All Kids are Stars helps character shine through
It's definitely not the lessons taught by "The Wheels on the Bus." Instead, a new business teaches catchy tunes to kids, who sing along while learning principles every good person should know -- how to deal with stress, how to treat parents and how to believe in themselves.
Broomfield resident Robyn Winters-Hills, who used to teach meditation for corporations, and Boulder resident and former FBI agent Sue Schnitzer paired upto combine singing, life lessons and meditative principals for kids.
The pair have made visits to area classrooms, and last week they rolled out their All Kids are Stars program for kids ages 3 to 5 at Paul Derda Recreation Center. The lesson plan for the six-week course includes bullying, self-esteem, anger management, peer pressure and compassion. They've also created classroom and library programs for kids up to fifth grade.
While the program, the first of it's kind in the area, has good intentions, Winters-Hills and Schnitzer hear the skep-tics who say, "You're going to teach kids how to meditate?" Or, "You're going to hold their attention while you talk to them about self-discipline?"
Winters-Hills, a yoga and meditation teacher, said she saw a world of difference in herdaughter, 4-year-old Ileana, after she taught her how to take a few minutes and take a few deep breaths when a situation gets out of control.
"Children are never too young to teach them how to slow down and take a breath," she said.
She's even started teaching her 20-month-old son, Walden.
A visit to a Mountain View Elementary kindergarten classroom, where Winters-Hills and Schnitzer recently stopped, proves Winters-Hill's calm voice and Schnitzer's guitar melodies can keep a rambunctious group of youngsters wide eyed and quiet.
The kids paid attention and sang rhyming songs about love, doing what's right and good character traits.
Kindergarten teacher Jamie Kort was impressed by how well the pair held the attention of the 5-year-olds.
"They're on (the kids) level," she said. "The best part is the interaction. They're getting up and singing along."
Winters-Hills and Schnitzer said repetition is the key, especially for younger kids. Their once-a-week, 45-minute courses at the recreation center each week build on the same material.
Winters-Hills brainstormed the idea at her former job, at which she helped business executives get centered. The lessons she was teaching are basic principals anyone could learn and should learn early, she said.
Schnitzer was on a similar path through song. In 1993, she turned in her FBI badge to raise her daughters, now 15 and 13. She sang them lullabies from her childhood and made up her own.
What began as songs for her daughters expanded to music in libraries and classrooms. She's now an award-winning children's singer and founder and director of Wee Bee Music, an organization that offers classes, concerts and other programs for infants and children up to age 8.
Winters-Hills and Schnitzer inthe fall teamed to combine what each knew best about meditation and songs for the All Kids are Stars program.
With their combined backgrounds as moms and working with kids through yoga and song, they know what will work with kids.
"They're not going to sit and listen to a lecture on meditative principals, but if you make it simple and talk to them on their terms, they'll listen and interact," Schnitzer said.
They're hoping lessons taught in kindergarten will carry on for a lifetime.
"It's basic principals that they can apply for the rest of their lives," Winters-Hills said.
Kathryn Richert - Broomfield Enterprise
(Feb 28, 2008)