Kindermusik with Kathleen Gillie

My child did Kindermusik with Kathleen for years, not because of Kathleen, but because we loved the Kindermusik program. There are now are far better teachers of the Kindermusik curriculum in the area. I always found her very uptight and unmusical. With my second child I found another local music school where the teacher has a post graduate music degree, and the lessons are much more fun and funky. Kathleen does not have "the funk". Or much soul either. Her first discipline was ballet, and it shows in her rigidity and attempts at perfectionism. If you want your baby to do music with an uptight school marm, then Kathleen is the one for you. I remember trying to talk to her once about how children experience musicality in different ways. She told me that's "not how things are done in America". Nice huh? We were not "American" enough for Kathleen. As your child grows you discover that Kathleen has a very rigid and authoritarian approach to discipline. If you want white-bread, funk-free and fun-free music lessons she is the one to go to. She doesn't care that your child does not enjoy their lessons. That's your 4 year old kids fault, not Kathleens! LOL To me she is the classic example of the kind of music teacher that turns kids against music for life. Pointlessly authoritarian and somewhat rude with her personal comments. more

My daughter has seen Kathleen for music classes for a little over 6 months. She has always been rigid and temperamental. We have cancelled our sessions with her after she made a cruel comment to me. I am sure her music skills are great. But, her communication and interpersonal skills need work. more

If you want to get ripped off go to her classes! She charges $16 for a half an hour class to thirty five minutes at the most even though she says the class will last 45 minutes! She also charged me $58.95 for materials when I have attended Kindermusik classes in another area and was charged only $15.00 for at home materials. The class was also contrived and not engaging on any child like level. I wish I could get my money back! more

We tried a free class with Kathleen at the beginning of the fall and fell in love with her toddler class so we enrolled. My daughter is quite shy but really loves music. It has taken a few weeks but with Kathleen's patience my shy daughter is now leaving my lap and choosing her own instruments and during the put away song jumping up to help. At first she didn't want to get up from the security of my lap to do the movement activities but last week when Kathleen brought out the hula hoops she couldn't resist. We explored smooth and bouncy music using the hoops. It was great, what fun. I am learning so many ways to explore music with my 18 month old with Kathleen's help. My daughter is learning how to put things away with the group so I use the same song at home and it really works. Kathleen is a very experience, loving, patient teacher. She is always on time and teaches the songs and activities in a way that even parents that are unsure about singing feel good about trying. The class is very active but the class routine is organized so that the children learn the routine, relax and learn because they know what to expect. We have already worked with over 30 songs and have 30 more to go this session. We are really learning lot together. I will be signing up for more sessions in the future. This is a class you should try out for yourself with a free lesson like I did. You and your child will be singing all the way home. Louise Roberts more

Good: Kathleen was friendly, well prepared, and new how to work with me and my 2+ year old son who is very active. She explained that each child will experience the class in their own way and that there is no wrong or right way to participate. That really put me at ease. We sang, played instruments, enjoyed story and puppet time. This is our second session & my son really loves the movement activities with ball play, hoops, streamers and his favorite the parachute. Her explanations of each activity are excellent.. Bad: Some of the parents try to turn the class into a play date with their friends. Kathleen very nicely encourages us to focus on our children during the lesson time to get the full benefit of the lesson. There are moms that just want to chat with their friends the whole time and that would take away from the lesson but Kathleen really tries to ask them to save their visiting for before or after the lesson. Those of us that are there to learn something appreciate it. I love the bonding time with my son.. Improvements: I wish I had known about Kindermusik when my 5 year old was a toddler. I first met Kathleen when my daughter started in piano with Kathleen when she was 4+ years old. What a special teacher Miss Kathleen is. There was a 3 year old Kindermusik class finishing just before my daughters piano time so I asked Kathleen about the program. I am only sorry I hadn't learned about this wonderful music program sooner.. Other: My son and I look forward to our music class together each week. He asks every day if we are going to music. We attended our first lesson free so we could see for ourselves if it was a good fit and it was. I am so glad we found such a wonderful music teacher.. more

I attended Kathleen Gille's class with my toddler who is two. She is very rigid, and orders the parents around as if they are children. I was expecting to have a fun-filled, creative, and easy-going experience. Instead, I encountered constant unnecessary correction. It made me feel very uncomfortable that she was willing to tell myself, and other parents, when their 1-2 yr old children weren't doing exactly what she said, when she said. She would chide, "You need to get him/her, because we are doing this or that! " Or if a parent were quietly talking to their toddler when they needed direction, she'd interrupt and say "You need to listen to me instead of worrying about this/that.." These comments are only the tip of the iceberg. I found her extremely rude and ridiculous. This was a toddler class for heaven's sake! Having a two year old is not a thing you can put a tidy box around. It was embarrassing for me to endure, as well as to observe her acting this way towards other adults and myself. It took everything in me not to openly berate her, and to not attend the class anymore. But I did so because I pre-paid, and didn't want her negativity to poison the group musical experience anymore than she already did for my son and I. I believe she belongs teaching math to middle-aged people. She definitely has no place in the laid-back, positive, and fun environment that is necessary to cultivating creativity. Overall, not enjoyable and a disappointment to say the least. more

We went to Kindermusik for only a couple of months. The moms in the class and I found Kathleen not to be very good with young (1-2 yr) children and far too regimented for this type of class and age group. Simply, it wasn't fun and Kathleen seemed to be more geared towards much older children--perhaps that has changed now since it has been a year or so since we participated. Fortunately, there are different programs in town and we found another one that we love. more

Kindermusik with Kathleen Gillie is a fun time for kids and parents. Kathleen is a kind and gentle teacher to her classes-keeping her students busy with different music, stories, instruments and different play items related to the theme. The kids are constantly involved and love to explore, dance, listen and engage in all the activities while learning and expressing themselves at the same time. This is a wonderful envirnoment for your children to learn and grow in! more