. We want to be sure our classroom is as safe as possible and the only way to do that is to educate ourselves and our team on best practices. We want to see what happens in the first phases of the state’s re-opening. Most importantly, we want to keep YOU and your young children in mind. Babies, toddlers and preschoolers do not understand social distancing. They are all about the hugs and kisses! They do not yet understand sharing. We teach that in class! They also tend to put things in their mouths which is developmentally appropriate. In addition, we have learned that an environment where there is singing, creates an aerosol that goes much further than speaking, and lasts in the air much longer. We care about you, and we want you to stay safe and healthy. We want to protect those that are high risk as well. We will be working behind the scenes to learn and prepare for our return. In addition, the locations we rent from have not yet opened, so our hands are tied.

In the meantime, we have an AMAZING lineup of online Summer programming! There are many options based on budget and session length needs. All programming includes UNLIMITED classes each week. We know our families have enjoyed being able to pop in any time they want. Whether it’s for a Kindermusik class, or a special event like a sing-a-long, puppet show or themed party. All programming includes digital at home materials to help enforce the learning at home.

We adhere to child protection laws, so we do not record classes. All programming is live.

The following links will lead you to our website for all our online fun. Please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to help!

To view our online options click here.
To view our Bilingual Birdies + House Party Option click here.
To view our House Party Options click here.
To view our private piano or voice lessons click here.
To view our online Adult tap class a la carte option click here.
To view our online birthday party option click here.

Happy December everyone!

Recently I was hired to do a presentation via video conference call for a parenting group in Arizona. This group found me on Instagram where I tend to share a lot of developmental nuggets about how music affects a child’s development. I was honored to be asked and accepted the task. Can I just say that I had the BEST TIME? Sharing my passion with a wonderful group of moms was so much fun and rewarding. I hope I left a bit of an impression that trickles down to their precious babies.

I’m not presenting to you today in my blog post, but I did want to share one “whoa” moment to consider as you enter into what tends to be a chaotic time of year. For a child in their first 2000 days, the days between birth and Kindergarten, it is the time when their brain will form the most rapidly in their entire life. I learned (and then subsequently passed it on in my presentation) that a baby’s brain forms synapses (connections) at a rate of 1 MILLION PER SECOND! The actual “whoa” though is the fact that if those synapses aren’t strengthened, they prune and shed. Like, gone forever. The ones that are strengthened, shape who your baby will become as a person. These synapses are formed for vision, hearing, language and cognitive function, and this all happens in the first year of life. Not only that but social and emotional function as well. Each of us is born with the potential to control impulses and be focused but acquiring these skills happens in the early years when these synapses are forming. It helps create a foundation that will carry through a person’s entire life.

Large bodies of research have reported that high quality Birth-8 years learning environments, with regular attendance help build a strong foundation for the forming of these synapses. (NC Early Childhood Foundation)

Okay, you probably see where I’m going with this.
MUSIC!

Music is magical.
It’s is a multi-sensory activity. When children are engaged with music and movement, their hearing and visual senses are fully engaged. When multiple senses are engaged in an activity, more areas of the brain are activated. The more areas of the brain activated, the more brain connections formed. It is a fact that MUSIC is one of the only activities that activates, stimulates and uses the ENTIRE brain. I think that is fascinating, and exciting.

For the last 18 years, I have been SO PROUD to enhance the lives of families all across Central Florida with the gift of Kindermusik. Kindermusik was created with the idea that in a child’s early years, we can use the best tool EVER to strengthen those synapses so pruning and shedding is minimal.

Okay here’s my pitch. A month of Kindermusik at Grow and Sing Studios is $68. That may seem like a lot, but, considering that your baby is forming 1 million synapses a second right now, and each one of those needs love and care, it’s a pretty good deal.

I have an even BETTER deal! For the month of December, you can attend 2 per week until Christmas at 35% off, PLUS you’ll receive an invitation to our Jingle Jam Holiday Party (our entire team of teachers is singing!). To learn more, fill out the form here, and mention our “New Family December Offer”. We’ll hook you up.

If you decide to wait, we’ll hold back the guilt and encourage you to consider asking for a Kindermusik Gift Certificate so you can join us in 2020. Click here for more on that.

Oh, and if you are reading this from far and wide, and are part of a parenting group I would love to share my presentation with you. I’m for hire! Just contact me and we can chat. Also, you can find a Kindermusik class all around the globe by clicking here.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season, and lots of strong synapse forming days with your child!

Holly Lesnick is a Licensed Kindermusik Educator and Studio owner at Grow and Sing Studios, a Bachelor of Music Therapy, mom of 2 and has been married to her husband Will for 21 years. Holly is the Kindermusik International Brand Ambassador for the U.S., and always happy to collaborate with brands and businesses she believes in.

Reference: First 2000 days information found mostly at NC Early Childhood Foundation.

Thank you Quilty’s Quality Nannies for the wonderful blog post about our studio!! We LOVE our Kindermusik nannies. Did you know that we welcome ALL loving caregivers? Parents of course, but also amazing nannies, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, you name it! SO, if you aren’t able to bring your little one, but have someone that can, we welcome you with open arms!

Oh, and if you need a nanny, check out Olivia’s Quilty’s Quality Nannies, and tell her you learned of her service through Grow and Sing Studios. YAY, we love community partnerships!

We can’t wait to get started with classes next week! Interested to see all that we are offering? Look no further. Well.. maybe ONE click, and it will lead you to all the information you need to get started with our studio. Happy new school year!

To enroll now click here.

Holly Lesnick is a Licensed Kindermusik Educator and Studio owner at Grow and Sing Studios, a Bachelor of Music Therapy, mom of 2 and has been married to her husband Will for 20 years.  Holly is the Kindermusik International Brand Ambassador for the U.S., and always happy to collaborate with brands and businesses she believes in.