WHO WE ARE
Introducing children to music during one of the most
integral phases of growth and development
ABOUT OUR PROGRAM
Did You Know? A child’s brain grows faster from birth to age 5 than at any other time of life (reaching 70% of its adult size by age one and 85% by age three). Creating music, and the human interaction that accompanies music-making, involves multi-sensory activities that foster strong brain growth and healthy interaction between young children and their caregivers.
ChIMES is KeyNote’s early childhood music program that supports this crucial phase of child growth and development. Along with our flagship program that features parent/caregiver and child classes in Balboa Park and Liberty Station throughout the year, ChIMES also offers programs to community-based partners in order to bring early childhood music to as many families as possible.
ABOUT OUR CLASSES
ChIMES offers a welcoming and inclusive community with interactive musical experiences that encourage family bonding, at-home learning, and pave the way for future musical development and school readiness. You and your child will sing and dance, be exposed to a culturally rich array of music and instruments, play your own instruments, and learn about rhythm, tone, and other musical concepts.
Activities with our teachers are playful and interactive, and the classes are personalized to accommodate all children, and encourage musical development and active participation. Our ChIMES curriculum focuses on the child/caregiver shared musical experience. Actively participating in class and interacting with your child is the key to a fun and enriching experience!
CLASS OPTIONS
Sing, dance, smile, and play with your child!
Babies
Recommended for ages 0 up to 18 months
“Modeling” Phase: Parents/caregivers are the primary models and teachers. Children observe and imitate, and begin to participate as they get older, develop more skills, and become more familiar with the class routine. What to Expect: Singing, dancing, lap songs and bounces, peek-a-boo games, scarves and movement, basic rhythm activities, guest musicians and instrument show and tell, hands-on play with egg shakers, tambourines, and other instruments!Preschoolers
Recommended for ages approximately 3 – 5 yrs old
“Creating & Doing” Phase: Children participate more fully and begin to generate their own ideas, sounds and movements. The class has transitioned from parent-led to child-led. Parents and caregivers still actively participate, but children in this class are more independent and also engage with their peers and teacher. What to Expect: Building stronger ensemble skills through more advanced singing (including scales, solfege, intervals, two-parts), rhythm activities and movement; improvising and creative expression; new instruments (including pitched percussion like chime bars/glockenspiels and unpitched instruments like drums, wood blocks, triangles, etc); introduction to basic music notation and concepts through age-appropriate games and play.Toddlers
Recommended for ages approximately 18 months to 3 yrs old
8-week spring session (Mar-May): This session features songs and activities about all creatures great and small, with plenty of opportunities to roar like a lion or sing like a bird!“Exploring” Phase: Children observe, imitate, and participate in more involved ways as they become familiar with the class routine and become more developmentally able to manipulate their voices, bodies and musical instruments. They begin to interact with others in class and it becomes more of a parent/child experience rather than parent-led. What to Expect: Building on skills from the babies class, with more emphasis on singing and solfege as language skills emerge, introduction to harmony and intervals, dancing and large movement, creative expression, more advanced rhythm activities, guest musicians and instrument show and tell, instrument play with rhythm sticks, shakers, bells, drums and more!English/Spanish Bilingual
Recommended for all ages, birth to 5
What to Expect: Our bilingual program provides the opportunity for fun, family music-making in Spanish. It centers on everyday vocabulary and simple directions. No previous knowledge of Spanish is needed. Classes include a specially curated music playlist and Spanish rhythm cards.MEET THE ChIMES TEAM
Our creative, experienced team is passionate about helping your child
grow and develop
Mr. Charlie
Mr. Charlie
Miss Kat
Miss Kat
Miss Mariana
Miss Mariana
Miss Michelle
Miss Michelle
Mr. Thiago
Mr. Thiago
MEET THE ChIMES
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Kate Battenfeld
Kate Battenfeld
Early Childhood Program Manager
Sarah Williams
Sarah Williams
Early Childhood Program Coordinator
Dr. Fil Starostka
Dr. Fil Starostka
Early Childhood Program Assistant
MEET CHIMSEY AND MALLEY
Meet the ChIMES Characters
- Say “Hello” to our program characters, Chimesy and Malley, who have jumped right out of the .
- Say “Hello” to our program characters, Chimesy and Malley, who have jumped right out of the .
- Say “Hello” to our program characters, Chimesy and Malley, who have jumped right out of the .
- Say “Hello” to our program characters, Chimesy and Malley, who have jumped right out of the .
MEET THE ChIMES ILLUSTRATOR
Karen Riedler is a San Diego-based illustrator and artist who created the characters Chimesy and Malley in order to enhance the ChIMES curriculum and further our commitment to building an inclusive and welcoming community.
Karen also designed the vast array of colorful ChIMES graphics and illustrations that appear throughout our curriculum materials to help bring each session theme to life.
You can learn more about Karen and her work at karenriedler.com.