Wow! Two Children Scheduled At The Same Time, Different Classes!

Just this past week, we happily registered a family of two children. That's not so special, you say? Where this becomes a dream come true for the family is that we were able to place their daughter into a dance class and their son into private guitar class on the SAME day and at the SAME time!

This family actually has to travel 30 - 45 minutes to reach Woodward and the fact that we can schedule them on the same day, during the same hour, means a great savings of time, energy and gas money for this family! The registration process was painless too! Online registration allowed them more savings in time and effort in securing the classes they wanted.

So if you are looking for classes and lessons that fit your schedule and needs, take a look at our classes now available at www.academyoffineartsok.com/onlineregistration .

PRINCESS BALL

"Princess Ball"
A special event for dads and daughters

March 3^rd

2-4 pm

Your child can dress up in her prettiest dress or princess costume! Dad's come in formal or semi-formal attire.

Punch and h'orderves

 Games and Craft

 Dancing and Fun

 Photo of the

Princess with her Prince

Purchase your tickets by February 18th to save!

$20 for current students

$25 for non-registered students

$35 at the door for all (if available)

*Limited tickets will be available. Online registration for the event is encouraged through our events page. Registration online is available now.

Woodward Academy of Fine Arts

609 Main Street, Woodward

580-256-3262 

www.academyoffineartsok.com/eventsregistration

 

Jazz Class For Teens!

CONTEMPORARY JAZZ CLASS

6th-12th grade Teens

TUESDAYS 6:00-7:00 PM

Join Ms Shannon for a class you just will not believe!

You won't get a class like this one anywhere else!





Online registration is available through your portal or though our website at
http://www.academyoffineartsok.com/

See more details on our website!
Class limited to 12 members

Top 20 Reasons Why Children Should Study Music

Music is like math and Spanish or Latin: It's a foreign language, one that can help develop learning, motor and comprehension skills. Learning music or playing an instrument opens doors to new opportunities. What's more, music's fun.

All you need to do is visit the kids’ audio/video section of your local CD shop and you will be bombarded with a multitude of educational enhancement products to buy. You may find ‘Baby Einstein’ or ‘Brainy Baby’ and an abundance of similar merchandise to make your child smarter. These types of goods can be a wonderful way to introduce music to your children before the age of three. However, nothing can replace private music lessons for a 3 to 9 year old.

The brain develops at a rapid rate between birth and three and is an essential window for the development of neurons. Therefore, encouraging musical exploration is an easy way to promote intellectual development.

Before the age of three, toy instruments can be an excellent introduction to the real thing and group musical play classes can prepare a child for later study. Singing at any age is highly beneficial and linguistic & musical awareness can begin as early as the fifth month of pregnancy when the fetal brain and ears are wide open to receive stimulus.

From the age of 3 years old, a child’s brain circuits are mature enough to begin instrumental and/or vocal lessons. Voice is probably the most important instrument because singing is a tremendous gateway to confident communication and full self-expression.

The piano is usually the best musical instrument to start with because it does not require any specific fingering to play. However, children should choose instruments to play by the sounds they like. Kids will practice more if they like the sound of an instrument.

If your child chooses the piano, inexpensive electronic keyboards are a good way to begin because they are very affordable and portable. Many brands on the market today will display the notes on a digital screen while music is being played. These types of keyboards can greatly assist a child to begin to read musical notes and symbols. They also often have built in rhythm and song functions that make singing and dancing along with the music easy.

Since Howard Gardner’s “Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences” in 1983 and Gordon Shaw and Francis Rauscher’s “Mozart Effect” in 1993, there has be much debate and research into whether or not music study can be linked to better academic performance.

You will find thousands of books, products, articles and websites discussing the advantages of studying music. For your convenience, the top 20 benefits reported for vocal and instrumental music study are listed below.

1. Music training has been linked to spatial-temporal reasoning skills. (I.e. ability to read a map, put puzzles together, form mental images, transform/visualize things in space that unfold over time, and recognize relationships between objects. These skills are often helpful in science, math, and chess.)

2. Musical symbols, structure, and rhythmic training utilize fractions, ratios, and proportions, which are all important in mathematical study.

3. Increases problem finding/solving, logic and thinking skills like analysis, evaluation and the linkage/organization of ideas

4. Optimizes brain neuron development & circuitry

5. Assists motor development especially coordination of hands, eyes and body

6. Expands multiple intelligences and helps students’ transfer study, cognitive and communication skills from subject to subject in any syllabus

7. Group orchestra or ensemble activities help promote cooperation, social harmony and teach kids discipline while working together toward a common goal.

8. Music augments memory. For example, most people learn their ABC’s by singing them. Repeating a tune in a predictable rhythmic song structure makes memorization easier.

9. Singing is a great way to aid/improve reading ability and instruction. Karaoke is a perfect example. Children may learn a song by ear (auditory) but words on a TV or computer screen provide a simultaneous visual anchor.

10. In vocal music learning rhythm, phrasing, and pitch greatly enhances language, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary skills. This is especially noticeable when using songs in first and second language study.

11. Improves critical reading and writing

12. Raises test scores, decreases performance anxiety, and teaches kids how to handle/manage stress during standardized exams

13. Helps children channel unexpressed and/or negative emotions in a positive way

14. Boosts creative thinking

15. Reading music and performing memorized pieces help children to think ahead

16. Improvisation helps people to “think on their feet”

17. Solo performance is connected to self-esteem & self-efficacy. (concept of self capacity) Children learn to reach for their very best.

18. When kids prepare and consistently practice for recital or performance, they work to sing/play without errors. They generally apply similar determination and perseverance to many future endeavors academic or otherwise.

19. Improves understanding of homework and enables a higher levels of concentration

20. Children who study music usually have a better attitude, are more motivated and are less intimidated by learning new things

Strong music reading, writing notation, sight singing (solfege), music theory, literacy, and moving the body to music are solid, transferable skills. Learning is a two-way street. For example, one can assume that mathematics can also develop music. Academic achievement links positively with musical achievement and vice versa.

As early as the 19th century, the visionary Dr. Maria Montessori included music and arts into her worldwide school curriculums to greatly enhance and accelerate learning.

‘Lorna Heyge, Ph.D., says: "While educational leaders turn to early childhood music because it promotes brain development, they will stay with music because of the joy and stimulation experienced in actual music making. Music learning requires total involvement-that is why it appeals so much to young children"

Copyright 2006 Deborah Torres Patel

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Deborah Torres Patel helps ordinary people become extraordinary communicators. She began her formal musical training at 5 years old and is a passionate advocate of arts education for children. Her work with adults has clearly shown that a foundation of music at an early age contributes significantly to one’s overall confidence and full-self expression later in life. For free voice, presentation, powerful public speaking and video training tips subscribe to her popular newsletter at: http://expressingyou.com/. http://www.articlecity.com/

Red Earth Tobacco Dancers-Rhode Island

The Rhode Island Indian Council website has an interesting article on how they are using dance to educate about the dangers of tobacco smoking to their young people. The article addresses ceremonial tobacco and commercial tobacco. You might find this an interesting approach as to how dance is being used to educate about tobacco use and health.

Mishquock Wuttamauog - Red Earth Tobacco Dancers

The Red Earth Tobacco Program was designed to educate Native American young people and adults on the issues of tobacco use. It is designed to build youth empowerment to develop peer leadership in the hopes that this will stop the initiation of commercial tobacco use among Native American young people and elders. It is also our aim to decrease second-hand smoke exposure, and to increase smoking cessation, and cessation support programs, so that we all can live a healthier tobacco-free lifestyle.

Our approach in dealing with this issue is to recruit young Native Americans between the ages of 10-19, and to form a Native American Dance Troupe. Through dance interpretation, these young people send out anti-smoking messages in order to explain the difference between ceremonial tobacco and commercial tobacco. As the young people dance, they ask themselves “why do I dance?” The answer is: “I dance to stomp out commercial tobacco addiction, and I pray with sacred tobacco to give me strength! You can beat it if you try, but if you don’t, you’ll just die!”

Native American people gave Europeans the sacred gift of tobacco. The Europeans enjoyed the tobacco and began to sell it around the world. Through the commercialization of tobacco, chemicals were added to preserve and enhance its flavor. Today, commercial tobacco contains thousands of chemicals. Forty of these chemicals are carcinogenic and include ammonia, formaldehyde, and cyanide. Sacred tobacco has remained chemical free.

The use of sacred, or "ceremonial tobacco" has been passed down from generation to generation. According to studies done by the University of Columbia, there is no conclusive evidence that smoking sacred tobacco, used only at ceremonies is addictive. On the average, sacred tobacco is used four times per month, or 48 times per year. In comparison, an average commercial tobacco smoker, who smokes two packs of cigarettes a day, will smoke 14,400 cigarettes per year! Worse, commercial tobacco contains very harsh chemicals which lead to addiction and serious health problems.

http://www.riindiancouncil.org/red-earth-tobaco-dancers/

Smoke Free Facility For A Reason-Protect The Children

Our school facility is a non-smoking environment to allow for a healthy learning environment for our students and staff. More and more information is available on the health problems that even young children develop because of second and third hand cigarette smoke. Respiratory infections, ear infections, asthma, sinus infection and more can be developed by children and adults by being in an environment filled with second and third hand smoke.

A recent article in the Enid News even reported that infants growing up in a home with a parent smoking are at a greater risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrom). Illnesses in infants and toddlers of parents that smoke can also have delay of lung growth according to the article.

For more information about second and third hand smoke, you can go to www.cdc.gov and the Enid News article at http://enidnews.com/localnews/x191085303/Children-feeling-the-effects-of-2nd-hand-smoke

Pearl Flutes

Looking for Pearl Flutes? We suggest that you contact our friends at Music2Master! With guidance from a true flute expert, we believe you will be very satisfied with your purchase from them. CHeck out what they have to say about Pearl Flutes below. You will find their website address and phone number at the botom of  this article.


Pearl Flutes
Pearl’s handmade craftsmanship has pioneered a tradition of flute making that is totally distinctive. Many flute makers claim to be innovators, but Pearl's novelty can be proven. Most of the artisans have the distinction of building flutes for their entire career only at Pearl. The apprentice program has been employed for decades, which allows the talents of master builders to be passed on to future generations. We do not only look to the past, but constantly conduct research with Gold, Silver, ergonomic key design, and headjoint study.
Start with Pearl's patented Pinless Mechanism, which has set an industry benchmark for smoothness and reliability. Coupled with Pearl's One-Piece Core-Bar Construction, there is no more dependable flute mechanism available.
Japanese Quality Control has insured that an investment in these instruments will provide a lifetime of musical satisfaction. The goal of handmade creativity united with meticulous assembly is consequently realized. All of the above would be useless without Pearl's revered commitment to accuracy of pitch, flexible articulation, and a beautiful and projecting sound. 952-924-4141. http://www.Music2Master.com
For more information, check our websites out at http://Music2Master.com and http://PearlFlutes.net