Debbie Mondale

Imagine That! A new teacher – Inna Ryburn

Music Connections is pleased to announce the addition of a new Kindermusik teacher to our studio. Inna Ryburn spent most of her life in the Ukraine teaching music to young children. She is a fabulous pianist, and will be bringing her many talents, her …

Get In Tune with our NEW Location

  The options for music learning are GROWING here in Lakeland,  and THIS is our new location at 1037 South Florida Ave.Suite #125.    In Tune Studios & Music Connections  are collectively moving all our instruments, our talents, our fabul…

A Shell Full of Stories

In a African folk tale, “Where Stories Come From” (part of the Kindermusik Tell Me A Tale summer camp),  a mother searches for stories for her children.  Finally, she finds the spirit people, who give the mother a SHELL with which …

Storytelling benefits children of ALL ages

Why TELL a story – without books, without pictures – to children?   Why choose to tell it face to face, instead of choosing a book, or watching a movie?    A few years ago, I attended a workshop with some of my favorite storytellers,…

Spice your Summer with Family Storytelling

Storytelling IS the ORIGINAL way to help children learn about values, people, history, concepts, almost anything.  The best teachers throughout history, and across cultures, were good storytellers.  Stories may now be presented in books, in movies, o…

The Gift of Relaxation for Families

Motherhood is many things:  inspiring, frustrating, humorous, gross, heartwarming,  heart wrenching… honestly, our families FILL our lives with emotional and physical extremes and everything in between. After many years of marriage, I craved having…

Motherhood Relaxation with Sound of Silence

Relaxation Activity 1 – The Sound of Silence       (link to intro.)                 For yourself:  Life is so full of noise.  I find myself staying awake at night just to enjoy the silence.   FIND IT!  Savor it.   Let it r…

Motherhood Relaxation with Sounds of Nature

Relaxation Activity 2 – Sounds of Nature                   (link to intro.)                 For yourself:    This exercise proceeds much the same as the Sound of Silence one, yet occurs outside, in a place where t…

Motherhood Relaxation with Sound of Music

Relaxation Activity 3 – The Sound of Music           (link to intro.)                 For yourself:  So often, music just flows around in the background of life.  This is the opportunity to let your mind let go of everythin…

Connecting with a child, a hand, and a story

“Connection… is the key to cooperation.”  These are powerful words by Becky Bailey.  As most of you know, I fully believe she is heaven sent to help all of us adults (parents, teachers, etc) learn the best ways to help ourselves and…

Play and learn online about Things that GO

Sooo Coool !  I just looked up one of the recommended online sites from www.4kids.org section of the Sunday Comics section.  Had to, it said, “Click on the mode of transport that interest you the most, such as cars, trains, bikes or boats, to begin…

Away We Go on a REAL Train in Central Florida

Where shall we go? Chug along, Sing a Song, and make some NOISE !   GO on a REAL train ride pulled by a REAL Steam Engine in Central Florida.   The Our Time classes are having so much fun with TRAINS in class and at home.  I just thought IR…

Active listening to bells, bells, bells

In this series of blog postings, we’re having fun with bells.  For the next few postings, we’ll focus on LISTENING !   Intentional listening helps us focus our attention on the aspects of the sounds we hear, and be able to tell the difference be…

Listening to bells LIVE – Small bells

Small bells of many sizes are unique in their ability to show how size and shape effect the pitch of an instrument.  In this posting, we focus on train bells, handbells, and bells you might find on playgrounds.  The videos will provide a good start i…

Steeple Bells and Tower Bells

Now in our active listening series, we’ll focus on larger bells in a tower.  This includes bells in a steeple that are played by people pulling on ropes, as well as carrillon bells played by a keyboard device. A tower bell is a LARGE metal bell …

The Biggest Bells – across the world

ORIENTAL TEMPLE BELLS are HUGE, sometimes multiple stories high.  The sound is produced by a log that has a brass end fitted to it.  In some cases, the bells are so large, this log must be carried my many men who must move together toward the bell to strike it.  Unless you take a trip to the orient, [...]

Jingle Bells Makes me Laugh

Ask children if they know a song about bells.  The first to come to mind is “Jingle Bells”.  Although it is commonly known as a Christmas song, as it has nothing to do with this celebration.  It is a fun song about riding in a horse drawn sleigh, meant to make people laugh.  Since GOOD laughter is [...]

Christmas Bells – The Sound of Pure Love

Bells for hundreds of years have served many purposes.  Bells call people to worship and prayer.  They sound warnings and alarms.  They beckon ships to safe harbors.  They celebrate birth and new life, and they peal in announcement of death.  They are rung during Christmas to announce the arrival of the season, to proclaim the [...]

Children Cherish TIME with Family

Oh, YES !  Children do strongly anticipate the gifts they receive during the holidays !  It may be one of the most talked about topics during this month, and maybe for a few weeks into the next year.  But what do children cherish and remember MOST as life goes on?   Special times with mom, dad, [...]

Holiday Happenings in Lakeland, FL

Wow !  So much holiday fun, perfect for children,  is planned for this week, I thought I’d share what’s going on in town.  Plus, I’ve found some excellent online resources for keeping up with local events.
Events planned for the 1st week of December:
• TUES.  -  Dec.  1 @ 6pm – 20th Annual Holiday Walkabout
This annual [...]

Over the what? To whose house?

The traditional Thanksgiving song, “Over the River and Through the Woods” is a classic.  Just singing it helps us older folks feel connected to generations of our family.  But can our children relate?  When was the last chance they had to experience freezing their ears and nose in a horse drawn sleigh?  Why not write some verses [...]

Sing Peace Around the World

My 5 year old daughter has been singing a beautiful song about peace that she learned at school (Lakeland Montessori).  From the teacher’s weekly email, I followed a link to find all the words, and found a lot more than that.  This song travelled the world in 24 hours – on the International Day of [...]

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