You may have seen the nationally touring production of the Tony-Award winning “Mary Poppins” that came through Columbus this spring, but did you know that the actress who plays Jane Banks is one of WeJoySing’s own?

The earliest foundation for eleven-year-old Camille Mancuso’s musical success was established at home and at WeJoySing class. TheColumbus Parent recently reportedthat “‘Mary Poppins’ is Camille’s fourth national touring production, after a start at home that included WeJoySing classes…” Several WeJoySing instructors attended “Mary Poppins” and celebrated Camille’s success and her visit home.

Even though most of our WeJoySing children will never tour in a national production or be recognized in magazines or newspapers, each of our students has one thing in common: their roots to musical success run deep, to a program that builds not only skills but a love for the arts and for people.

Continue reading Music Notes July 2011

What is at the heart of all that shapes WeJoySing programs? “The strength of our programs is the musical foundation that they are built upon, the music education philosophy and methodology of Hungarian composer/educator Zoltán Kodály,” states Jo Kirk, Kodály Specialist and founder of WeJoySing. Most of our readers are very familiar with ourHeart Stringsearly childhood program. This month, let’s take a closer look at ourMusic & Me, school age music literacy program.

Music & Me(Levels 1, 2, 3) is a high energy, hands on, joy filled music literacy experience designed for children ages 6 to 10. Your child will develop good vocal abilities and learn to read, write, sing, and play music in this fun filled environment. These abilities are learned through singing and listening games, folk songs, playing of instruments, and movement to music. Continue reading Music Notes May 2011

For the past few months,Music Noteshas discussed ways imaginative play fosters LITERACY. At all levels, WeJoySing classes have thelookandfeelof “playing,” yet, so much more is going on. This truth becomes very evident at the 4-5’s level of the HeartStrings program, as children begin to experience the JOYS of MUSICAL LITERACY, “reading” iconic music notation.

On Tuesday mornings at The Chapel in North Canton, I have a class of seven children, most of whom have been in HeartStrings from infancy. All of the families have been a part of WeJoySing for three or more years; some have been part of WeJoySing over the past eleven years as I taught older siblings. Continue reading Music Notes March 2011

A mother leans close to her baby’s face, engaging her in “playful sound.” Some moments, she’s talking to her baby; others, she’s singing. Sometimes, she is cooing and babbling affectionately, in a voice that wells up from within, the voice somewhere-in-between speaking and singing, or perhaps both. This somewhere-in-between voice has been labeled: “parentese.”

Amazingly, “parentese” is found in most cultures and languages. It is characterized by: a singsong quality, higher spoken pitch, a lengthening of vowels, and a slow tempo in speech. Parentese sounds like musical speech. Patricia Kuhl, Ph.D., neuro-scientist at the University of Washington states, “…the universal exaggeration of vowels and slowing down of speech help babies learn the phonetic elements of speech, perhaps even the particular intonations of what will become their native tongue.” 1 Continue reading Music Notes January 2011

One vivid memory from Autumn Bland’s childhood is being a part of a “community of singers.” When she was six years old, she participated in WeJoySing’s Summer Arts Institute at Capital University. She recalls that when the summer camp started each day, the children and adults would gather together and sing songs. “There were a lot of kids…it seemed like 100 kids to me…from all ages, and it was really cool to be in that big community that was all about music.” She also remembered making paper mache rainsticks– how exciting that was for her as a child. Continue reading Music Notes November 2010