Monkey Rock Music – Music classes for young children in Ottawa

A reminder that in over three years of business, Monkey Rock Music has never cancelled classes due to weather. Many of our customers walk to class, and value the opportunity to get out of the house – particularly when the weather is nasty!

That said, please don’t drive if you are at all concerned about safety! We will work with you to make up missed classes during the session.

I’m finally back in the office, after an unplanned extension to our holiday break.  We had a family emergency that needed tending to, and although that’s all taken care of, I’m now ludicrously behind in running my little company.  So if you are waiting for a reply to your email, it’s coming, I just have about three weeks of them to sift through!  I will try to get completely caught up by Monday, but even that may be optimistic – thanks for your continuing patience.

- John

Well, after over a YEAR of looking, we’ve finally found someone awesome enough to be a MRM teacher!  I give you Mr Jordan Zalis:

Though we were looking for many key qualities that Jordan clearly possesses in spades, above all else I wanted to hire someone who shaves even more infrequently than I do.  Jordan will be taking over the Saturday classes in Nepean, phased in over the first month of the Winter Session.

It’s Pajama Week at Monkey Rock Music! (My Blackberry is clearly not a fan of taking pictures of anything that’s not perfectly still…)

We are now accepting enrollment for the Winter Session! Note the last minute schedule change: To put us more conveniently in line with the OCDSB, we bumped the session start date by one week to January 9th.

All enrollments – both new and returning – are now online. Click the ‘Enroll Now‘ link on the sidebar, then select the Winter 2012 form. (Or, you know, just click those links right there in the text.)  If you are a returning customer, you will only need to enter your child’s name and class.  Current customers who ‘pre-enrolled’ by sending me an email last week still need to enroll online, but I’m holding your spot until I get your form.

The online system is new and I expect there to be bugs…if anything is unclear or not loading properly in your browser, let me know.  I use Firefox, and so should you.  Well, I suppose Chrome is okay to.  I’m working on trying to make it load on handheld devices, but no luck so far – any tips would be appreciated…

Winners of last year's combo category

On Sunday, October 30th, we will be holding our 2nd Annual Monkey Rock Music Halloween Show and Fundraiser!  There will be treats*, decorations**, face painting***, and of course music****, not to mention the costume contest.  The contest features two categories: Best Child Costume, and Best Combo Costume (child/parent).  Both categories are awarded the same top prize – a free 12 week session at Monkey Rock Music!

The, um, fine print, as it were…

This is a charitable event organized by Sheryl and myself in our (ha ha) free time.  All funds raised go to the United Way.  We’re counting on you to help us make it happen!

*Treats: Baked goods, candy, drink boxes – buy it or make it, as long as it’s 100% nut free.  And no seafood either, please – those allergies can be nasty, too.  And seriously, what are you thinking bringing lobster bisque to a kids’ Halloween Party?

**Decorations: We need both donations of materials and (more importantly) your time!  We need people to help us set up the party decorations, and clean up afterwards.  We may be running a (very tame) haunted house and/or indoor trick-or-treating as well, but that’s only if someone wants to volunteer to take that on themselves… Anyone?

***Free Face Painting: Courtesy of Natasha of NC Makeup Art!

****Music: Don’t worry about that – I know a guy.

We’ll also need people to work the door taking donations and to judge the costume contest.  Please email me if you’d like to help out in any respect!

What: Halloween Party and Costume Contest!
When: Sunday, October 30th, 3:30pm-5pm
Where:  Crichton Cultural Community Centre, 255 MacKay
How Much: Pay-What-You-Can, recommended $5 per person

Monkey Rock Music is looking for a larger than life musician/teacher to lead our parent and child music programs.

Monkey Rock Music is a fun, entertaining and creative participatory music program for young children and their adult caregivers. Our primary goal is to instill a love of creating and experiencing music that will last a lifetime. Nothing has a stronger impact on a child than enjoying an activity with the people they love.  Monkey Rock Music class participants range in age from 0-6 years.  Please take a look at www.monkeyrockmusic.com for more information.

Required:

-       Experience working with young children

-       High comfort level playing acoustic guitar (see below for details)

-       A good singing voice

-       Outgoing, personable, nature; comfortable performing in any situation

-       Access to a car

-       Clean police background check

Preferred:

-       Bilingual (French and English)

-       ECE/Orff/similar training

-       Broad knowledge of children’s songs

-       Flexible schedule

Guitar skill:  Though the material is very straight forward (mostly two and three chord songs), the demands of the classes require the teacher to be able to play on ‘autopilot’, focusing on the students rather than the guitar.

Compensation: $15/hour training; $30/hour regular classes

Schedule:

-          The position requires teaching classes Friday and Saturday mornings, with the possibility of adding more.

-          Also required is the availability to perform at parties Saturday afternoons and/or Sundays (pay for parties is as much as $100/45 minute party)

-          The option of teaching some weekday afternoons also exists in addition to the above.

TO APPLY:  Please send a resume and cover letter to monkeyrockmusic@gmail.com.  Be sure to highlight your experience working with young children – this is far more important that your musical ability!

We are now taking enrollment for the fall session – if you’d like to sign up, send me an email with your child’s full name and the class you would like them in.  I’ll start processing enrollments on Monday.  Take a look at the fall schedule on the web site for class details – more on that below.  The session will be 15 weeks for most locations, running from September 6th to December 17th.

Speaking of Monday, that is the start of my well-deserved summer vacation! …Erm, right after I finish processing enrollments.  After that, I’ll be away from my computer all but one day a week until August 29th.  So if you email me, you may have to wait a bit for a response.

The schedule is mostly the same, but the 3-6 year old class on Saturday mornings is only a 6 week session.  The reason for this is I’m planning to develop a new program in the fall for this age group beginning in mid-October. The new program (tentatively called ‘Monkey Rock Music Makers‘) will be new from the ground up, involve using new tonal instruments on a daily basis (xylophones, etc.), and will focus on actually creating music.  The age range will be 4-6 years exclusive – i.e., no younger siblings, and all students must have turned 4 before the start of the session.  Look for more details in the fall, and a possible start date of October 29th for a 6 week session.

The Crichton Cultural Community Centre has locked down arrangements to lease the Manse and Memorial Hall from MacKay United Church starting in September, with plans to buy the Manse outright before the new year!  For those of you who frequent the play groups held in the Hall, fear not – part of the deal is that all current programs there continue without interruption.

Beginning in September, all Monkey Rock Music’s New Edinburgh classes will be moving to the Manse – both Thursdays and Fridays. The room will be on the ground floor, immediately inside the door, so very convenient.  The Manse is located at 255 MacKay St, just north of Dufferin.

Last month Monkey Rock Music was fortunate to be involved in the third annual Heart of Champions Golf Tournament, which raises funds for the Cardiac division at CHEO.  From the HOC organizers:

On Saturday June 18th, Monkey Rock Music rocked the Greensmere Golf and Country Club performing for a small group of CHEO Cardiology patients and their families at the Heart of Champions Golf (HOC) Tournament.

 This was the third year that the event was held, raising $15,836 with net proceeds going to CHEO’s Cardiology Department.

 “While the focus of the event is to raise money for CHEO, the event was also kickstarted to provide a fun opportunity for cardiac patients, their families and friends, to meet one another and build an informal support network within the local children’s cardiac community,” says Heather Irvine, a Cardiac Mom and Executive Director of the HOC Tournament. “The involvement of Monkey Rock Music this year helped us do just that.”

 Under sunny skies, the children participated in the first ever Kids’ Corner, singing songs, rocking to the beat of ‘Sticky, Sticky Bubblegum’ and eating cupcakes kindly donated by Cakes by Design.  

Former Neonatal Intensive Care roomies Logan Irvine, and Campbell Labonte who have both spent a fair amount of their childhood at CHEO, basked in the sunshine at the Monkey Rock Kids’ Corner at the recent Heart of Champions Golf Tournament. Photo by Shayne Patton

“Through John’s gift of music, many children who are regular patients at CHEO and may miss out on the fun birthday parties or group activities that healthy children experience due to frequent hospitalization, were able to experience the laughter and fun of Monkey Rock Music,” says members of the HOC Planning Committee. “We can’t thank him enough for donating his time and his huge heart to this cause.” For more information on next year’s Heart of Champions Tournament visit: www.heartofchampions.ca