[Posts from old Google group]

Teaching babies is fun, but in my experience, you have to think twice what props and what activities to use. They are little and mouth everything and moms are totally sleep deprived. So not a lot of dancing and body works, but lots of singing, visuals, and anything where they can remain on their blankets and safely crawl around.

[Posts from old Google group]

Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer are two great musicians who have produced wonderful children’s CDs (sadly, only in English). They now have a program called “Sing to your Baby”, where they conduct parent/baby classes and have people sing to their infants. It’s similar in concept to Music Lingua, without the language part. The techniques they use for engaging the infants are all relevant to what you can do if you have infants in your classes. Here is a link to their blog – it has a wealth of info, including some videos:

http://singtoyourbaby.net/blog.cfm

[Posts from old Google group]

I did see the cute baby! The youngest baby in my classes this fall is 5 months old but I did have a 3 month old last Spring. I will ask her what she has learned from having babies in her class. Did you see my question to you in my response to Birgit about where to post books and art projects? Thanks, Veronica

[Posts from old Google group]

Glad to hear you’re enjoying yourself as well as the parents and babies! In my classes, putting things in their mouths is what babies do best. Luckily I usually have only one baby in every class so it’s not too hard to keep a watchful eye and I ask the parent to bring things from home that the baby can chew on. Two out of three of my babies roam around so I make sure I have some extra plastic animals or the shaker eggs have been good to distract them from getting into the art supplies. Also I find that having older kids in the class helps entertain the baby. I sometimes put up a baby gate so the baby doesn’t disappear down the corridor and the mom (or dad) can relax as s/he can see her (his) baby at all times! I was thinking it would be great to have a place where we could all list the books we use in the different languages and for different age groups. Chuck do you have a place for that kind of thing? How about for us to post ideas for new art projects or modifications of existing art projects made to fit a specific age group or special need kids? I have kids that have allergies and so I often have to change the food art project to something else because of that. Thanks Birgit for your feedback and I hope my ideas help you too! Veronica

[Posts from old Google group]

Hello,

I have been teaching a German baby class for two months now. There are only two babies in this class, one is 4 months old and the other boy is a about a year old. More parents are interested, but the timing is a challenge, since the kids take their naps at different times. I have been really enjoying it. We are together for 1/2 hour and we mostly sing. I picked the easiest songs of the farm CD (uncle Heinz) or parts of songs and we are just singing them over and over. I use my guitar more than the CD in this class. I also cut out the art project. I also take out some books some time and tell them farm stories. They enjoy that as well. The most challenging thing is the difference in age. The older boy is quite physical (running around) and the little baby is mostly sleep and I get a big smiles here and there. The parents seem to like the class, since I offered a trial session & they want to keep going.

I hope this helps. Let me know, if you have any more questions.

Thanks,
Birgit

[Posts from old Google group]

Carla, our Spanish teacher in the Pocotello, ID area, recently posted this picture on facebook of a darling 3-month old from one of her classes. Maybe she has some pointers.

[Posts from old Google group]

I haven’t but was wondering if anyone gave you some feedback on that. I have one baby here and there with the other kids and the mother ends up doing the art project (or not). I sometimes hand the mother a book related to the unit we’re working on to show her baby while the others work on their art project. I imagine that with babies, one could shorten the class to 35 minutes maybe and cut out the art project. Let me know if you decided to have a baby class and what you’re learning from it. Thanks, Veronica

[Posts from old Google group]

I try to gear my art projects to the 3-5 yo. Anyone older can still have fun with it and add their own creativity. Kids younger than 18 months are not interested at all and will be happy watching or playing with a toy while the others work. The 18 months – 3 yo kids need a lot of help but are still interested in participating. I try to have a couple of projects that include cutting even though it takes more time, but try to stick to really easy things so that it doesn’t take up too much time yet gives them something to take home that will reinforce the lesson. Hope that helps.

Best,
Barbara Mills
Colorado Springs French Music Lingua

[Posts from old Google group]

Twister – what an AWESOME idea for teaching colors! Could be easily modified to teach numbers too.

[Posts from old Google group]

I just started using Twister in my classes – the kids LOVE it!

Barbara Mills
Colorado Springs French Music Lingua

[Posts from old Google group]

How about including a book in French or German relating to your unit theme once in a while. Creating a show sounds wonderful but I imagine it would take some time to make one up with the kids unless you act out one of the songs. Let me know how your classes are going. Veronica

[Posts from old Google group]

Hi. I’m also a relatively new Music Lingua Teacher. I use the registration form on the brochure that Music Lingua has developed about Music Lingua. I copied it and change the class schedule and pricing then email it to those who want to register. Noone has asked me so far about a receipt so I haven’t developed one or asked for one from Music Lingua. Veronica

[Posts from old Google group]

Hi!

I’m just getting started too. I think until I have a large enough data base, the programs (Excel/Word) that come w/my computer will be suitable (I have a Mac).

Along those line, does anyone have any tips for Registration Forms/Parent Contract Forms or Receipts? Do you create your own or have you found any generic ones that work?

Thanks!
Sarah-Music Lingua French, San Francisco

[Posts from old Google group]

Quicken is very easy to use, and is useful for keeping and organizing both business and personal financial records. Quickbooks is a little more expensive and difficult to set up and use, but is more “industrial strength”. I would guess that quicken would meet the needs of most teachers.

We use Microsoft Business Contact Manager, which integrates with Microsoft Outlook, for contact management. Again, this may be overkill for many teachers’ needs, but it comes included with certain versions of Microsoft office, and works great. If you are already using Outlook, I would recommend it.

[Posts from old Google group]

Hi Samantha!
I’m just getting started myself (going on a year old now). I use Quicken to keep track of finances. I use excel spreadsheets to keep track of each class as well as other marketing efforts I’ve made where I have been able to collect emails and other details. I haven’t done any mailing through the post office but do send out email. I’m beginning to wonder if I should invest in a contact management database to keep track of the many families who are, have or may want to take a class. I have also started a Facebook page and that has been a fun way to keep up with my “people” and allow them to keep up with me. I hope that helps. I would be interested in hearing from others too! Good luck!
Barbara Mills
Colorado Springs French Music Lingua

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