Lessons learned in the gym

Life has so many cross-over learning points.  A lesson learned in one area of our lives so quickly has a corresponding point to be made in another area.  This became so obvious to me in the gym the other day.

A few months ago I joined a local gym and have been going a LOT.  Not bragging.  Just saying.  But I do get so anxious for results.  The results they show on TV are not nearly as quickly played out in real-life, I find.  17 weeks in, though, I am starting to notice changes.

While on the machines the other day I was thinking that although the results aren't shown after each day's efforts, there is a cumulative effect of being in a health-oriented, supportive environment where I can put one more piece of the pattern together.   If I just showed up once a week, or came for 6 weeks then took a few months off, then came back, the total effect would not nearly be the same.  Being health-conscious is a lifelong pursuit and for me, and is so much easier in community.

The same cumulative effect holds true for Kindermusik classes.  There is a difference for families who come semester after semester, than for families who take a term, then take time off.  When we do repeated activities, our brain patterning changes and we start to experience information in new ways.  Not only do we form new habits, we actually change the way we process information.

It is SO important to re-inforce information.  Not only do we do this in the week to week activities in a given semester, building on introduced concepts in new and interesting, engaging ways, but we also reinforce and expand ideas over time from one semester to the next.  Growing brains need the reinforcement of repetition and creative adjustments to truly grasp concecpts and assimilate them into action patterns.

Younger children, in particular, need to have many reinforcements as the neural connections in their brain are still forming.  Experiences that a person has in life are all stored away in their cognitive processing center, providing a framework for sorting through future experiences.  Children, however, have less cumulative experience to draw on, and the repetition of an activity is essential to strengthen the learning.

As you are considering what to do next semester, I encourage you to continue with Kindermusik. Or maybe you are contemplating joining us for the first time.   Not only are you going to experience a happy and supportive musical environment for you and your child, but you are establishing a strong framework for a lifetime of musical expression - a lifetime where musical expression is as normal as breathing!