Wreath Extravaganza!

Thursday, December 3rd, 5:30-7:00pm

Chez Nora in Mainstrasse

Mr. David Holiday Concert with Santa!

Saturday, December 5th 3:00-5:00pm

Barnes and Noble Booksellers at Newport  on the Levee

Growing Sound CD Release Party

Saturday, December 12th, 11:00-12:00

Joseph Beth Booksellers in Rookwood Pavilion,

Mr. David will be in the children’s section in the Rookwood Pavilion Joseph Beth Booksellers introducing new songs and a new album. My Box of Dreams is an outstanding collection of Song for Bedtime. Quiet relaxing songs that will help children calm down and get ready for bed. Come and join us for a fun concert and release party. Check out other great holiday gifts for children and families at www.growing-sound.com.

At a very young age we recognized that our son struggled with low self-esteem.  As his parents, we want to protect him from the dangers of the world and see him happy and safe.  But the reality is that one of the most likely crippling factors to his happiness and success is his low confidence.  Right now he is at a critical stage of development where the fiber of who he is is being woven, and we are mindful to give him every boost we can.

When it came time to enroll him for kindergarten this fall, we weighed our decisions.  He is very bright and gaining reading skills quickly. And would likely do well academically in our local elementary school.  Instead, we chose to keep him at his Montessori school.  As an older child in a classroom with ages three through kindergarten, he has daily opportunities to develop leadership skills.  We believe his confidence will benefit from the boost of the younger children’s admiration and his increased responsibilities.  His school incorporates Growing Sound’s songs into their social-emotional curriculum, and we have welcomed several of David Kisor’s songs into our home, as well.

The two collections of songs that we find the most helpful are I Can Do It- Songs of Confidence and Tough Stuff- Songs of Motivation.  These songs were written specifically to boost children’s sense of confidence and self-esteem and worth, and encourage them to keep trying and facing challenges.  These themes reach us where we are each day with our son, and their choruses have become our vernacular.  Phrases like, “keep on working ‘till you figure it out,” “if I put my heart and my mind to it, I can do it” and “Sometimes it takes a few mistakes” are all variations of key lyrics from these collections.

We know that our son’s happiness and self-esteem are not built on single decisions or actions, and songs alone will not prepare him for success in life.  But they’ll help.  All of us.  Our son’s favorite song is “I Can Do It,” and its lyrics encourage us as parents, too.  If we put our hearts and minds to it, we can do this for our son.

What happens next is wonderful to watch; teachers in small groups working together to come up with three simple, positive, fundamental rules. Years of experience in making classroom rules with class after class is compared, contrasted, and combined. Anything negative and complicated is thrown out immediately. In the end, although the exact wording may differ from group to group, most groups write rules that center around three basic principles of social cooperation.

1) The first responsibility in any situation, for any given person, is the care and keeping of one’s own person. I must make sure my needs are met before I can meet anyone else’s needs. I need to correct what’s wrong with me before I look to correct what’s wrong with others. I am my first responsibility.

2) After one has taken care of one’s self, one looks to the wants and needs of those in the immediate environment. At home I care for my family after my needs are met. I am a good citizen in my community. At school I look after my peers and my teacher.

3) Along with caring for the other individuals in the environment, one cares for the environment itself. I keep my classroom and the entire school neat and clean. I clean and put things in order whenever I can, whether I was responsible for the mess or not.

After discussing the responses from each small group, I introduce the song “Three Rules” as I would to a preschool classroom for the first time with these words,

“Girls and boys, I know three rules. They all start with the same two words – ‘Take care…’

1) Take care of myself. 2) Take care of my friends. 3) Take care of my school.”

What if every child’s first experience with rules and rule making was a positive one? What if every child’s first experience with rule making was also about care taking? What if everyone in the world followed the three rules; taking care of self in the first place and then everyone around and then the environment? Would everything be taken care of? Yes!

Three Rules Music Video

Growing Sound Children’s Music is designed to help parents and teachers in their classrooms and homes build social emotional skills in young children.