Updates and News
Carmen’s Retirement Party
June 13, 2022
We are having an outdoor event to wish her well, and everyone is invited!
When: Saturday June 18, 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Where: The grassy area behind our Charleswood location at 3830 Roblin Blvd (St Mary Anglican Church). Please park along Haney Avenue. Our picnic will be in the grassy back parking area, so you can’t park there!
What are we doing? We’ll have some outdoor musical activities, some snacks and a chance to show Carmen some love.
Bring water for your family !!
Can’t make it? If you want to send a message to Carmen, email it to info@kindermusikdiscovery.com and I will print it out and present it to her.
It is with a mixture of gratitude and sadness that we announce the upcoming retirement of our beloved Miss Carmen from teaching Kindermusik.
In her teaching career, Carmen has touched the lives of hundreds of children and families.
She is known and loved for her energy, humour and the personal connections she makes with every family who enters her classroom.
We wish Carmen and her husband Bruce well, as they embark on a new phase of life together – one that hopefully will include lots of travel!
Blizzard Conditions
April 11,2022
In anticipation of poor driving conditions and predicted heavy snow, we have decided to be proactive and move classes online for Wednesday April 13 and Thursday April 14.
Please email the studio and say that you received this message.
We will keep trying to reach you, so we don’t have anyone make a fruitless trip out in the storm.
Tuesday classes will meet as usual, in person. We expect Saturday classes will be in person.
Zoom links will be sent to all registered families on Tuesday.
Even if your regular class is unaffected you can pop into a Zoom class on Wed or Thurs if you need a make-up class – or if you expect you will need one in the coming weeks.
In Person Classes Resume April 5
March 28 2022
We finally heard back from our St Vital and Charleswood locations about resuming in person, so we have a very quick pivot to begin April 5.
Here’s what you need to know:
- We are keeping our Covid precautions for just a little while longer. Adults are required to email us your vaccine QR code unless we already have it on file from fall 2021. Adults are required to wear masks while in the building. We will re-evaluate regularly.
- Please go to the Register Now page (above) and book your in-person spot. We are giving our favourite families the first heads-up about registration, but we will open to the public soon.
- If you still want an online option please email us to let us know. I will create a schedule around the needs of these families.
Back to Online Classes for January 2022
Jan 4 2022
We have to move all our classes online for what will hopefully be a short period of time.
We will return to the original schedule of in-person classes as soon as our hosting venues will allow it.
Online classes operate on Zoom, and your enrolment allows you unlimited access to all our live zoom classes. Switch days freely, and come as many times a week as you wish. We will send you links to all the classes, and you can choose from among them.
Any siblings in the home are welcome to attend along with your registered child at no extra cost.
The schedule will be a bit different from your in-person schedule. The new schedule will be published shortly.
We know there will be questions and concerns, and we will address every one. But the most immediate thing is to make sure everybody knows not to come to class in St Vital or Charleswood.
If you were in a Thursday class with Sandi, scheduled to resume Jan 6, she will be teaching those on Zoom at your original time slot this week. Links will be emailed to you.
Support small business in Manitoba.
Your ongoing enrolment keeps our teachers employed and allows us to access support programs like the federal wage subsidy. It gives us the momentum we need to re-open rapidly as soon as we are able to get back into our classroom spaces.
Thank you for your support!
I have a special gift for enrolled families that I’ll announce shortly. Watch for that!!
Contact Us
If you need to text us please include your name. Our group texting system does not always tell us the name or number your message is coming from. Thanks!
Classes for Fall 2021
Sep 7 2021
We will be opening registration for our St Vital location by the end of this week. We can start regular classes there in October.
We will email it to everyone when all the background tasks are completed. Check back on the website if you don’t reliably get email from us.
None of the other locations are ready to welcome us back just yet, though we expect decisions from our locations in Charleswood and at The Forks soon.
Here’s what you need to know
Following the latest rules from the Province:
- Anyone over the age of 12 must be fully immunized to enter the building. You will need to send us a screen shot of your QR code in order for your enrolment to be complete
- Masks are required for age 5 and up.
Online classes will also be available.
Contacting Us
Our office is still running remotely, so the fastest way for us to assist you is if you email us at info@kindermusikdiscovery.com
Our studio phone is now a cell phone, so if you need to text us please use our regular phone number, 204 453-1222. Please do NOT text us to the number that we use to send mass messages. It runs through our enrollment software and it doesn’t work like texting a normal phone!!!
We fervently hope that this will be the last phase of the pandemic that affects us to this degree, and we look forward to the day when this is all behind us.
Plans for Fall 2021
Aug 13 2021
Hello Kindermusik families! As of today we still don’t have clarity on what conditions our teaching locations might require for us to come back, and basically we have to wait for decision maker to return from the summer and for committees to meet. One thing I can say now is that Miss Carmen won’t teach right away this fall. She misses the families like crazy, and will be back as soon as she is able. In the meantime she might turn up to visit once in awhile, as she feels able.
Let’s show Carmen some love
May 24,2021
Most of you know that Miss Carmen was diagnosed with breast cancer, and will be moving into a treatment phase pretty soon. We will keep you posted about opportunities for families to show her some love.
Decorate her front lawn, May 25 – June 1
If you know Carmen at all, you know she has a sense of humour. We are planning to fill her front yard with some whimsical items. We have chosen a theme of frogs, partly because there are a number of Kindermusik songs about them. We invite you to gather your best frog or toad puns and make something to put in her front yard.
For example, I’m going to:
Download and print a picture of a cartoon frog
Add a message like “Carmen, you are toadally awesome”
Laminate it
Tape a wooden skewer to the back
Drive over to her house and stick it on her lawn
*Important: I don’t want to broadcast her home address on the internet, so when you are ready please email me at info@kindermusikdiscovery.com and I’ll tell you the address. Carmen has given her permission for me to do this, though she doesn’t know exactly what’s coming…
And of course you can email her messages of support at any time, at carmenkindermusik@gmail.com
Update from Carmen
March 20, 2021
Carmen is feeling good after her procedure yesterday, and is happy to have a few days to recover before resuming teaching next Friday, March 26.
If you would like to send greetings or children’s artwork to her, there are a couple of ways to do that.
You can email her directly at carmenkindermusik@gmail.com
If you have something you’d like to send in the mail, just email us at the office and I’ll give you a mailing address. (Just don’t want to publish that on the website!!)
News from Carmen
March 16 2021
Hello Kindermusik families,
Carmen has asked me to let you know that she is about to begin treatment for breast cancer.
Her prognosis sounds very positive, and her family is keeping her spirits up with their unique sense of humour.
Her plan at this time is to continue to teach as much as she is able. At the moment that consists of a few days off around her lumpectomy date. So you can expect to see Sandi, Rhonda or Sam teaching for her between March 19 and 22. After that, she expects to be back in class for quite a stretch before any further treatment is due to begin.
I know you will all join with me and her Kindermusik colleagues in wishing her strength and healing during this time, and rest when she needs it. She will let me know when she has any other updates to share with you.
In the meantime, she takes great joy in seeing your children’s faces.
I have some ideas in mind to show her our love and support, and I will let you all know how you can participate in that as we go.
Nancy
Winter Break
Dec 21 – Jan 3
Like so many other everyday heroes, Winnipeg Kindermusik teachers have been through a rough time in 2020!
Some of us took no time off during the summer and have been faithfully running online classes week in and week out since April.
Some of us worked at a break-neck pace, with more than a little panic, to prepare ourselves and our teaching spaces to create the best possible version of in-person classes we could manage, only to have it shut down again after barely beginning.
Some of us have been managing the education of our own school-age children at the same time and/or caring for other family members with a range of personal and medical crises.
All of us have been cramming to learn curricula we have never taught before in ways we have never taught before.
But each teacher has done it, while letting their own natural style still shine though.
We truly hope you have found their smiling faces and their jubilant voices to be a small oasis of happiness in your week!
We normally take a 2-week break in late December. We know you are stuck at home, and might really like to keep Kindermusik going through the long cold days. At the same time, the Kindermusik teachers desperately need a mental break from lesson planning in particular.
So here’s what is going to happen
We are starting the next 5-lesson unit on Dec 7th.
Everyone will have 2 weeks of classes followed by a 2-week break Dec 21 through Jan 3.
Then we pick up where we left off for the 3 remaining weeks of the unit.
During the 2-week break we will be making available some bonus “on-demand” content for you. This pre-recorded content will be posted to YouTube and sent to you as a private link.
We wish you a cozy holiday season, and send our fervent wish that we will be able to see you all again in person in 2021.
New Restrictions in Winnipeg, effective October 19, 2020
Oct 16, 2020
Hello Kindermusik families!
The new restrictions in Winnipeg mean that starting on MONDAY OCTOBER 19 we are not permitted to teach our in-person classes, for at least 2 weeks.
As you know, our back-up plan has always been that we would shift to online classes if this happened.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Your class will probably be available in more than one time slot, with different teachers. You will have the flexibility to pop into any or all of them! It may not be the SAME time as your in-person class was, so do view it ahead of time.
- Babies – your baby does not need to watch a screen at all. Just position your screen somewhere where you can glance at it as needed. What you can hear is way more important.
- Toddlers – our best advice is to do this in a room with as few toys/distractions as you can manage – which is just how we prepare our regular classroom! The focus is always on the parent-child pair, the educator’s job is to give you suggestions about how to engage musically with your child. We know this is hard for them – and for you. One of the benefits of our unlimited class model is you can do 20 minutes one day, and come back another time for 20 minutes.
- Level 3, 4 and 5 will be actively engaging with their teacher about class activities. But they NEED YOUR HELP with muting and unmuting! If possible please hover nearby, or take some time to teach your child how to mute and unmute on your device – they are all different! Pro tip: Choose the device with the best sound quality, and see if you can find the setting “Turn On Original Sound”. This works best for music.
- If you have other children in the home they can join in if they want to.
We hope this will only last for a couple of weeks, and we will return to in-person classes as soon as we can.
How to access your online class
All classes have a Zoom link that we keep on a hidden password-protected page on our website.
Once we send you the password for it, you will see all the classes listed day by day. Just click on the link and it should pop you right in. We will be standing by to assist if you have trouble. Please EMAIL me if you need help. We aren’t anywhere near the office phone. I promise that email works the best and fastest.
info@kindermusikdiscovery.com
Fall schedule coming soon
Aug 21, 2020
In-person and online options to be available
Hi everyone,
We are still working out some details with our teaching locations, but here’s what I can tell you now:
We are aiming to have in-person classes at our Charleswood and St Vital locations. Our other locations are not yet prepared to welcome us back at this time. We will keep them on the back burner for now.
There will also be Zoom options for those families and instructors who prefer to do Kindermusik from home.
We will be meeting and exceeding provincial requirements for health and safety. Our studio director, Nancy, is obsessively up to date with the issues of room ventilation and the impact of singing on the spread of Covid-19. There are some changes we must make in how our classes will go, so watch for those details in the next little while.
I expect to have registration open online within the week.
This has been a very challenging time. Kindermusik is fighting for survival as we try to re-imagine what our classes should look like.
Thank you for sticking with us.
Nancy
May 31, 2020
New Password and Plans for Fall
Believe it or not, we have just finished Winter Session. We are so grateful for the families who stayed enrolled through this period. Normally we have a Spring session that follows it, and most families stay for that. This year we had to compress it a bit, because we lost a couple of weeks ion March when the virus first arrived in Manitoba. So please join us for June!
We have updated the proposed schedule for June to reflect the number of people who so far have indicated they plan to come. It’s not too late to register. Come just for June, or do the whole summer for a special price! Click here https://kindermusikdiscovery.com/summer-2020/
A few things you need to know
New Password
A new password will be set for the page where the class links are kept after the last class on Sunday May 31. It will be emailed to you if you have registered for June. As always, I will be watching for anyone who emails the office, in case you get stuck. kindermusikdiscovery@mymts.net
Zoom update
Zoom has some new security updates that will require a few minutes to re-install. If you haven’t already done so, Zoom will force the update before you can join any further classes. Give yourself a few extra minutes for that.
Fall
We are planning for fall assuming we will still be dealing with virus issues for awhile yet. We acknowledge that Manitoba has been very lucky to have experienced a low rate of infection, but we are concerned about what may happen when people start traveling outside the province again.
We anticipate that we will begin the fall online, but we will keep a plan in reserve to pivot partially into in-person classes if/when conditions seem right. We expect to run both online and in-person classes for a period of time in order to meet the needs to families with different risk issues.
Check back to our website for further details.
Naming Yourself When Logging In
April 11, 2020
Summer Classes
May 18, 2020
A question I’ve heard a lot in the last couple of weeks is “Are you going to run online classes through the summer?”
The answer is yes!
Until we are ready to gather again in person we are offering online Kindermusik classes.
Click over here to see the flexible options we are proposing, including two new time slots we want to try out! Since the response has been so positive, we are keeping online classes unlimited – attned as many as you like!
Naming Yourself When Logging In
April 11, 2020
Easter Sunday
April 11, 2020
Naming Yourself When Logging In
April 11, 2020
Zoom Security
April 3, 2020
You may have heard about some security issues with the Zoom platform. These are absolutely real concerns that we take seriously. Here’s what we are going to do:
There are active, ongoing discussions about this in the Kindermusik educator community around the world. Most are using Zoom, and have shared their safety and privacy tips with us. The teachers tested and trained with Zoom before we launched this week of classes.
We are using commercial zoom accounts to host the meetings, and are using the most up to date version. Zoom is regularly adding security patches to their software and we get them as well.
Starting next week our online classrooms will use a password. In our case the password is embedded in the link. The links themselves are on a hidden page of our website that needs a different password. That password will be changing next week, and the new one will be sent only to enrolled families by email or text message. Only families enrolled in our classes get the password to the website page. This makes it much more difficult for random people to use the class ID to join. Most of the malicious Zoom activity occurs because they can randomly enter a 9-digit code and just see who’s there. Now ours will no longer have the 9-digit code but a combination of the code plus password.
In our classes we have turned off the ability for participants to share screens and to share content – only the teacher can do that. We find that we cannot use the waiting room feature, simply because once the class has started, the teacher is occupied and can’t monitor the waiting room, and anyone who joins a bit late may be stuck in the waiting room for the whole class.
What we do instead is require that everyone who joins the meeting change their meeting name to add in their child’s name. The teachers will remove people they don’t know.
The teacher has the ability to mute, block, and kick out people from the class.
One additional change we will be making this weekend is turning off the ability of families to join a class before the teacher is there to host the class. This prevents people from joining a class early and then trying to hide or lurk in the digital background.
We welcome your feedback by emailing the office at kindermusikdiscovery@mymts.net