Take Note Studio Blog

My family is still virtual everything, for the time being. Being home as much as we are, the hours slip like sand through my fingers.  What's fun about it is the opendedness -- sure we can watch a movie at 7:30 am! What’s maddening about it is the open endedness -- wait we’ve finished an entire movie and it’s only 9 in the morning? This year has required me to be in charge of my family's schedule in a way I never anticipated, and in order to refocus I read this quote from one of my favorite authors, Matt Haig: “Be curious. Get outside. Go to bed on time, some of the time. Drink water. Breathe from your diaphragm. Eat broccoli. Eat chocolate. Get a routine baggy enough to live in.”  A practice I’ve started during the pandemic is, every morning I write down one small promise I will keep that day.  Most days it looks like “I will do 10 minutes of yoga,” or “I will take a walk around the block by myself,” or “I will meditate for 5 minutes,” and it NEVER looks like “I wi...

If you are reading this, you’re probably a Take Note Studio family, and you probably already understand the value of what our studio offers your family and child.  As a studio parent myself, I love the way Kindermusik fosters creative play and introduces foundational music skills to my four year old. I love how, while we are mostly homebound during the pandemic, my seven year old can log into Zoom and connect with familiar faces through songs and silly dances in Theatrical Singers.  I love that maintaining connection with the families we have met at the studio feels effortless because music is our common bond.  As our kids grow and their schedules fill up, it's hard to prioritize the endless activities and experiences available to them.  There are so many fun things to do!  Not all activities are created equal, though.  Much like when we plan meals for our kids, we offer them a wide variety of nourishing foods to keep them healthy and growing -- some childh...

  Welcome back, Take Note Studio families! Whether you are learning virtually or in the studio, we are so happy to be together again!  Do you remember back in March when we thought sheltering in place for 14 days would defeat Covid and get us back to normal?  HAAAAAAAA. How's your normal looking this year?  Our studio staff is with you; we have our own children from baby on up to adult and we are all navigating the best way to keep ourselves healthy (and sane) as we prepare our minds and bodies for more structured learning this fall.  It’s been helpful for me to talk with others in our community to see how this transition is going for them. No matter the educational/work/daycare model you have, this fall is drastically different for everyone, and if you’re anything like me, it can leave you feeling unsure and overwhelmed.  Talking with the Take Note staff about their struggles and successes has been so refreshing -- I didn’t realize how valuable the small t...

I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid, there was clearly a right and a wrong way to do school.  The right way involved sitting still, listening to the teacher, and more often than not, being rewarded for reaching the “right” answer.  The wrong way looked like disruption, wiggling, and feeling the resentment of peers as the teacher had to, once again, address interruption of everyone else’s learning.