A new book by Counselors Milan & Kay Yerkovich

This excellent and much-needed new book (released in March of 2018) has already become a valuable resource for parents from all different cultures with all different needs.

How We Love Our Kids brings us an entirely new and refreshing way of looking at parenting that really strikes a chord with my educational philosophy of “caring to educate”. Instead of being another book filled with helpful parenting “how-to” advice (many of which have been “bread and butter” in my own parenting journey), this unique book helps us explore the often unseen yet powerful forces of our own upbringing and how they have shaped the way we parent.

Read more: How We Love Our Kids

Unless you already have a size-appropriate* instrument, it is best to rent a bowed instrument ( i.e.,violin, viola, cello) when students are just beginning. Here are some pointers for parents to help their child get started:

Call around or internet research local music instrument stores to check the following 5 items:

Read more: Choosing Your Child's First Bowed Instrument

Exciting new research again confirms the broad impact of music on the brain. During each Spring Recital Season and with Summerseries Perfomance Camps coming up, let’s look at a few things that are now being studied about the impact of performing arts on the brain.

Eric Jensen, in "Learning with the Body in Mind," states that “an analysis of nationwide college entrance exam scores indicates that a potential correlation may exist between performing arts and higher test scores. The College Board reports that students with just 1 year of performance training demonstrate higher scores, and that those gains grow exponentially with the number of years of arts involvement. The national average for SAT scores, for example, is 1,015 (combined); however, students with performing arts experience average between 30 and 200 points higher.” Jensen hypothesizes that while this relationship is not necessarily direct cause & effect, an explanation that makes sense is that the inherent benefits of performing arts such as discipline, focus, emotional expression, creativity, stress reduction, memorization, enjoyment and friendships, when taken as a whole, make an important contribution to learning. 

Here at The Music Place, our desire is to offer enough fun and variety that students enjoy the process of learning so much that they will continue longer than they would in a stressful environemnt.

The long-term benefits are clear. Jensen notes that students of performing arts develop emotionally, mentally as well as physically. They learn to express personal ideas without fear. They discover the beauty of imagination and movement, and are introduced to structure, sequencing, and collaborative skills. This may be due to the fact that technical skills, such as artistic problem solving, rhythm, coherence, time-space issues, emotional impact and production logistics are also inherent in performing arts opportunities.

Although we have had to be creative about providing performance opportunitites for our children, I encourage you to include as much performance as possble. Summer is a time for fun! Why not enjoy the benefits with it! Your child’s enjoyment AND long-term development are on the table!

Spring, 2004

When beginning a child in keyboard/piano study, it is acceptable to begin on a keyboard before making the larger investment of a piano. Listed below are price ranges of keyboards that are suitable for beginners.

Since most keyboards suitable for beginners are very similar, the brand name is not particularly important.

Read more: Choosing Piano or Keyboard