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TESTIMONIALS
My daughter started attending music class at Ms. LaLa's when she was 12 months old. It has helped her thrive in so many areas. She gets so excited every time I tell her we're going to Ms. LaLa's! I think she said LaLa as one of her first 10 words. Now, 6 months later Miss LaLa has incorporated art into our curriculum and once again my daughter is loving every minute of the new experience.
Our class time on Mondays has always been very special because I have a full time job; however, Monday is my day off. I enjoy the opportunity to bond with my daughter during our music and art hour every week. I am so proud to watch her continue to enjoy learning new things and am so grateful that I am able to participate.
There have been so many times when she will begin to dance to the beat of the music or say her "patterns" out of nowhere that my family will all say "she learned that at Ms. LaLa's". She is an only child and she loves the interaction with the other children. I know that it has helped her with sharing and learning basic skills such as "clean up" and being a "big helper" by assisting with handing out the instruments.
Ms. LaLa has a real passion for her students and she is wonderful at what she does for the children. My daughter would prefer to sit in Ms. LaLa's lap at the front of the class as opposed to participating with me sometimes because she is so enthralled with the change of pace as children need new adventures to assist with their learning.
My daughter also uses "Baby Signs" that we learned at Ms. LaLa's when I took a Parents class to learn the sign language. Everyone knows that children comprehend months before they are able to verbalize and I wanted to bridge the gap. My child has once again excelled due to her skills she learned through Ms. LaLa bringing in a trained professional to teach the course.
People are always amazed at how well my daughter communicates, dances, entertains, plays with others, observes and mimics, and has a genuine zest for life! She is extremely outgoing and has a "million dollar personality" and I can attribute most of her confidence and ahead-of-schedule developmental milestones to her time spent at Ms. LaLa's!
Kristen, Mother of Savannah - March. 2009
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My son loves his music class at Miss Lalas. As a working Mum it is perfect for us, because it is quality time spent together where he has my complete undivided attention. He is an only child so also benefits from the opportunity to socialize with other young children. He has developed a strong interest in everything musical, and yesterday while we were watching a televised concert he asked me to get him a recorder (not an easy word for a little guy with a speech delay). I guess he thought the singer needed some additional accompaniment and due to his music class he felt he was up to the job. Thank you Miss LaLa!
(Note from Miss LaLa: Jamey began when he was about 2-1/2 years old. His mother told me at one point that she wished she had started classes with her son when he was younger, because she can tell a positive difference in the social and developmental skills of the children who started when they were infants and young toddlers. Jamey also speaks more when he gets excited about the art projects in class.)
Rebecca, Mother of Jamey - Feb. 2009
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When my son was one, I began to get interested in finding an activity for us to do together. I had a friend who told me she enjoyed music class with her one year old. So I began looking around. Nothing seemed quite right. Then I read an article about Miss LaLa in the AJC; the article told Lauren McBride's story, that she wanted to change careers and start her own music education business. She was described as passionate, energetic, and most important to me, devoted to the children she interacted with. I began emailing Miss LaLa and she was incredibly patient with me, helping me find the class that would fit. Once we began class, I was able to see for myself that the article was right. Miss LaLa was everything I could hope for in an adult who was going to interact with my child (especially since, at the time, I was a first time mom and this was one of Mitchell's first outside the home experiences!). She was able to find the delicate balance between allowing kids to be kids while redirecting when necessary. She had expectations for my "baby" that I didn't know he was ready to meet (following simple oral directions regarding turning in instruments comes to mind). I can still remember how excited I was the first time I heard Mitchell spontaneously sing the hello song while he and I were driving somewhere (Mitchell often loves to observe and then demonstrate at home/other places).
When my second son was born, Miss LaLa encouraged me to bring him and let him soak up the fun, which I did. We followed Miss LaLa to the Treehouse, an incredibly inviting place for children, and we have participated in numerous activities and classes there. My children are extremely comfortable at the Treehouse and I appreciate this so much. Because we go to the Treehouse so often and for so many different activities, I am pleased that my children (particularly Mitchell, now 3) knows the rules and follows them. Equally pleasing is the fact that Miss LaLa has seen my children on the days when they DIDN'T follow the rules and it has never once phased her or appeared to annoy her. She has ALWAYS been calm, sweet, loving with them and helped them through any kind of little funk they were having at that time. My second son Justin (now 16 months) loves to play Music Class at home, he points to the CDs, he pulls out the music basket, he bounces in time with the music, he plays with the scarves, the jingle sticks, all the things he has learned through Miss LaLa.
Something else I appreciate about Miss LaLa is the way she inserts little tidbits of parenting information in class. For example, she has told us that it is better to rock your baby from side to side, because neurologists have shown that it helps their vestibular (inner ear: balance & space) function. She helps us learn more about our children and how to help them develop…why they do things, what age we should expect certain progress, and even letting us know that certain actions we might think abnormal are pretty typical, which is always reassuring.
I love the art projects that we have done with her! This is something that is sometimes harder to do at home and her projects are simple enough that the children can do them with confidence yet more involved than I personally am going to get involved with at home. Miss LaLa was all of my boys’ first teacher with music and art, first non-family caregiver during “Family Night Out”, first camp leader for my 3 year old this summer, and now that I just had twin boys I know that my journey with Miss LaLa has only just begun!
Rachel – Nov. 2008 (Miss LaLa’s Customer from 2006 to present)
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We love Miss La La's! She is delightful, and the children light up when they see her. We are in a baby class in which the children love the music and the interaction they have with their parent or caregiver. I have tried other programs in the area, but I would recommend Miss La La's to anyone with small children. You will love it!
Renee, Nanny for Elle' - Oct. 2008
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Just wanted you to know that I left David at Pre-K and there was a mother talking about you and this GREAT birthday party that you had planned with a "Return to Neverland" theme. Anyway she just RAVED about it and how SWEET you were.
Shannon - June 2008
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Nathaniel was singing a song yesterday in the car and I recognized it. It was track #33 from the class CD. I think it is "Bing Bong Samba" but he was singing "Ping Pong Samba" - really cute! He stays in tune better than I do. So I know he is learning even though he may try to act like he's not paying attention in class. :)
Donna - March 2008
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Just wanted you to know how much you have brightened Sarah's life this week! It's all she talks about and she is telling everyone about how much she loved camp! Your the best Miss La La! We love you!
Doreen & family - Music & Art Camp - June 2008
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(Teacher Testimonial)
When I had my own children I realized I needed to know more…
Why this highly educated and trained music professional turned to Musikgarten
Ellen Johansen Music Studio
East Hampton, NY
As a professional concert pianist with training from Julliard and the Music Department at Hofstra, I knew more than enough about music to teach private piano lessons.
However, I discovered the children coming to me for lessons were not well prepared. I spent a lot of time trying to catch them up on their listening abilities. As I had my own children, I wanted to find a way to help them get a better start.
Musikgarten provided the training to help me understand how children learn music and develop their bodies to be ready to play an instrument. I was able to incorporate Musikgarten into my own studio. Now I have a studio with 80 children and still have time to practice 30 hours a week for my paying performances.
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TESTIMONIAL TO MUSIKGARTEN
Musikgarten’s Aural Approach Makes A Difference!
Stephen & Sophie Reen
Columbus Academy of Music
In our studio, we strongly believe in the importance of teaching solfege and developing rhythmic competence at a very early age. Musikgarten’s aural emphasis and group method approach have greatly enhanced our beginning keyboard instruction. Many of our students also received prior Musikgarten training at earlier ages from one of our sister studios. These continuing Musikgarten students are highly successful with beginning piano because they are more aurally attune than students from other programs. Together we teach about 300 Musikgarten students, with about 130 in piano, and we couldn’t be happier.
I’ve been teaching piano for twenty years, and the early childhood music and movement classes have been just wonderful for our studio. I focus on the young beginners piano classes, and have found great success in keeping them in groups all the way through high school. Both Sophie and I love the aural approach of Musikgarten, without all of the visual distractions found in other early childhood programs. Stephen’s Other Accomplishments:
- Recognized as one of the top five group piano teachers in the country in 2001 by the Music Teachers National Association
- Doctor of Music from Indiana University
- Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Piano Performance from the State University of New York at Buffalo
- Reen's teaching has been featured in American Music Teacher magazine and in a film produced by the National Piano Foundation.
- Presenter for the MTNA National Convention
- Presenter for IMTA Convention
- Presenter World Piano Pedagogy Conference
- Member of the Early Childhood Music and Movement Committee for the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy
- Founder and President of the Columbus Academy of Music
- Columbus, Indiana. An organist and choir director, Reen has appeared in solo and chamber music recitals throughout the U.S. and Canada with his wife, cellist Sophie Reen
Sophie Reen Co-founder of the Columbus Academy of Music, holds a Master of Music in cello performance from Indiana University and a Bachelors Degree of Music in Cello from The Cleveland Institute of Music. She has been a member of the Columbus Philharmonic, the Canton Symphony, Colorado Festival Orchestra, The Nova Scotia Festival Orchestra, New World Symphony of Miami Beach and has performed with the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and the Boston Symphony as a Tanglewood Fellow. As an Associate Instructor, Sophie taught Cello for Indiana University and was Adjunct Professor of Cello for Goshen College. She has been teaching early childhood music and movement classes since 1996. Sophie is an active chamber musician performing a variety of musical styles across Indiana and Ohio.
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VARIOUS TESTIMONIALS from the days of renting dance studio space
It was such a pleasure to watch my 2-1/2 year old daughter blossom in Miss LaLa's Musikgarten class. For several weeks she would sit and look suspicious as she took everything in, and then one day it all clicked and she started singing and dancing with abandon. Now she loves her Musikgarten class and has been singing more at home too. It has built her confidence and helped her come out of her shell. Tanya P., mother of Abby, March 2006
My son, who is 4-1/2 years old, loves his Musikgarten class. Miss LaLa has patience with his silliness and he has increased his coordination since beginning her class. He is so shy about singing in front of people, but
Miss LaLa is endlessly encouraging to him. We've been getting some good response from him. He's even starting to listen to classical music at home and enjoying it, and I believe part of it is due to the diversity of the music he hears and fun instruments he plays in Musikgarten. Tanya P., mother of Sammy, March 2006
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Communication was extremely good and made us feel comfortable even before we met you. We were very pleased with the high level of organization and planning and definitely would feel very comfortable bringing Piper back. Best camp she went to this summer! Thanks! 2006 Music & Art Camp II
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The kids learned a ton! They loved the horseshoe crab! Thanks for a great week! 2006 Music & Art Camp II
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Jacob had a great time! I love how organized everything was! We’ll be back next year! Thank you! 2006 Music & Art Camp II
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Evan loved this camp! Thank you for all your hard work and planning! The camp was great and I appreciated the excellent communication! 2006 Music & Art Camp II
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Olivia & Alexander enjoyed their time at camp and learned many new things. Thank you – we look forward to next year. Thank you for the pictures! 2006 Music & Nature Camp
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Emily & Isaiah loved camp. They were excited to go every morning! We look forward to classes during the year. 2006 Music & Art Camp I
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You guys are awesome! Lauren loved it! Thanks! 2006 Music & Art Camp II
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