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Today’s Preview of the Sing With Our Kids Website: Grandparents!

Today’s website preview is personal. I am the proud grandmother of two toddlers, and very lucky to be able to help care for them regularly. At the same time I’ve noticed a major demographic shift in my concert audiences. Grandparents have become a major portion of adults attending with the children, sometimes by more than half.. I think this due in part to economic times, but it’s also reflects new lifestyle choices. We are rediscovering the importance of family helping family, and we are all the winners for it. And here’s the thing… Grandparents are an incredible untapped  resource. No group is more motivated, has more life experience and wisdom, and often time than this group. And grandparents who don’t live near their grandchildren are always looking for ways to connect and build relationships with  them. That’s where Sing With Our Kids comes in. Singing is the ultimate connector, and grandparents know songs! They know lots and lots of songs! And they know it’s fun and important to sing with their grandchildren. So the Sing With Our Kids website will have a “Grandparents Corner,” and the live project will have monthly Grandparent Gatherings at the Mercer Island Library. At the gatherings grandparents will:

·      Remember their favorite songs and learn fun and creative ways to share them with grandchildren while passing down family history and traditions.

·      Learn about  brain development and how singing together is one of the best ways to connect, and to enhance early learning and especially early literacy

·      Learn how to use technology to get and stay connected in a very personal way, and much much more.

  

The stories, experiences, and discussions from the gatherings will be documented and posted on the website, so grandparents everywhere will be able to use the songs and materials, and even become part of the discussion. If you are a grandparent, or know grandparents, please share this project with them!