Suzanne Dunn runs Kindermusik classes in Newcastle upon Tyne. She is our most reviewed business on the familiesrecommend.co.uk website, and she has kindly written us an article about her love of bringing music to pre-school children in her area.
My name is Suzanne Dunn and I’m a 40 something wife of 17 years to Malcolm, and mum to Melissa (almost 17), Amelia (14) and Alice (12), not forgetting Freddie the lurcher (12 months), and I have had the wonderful privilege of teaching Kindermusik to families in our region for the past 5 years. Having grown up with a love of music, dance and singing, and having loved being a member of several choirs over my younger years I worked abroad for a number of years before getting married and having children. As my children grew up and all showed an interest in music, and dance, I decided to put my talents to good use and began teaching my own music and movement programme in local nurseries. This was a thoroughly enjoyable time for me, and very busy as the number of nurseries I visited grew rapidly over a short time. However when I stumbled upon Kindermusik in 2005 I realised that this was a far superior programme to anything I could put together myself, and with over 30 years of Kindermusik expertise it really was something that I wanted to be a part of. I felt that although I loved working in nurseries I also wanted to bring parents and their children together through the Kindermusik programme, and be there to witness their enjoyment as they progressed through the curriculum.
So, I did look at pretty much every other music programme before I decided upon Kindermusik but Kindermusik really stood out as being a very hands on programme that parents could participate in with their children in such a warm, loving and demonstrative fashion. I looked at how Kindermusik supported the EYFS, or Birth to 5 matters as it was at the time, in particular how it allows each child to respond and learn in their own unique way and at their own pace. There is never any set expectation or instruction that you must do it this way or that way. I loved the fact that children and babies are constantly encouraged to find new ways of holding, playing, exploring and moving. I know that parents are first and foremost the most important teacher a child can ever have, and I love working with parents, encouraging them to learn with and from their little one be it in group activities or as an individual.
I came across a wonderful quote very early on in my Kindermusik teaching days and I constantly refer back to it to remind myself: “Parenthood brings as much joy as ever, but it still brings boredom, exhaustion, and sorrow too. Nothing else will ever make you as happy or as sad, as proud or as tired, for nothing is quite as hard as helping a person develop his individuality – especially while you struggle to keep your own” – Elia Parsons
I love to share this quote with parents, as it reminds us all what an important job we are doing in parenting, which even though it doesn’t come with a manual and really is the most difficult job we will ever have to do, is certainly one of the most rewarding. I absolutely love my classes, watching parents face to face with their little ones, loving the bounces, skipping, rocking or even just relaxing together.
I encourage parents within my groups to email me and let me know if they’ve experienced responses at home to our programme, we use take home packs each term allowing families the opportunity to recreate their class time at home with other family members all week long. Quite often a mum will email telling me that they’ve tried a particular dance at home and noticed that their baby is waving right at the moment that we would be waving in class, a delighted mummy and I love that she has shared that with me.
Most of my classes are filled by recommendations, something that we should all do; if I find a great dog sitter, hairdresser even taxi driver then I’m certain that I’m going to tell everyone I know about it. I was very impressed with the familiesrecommend website so I shared it with all my families, who clearly loved it too as they keep leaving recommendations. After all in this economic climate none of us have time or money to waste on a service that is not going to deliver, so far better to take someone else’s recommendations. My families are encouraged to share their views via your site, aswell as others, and I’m delighted that so many of them have been so positive views.
Kindermusik runs 6 days a week in Ponteland, Monday to Saturday, with a variety of morning and afternoon sessions available. Groups are split into age and developmentally appropriate sessions, 0-18 months then 18 months – 4 years. Terms run in 13 week blocks January to April, April to July and September to December. Parents are able to come along to a free taster session before they register, although I usually recommend joining a 5 week taster course ather than just attend one as often children take several weeks or months to settle into a new environment, and become familiar with our activities and routines. The home packs really help build this familiarity and with regular use we see confidence building very quickly during the term. All weekday classes have coffee/tea/cake and chat time before or after the session, so it gives the parents a great chance to have a proper chat and lets the children enjoy free exploration time. The cost of baby classes (Village is the name of this programme) is approximately £7 per week, which includes the home materials of cd, books, instrument and t-shirt whilst the older group (Our Time) is approximately £8 per week, in this pack is a double cd, books, instrument, bag and t-shirt. These materials are to be used throughout the whole of the 13 week term providing excellent value. Parents are able to pay in instalments, by cheque or direct bank transfer.
Benefits from Kindermusik classes are endless, first of all both parent and child get immense enjoyment, having laughed, cuddled, danced, sang and relaxed together. Their relationship is enhanced through our small groups and the activities that we provide. As the teacher I work to alleviate any fears or anxiety experienced by children, or adults, coming into sessions. I know its my role to connect with families and help them to feel confident and safe so that their child feels comfortable and secure enough to try out new things and develop independence. Each individual session, and term, is specifically designed to include an engaging range of age and developmentally appropriate activities which promote all the major areas of growth and learning. Within this broader focus each session and activity has the flexibility to build upon families’ immediate needs, interests, responses and achievements.
Children and babies are physically and emotionally involved in play experiences though an exciting mix of pretend play and imaginary activities, instruments and object exploration providing lively and stimulating experiences with a wide variety of different music from around the world. In each session, in our after class emails and through our regular blogs tips, explanations and information is given to parents regarding why we do things and the benefits of activities for their child’s growth and development. This to me is the single most important difference between Kindermusik and any other class, in that there is a reason for every activity we use in class, and these are explained to parents and shown how they benefit their child.
September brings even more classes throughout the week opening at our Ponteland studio, and I’ve also been approached to open classes in a new location (more to follow on this one once I’ve set days and times). I hope to see even more families coming to us, and keeping me on my toes, literally, even more! In 2009 and 2010 I was nominated in the WO4LO awards for ‘Most Outstanding Class Leader’, something that I was enormously proud of as I was nominated by my Kindermusik families. I would be thrilled to be nominated again next year. It’s a real pleasure to see families coming back with baby number two, or even three for a whole new Kindermusik journey and I’m hoping that the forthcoming years will bring just as much pleasure to Kindermusik families old and new, and of course me. It was one of the best decisions I ever made to teach Kindermusik, I can’t think of anything else that I would rather be doing.
Suzanne Dunn
To read all of the reviews that Suzanne has for her Kindermusik class, please visit her page by clicking here
