Pre-School Music Club

Nina Sebastine: Every parent knows how important the early stages of development on a child's life. One company that set out to offer stimulation to little ones in a slightly unusual manner is Jo Jingles, set up by Gill Thomas in 1991. Jo Jingles provides fun, music, and movement classes for babies and young children in over 500 centers around the UK. It's also an interesting business or opportunity for parents. Joining me now on the studio is managing director Gill Thomas. Gill, welcome to the show. Gill Thomas: Hello Nina. Nina Sebastine: So how did you set it up in the first place? What's it all about? Gill Thomas: Well, I was looking for something to do with my two young girls when they were preschoolers and there was very, very little in the local area. So I decided to invite some of my NCT friends along and started a little music group with some instruments. That's really how it started. Nina Sebastine: So from the front room it started? Gill Thomas: Not quite the front room but we started in a small hall and then we got into a bigger hall. Then I had to start running more classes as the demand picked up. The Mother Network kicked in and mothers told other mothers and friends told other friends. Before very long, it was a really thriving little business. Nina Sebastine: What are the classes all about? What happens in a class? Gill Thomas: Well, the prime aim of the classes is to be fun for the children but we try our Jo Jingles to introduce an element of learning through play and through fun. But everything we do is based on musical activities. So in each action of any one week program, we would have some singing, we would have some action songs, we would have some musical movement, we play at least two musical instruments each week. We have story time, listening time, little sound games, rhythm games. Nina Sebastine: Great. Do parents get involved as well? Is this interactive? Gill Thomas: Very much so. Jo Jingles is all about interaction between parent and child, it's very much active listening, and active involvement from the parent as well. Nina Sebastine: Okay. I mean I know myself having a little one at home, it can be so difficult to organize entertaining time at home. Sometimes you are desperate to get out of the house and take them somewhere else instead of have a couple of hours somewhere else. Do you find that you get lots of parents saying to you, oh thank god, I've got here to come every Tuesday or every Wednesday, whatever? Gill Thomas: It comes not just from the parents, it comes from the children as well. Nina Sebastine: They are desperate to get out as well. Gill Thomas: Yeah. The parents actually say to us, the children ask when they are old enough to speak, they are actually asking, is it Jo Jingles today? So they know when they are coming and they really look forward to it. Nina Sebastine: Now what ages do you take in from? Gill Thomas: We start them at six months and we split our classes into age specific groups so that they are all of the same physical development and ability together. So we start six months to walking, walking to two years, 2-3 years, and 3-5 years. In certain cases, we will take them higher than five, we go up to seven years of age. Nina Sebastine: And you can get classes all over the country? Gill Thomas: Pretty much so. We are the leading national music group in both England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland now. Nina Sebastine: So what does a class cost? Gill Thomas: On average, it cost about 3.75-4.00 pounds. It deepens really upon the price of the venue for the franchise, who is running the classes, and also the region where they are operating from, but about 3.75. Nina Sebastine: Okay. Can people come and have a look, have a go to class before committing to say, a course of class, how does it work? Gill Thomas: Yes, in certain cases, they can do that. But I have to say that in an awful lot of our schools, our local venues, we have waiting lists. Therefore, a franchise will take somebody who is willing to really join out for the whole course. We base it on half a term at a go, so it's normally a commitment to 5-6 weeks in advance. Nina Sebastine: And run me briefly through a franchise, how does one, you know, if a parent instead of watching this home and thinking, oh, I quite fancy giving that a go, what do they do? Gill Thomas: Well, they first of all have to approach. Then we will send them - we'll have a -- on the phone about the business opportunity. It is run as a business rather than a hobby. So we need to make them that very clear from the start. But if they are independent, they want to run their own business; if they're musically -- have musical knowledge -- Nina Sebastine: How you got a string and note together? Gill Thomas: It helps to be able to know what music is all about. They got to have a good singing voice. It rules out people. Nina Sebastine: Yeah, that rules me out completely. Gill Thomas: But providing, I mean we can teach them the basic elements of music in all sort of training courses that we run from new franchises. The principle is are they good at getting down to the level of the children? They can be the most musically trained but if they can't work with very young children, it simply won't work. Nina Sebastine: Yes. Gill Thomas: So we are looking for people who've had experience of working with children, or experience of their own, because that's the best experience you can have. But also they need to be well organized, well motivated, prepared to work as a team because at Jo Jingles, we are very much a big team. We all pool and share ideas together and we are very passionate about what we do. We really believe music is good for these children. Nina Sebastine: You say that, is there a definite link between say, coming to a class a period of time and an improvement in some of these development late as a child? Gill Thomas: We are absolutely certain of it. It's justified by the amount of customer comments we get through on our email on the website, written into head office, spoken whenever franchises run classes. We know that is doing these children an awful lot of good in so many ways. And they are having fun, which is the main thing. Nina Sebastine: I am just going to ask that question one more time because I just want to get clean, if you can answer it again, sorry. You talk about developmental help with children, is there a proven link between coming to one of your classes and children's developmental stages improving? Gill Thomas: Yes. I can quote you from a very eminent brain scientist professor Bob, I am trying to remember what his name is, Bob Turner from the University College London. Nina Sebastine: Okay. Shall we do that again, we do that again. Gill Thomas: I am sorry. Nina Sebastine: We both stumbled as it's better to get it. Coming cleanly on, is it okay? I'll just come in with the question again. Okay. You talk about developmental stages; does this have an impact on a child's development? Gill Thomas: Undoubtedly the answer is yes. All the research that has been done on music, and its relationship with early baby and toddler development would prove that is the case. For example, the primary form of communication between mother or parent and baby is not speech, it's actually singing. Nina Sebastine: Really? Gill Thomas: It's infant directed speech that is so crucial to a baby's first response. Nina Sebastine: It's the 'ga-ga gu-gu" Gill Thomas: It is. You know when we say, oh who is the nice boy, it's 'di-di-do-da-da', it's actually bringing in pitch modulations and babies do respond to that and the research has proved that is the case. Nina Sebastine: Great. Shall we go a class? Gill Thomas: Yes, by all means. Nina Sebastine: Okay, let's go. Laura Sykes, you are a Jo Jingles' class leader. How long you've been doing this. Laura Sykes: I've been teaching here for four years. Nina Sebastine: What do you need? What are the key ingredients to be a good class leader? Laura Sykes: Well, of course you have to love the children, have a real love of music. You're introducing music to children from a very young age, so we have some fun and it's educational as well. Nina Sebastine: Great. Okay, well let's get started. Toddy, you ready to have a game? Child: Yes. Laura Sykes: Shall we have a game? Nina Sebastine: Come on then. Laura Sykes: So shall we say hello to Jo everybody. Yeah, right. So I am going to come around. First who want to say hello. So shall we say hello Emily. Hello. Shall we say hello, give him a big cuddle. Oh that's lovely. Hello Jaycee, hello. What about James, hello James. And Poppy, hello, oh, a kiss from Poppy. What about Tommy, oh, a big cuddle is there. Now what do we do for our first song? I think we have -- how is this? Tommy: Cheeky Monkey Laura Sykes: Cheeky monkey, shall we count them? Are you ready? Come on then, two, three. So three little monkeys jumping on the bed. Right. Are you ready? Child: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Laura Sykes: Okay. I am going to do a little bit of jumping with you. And Jo, are you ready to count? One, two, three, ready. So we go one, two, you ready? How many monkeys left? Child: One. Laura Sykes: Only one, here we go. Oh! Well done. Right now everyone sit down on your toes. Now let's caught -- so whose fingers today? Child: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Laura Sykes: How many of we got? Child: One, two. Laura Sykes: Right, let's -- Child: Five. Laura Sykes: Okay, let's count them slowly. Are you ready all? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Children: Ten. Laura Sykes: Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle then. Shut them up tight. Open them wide. Pat them together. Can you make them how I got Jo's hands? That's it. Oh big cuddles. Now stretch them up high. Stretch them down low. Can you fill them quietly. Sit down, sit here darling, sit. So do you know the words of this one? Shall we sign along together? Children: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Laura Sykes: Are you ready? Okay, mums, we're all going to sing along together. You ready with all your fingers? Ready. Right now, Jo, we'll love to watch you. So we're going to squeeze him in there. Here we go. We'll get him in a minute because he'll want to play with us again. So did you see drums? Child: Yeah. Laura Sykes: Okay, we're going to play the drums. What do we need to play with our drums? We have a drum and a -- Child: A beat, a beat. Laura Sykes: A beat, beat, that's right. And we must remember we don't -- in the mouth, do we? No. so here's our drum. A drum and a? Child: Beata. Laura Sykes: Where our beata stay? Child: Bin. Laura Sykes: Lovely. And we're going to play quietly. Child: I get in louder. Laura Sykes: Do you think you can get louder? Hold on a second. Quietly, getting louder, getting louder, getting very louder. Child: I'll just go my hands now. Laura Sykes: So here we got our beat. Now remember the Jo Jingles when we have a noisy instrument. You have to use your eyes as well to watch what we're doing because sometimes you can't hear for all banging away on our drums at the same time. Here we go Jaycee. Hurry up James. Join the drumming of course. Nina Sebastine: Okay, what do we do next out? Laura Sykes: Now we have a beat over there, right beat is it is. Nina Sebastine: What do we do next Tommy? Child: Don't know yet. Nina Sebastine: We have to wait. Child: Yes. Laura Sykes: Here we go. Listen to us play. Nina Sebastine: Poppy, you are very good at that. Laura Sykes: Right now. Child: When we do this? Laura Sykes: We have to do that now. We are going to play quietly first of all. Okay, we're going to -- everybody, do this, do this, do this, everybody do this just like me, even if you try. Play quietly first of all. So you're ready? Yes, ready. [Song]. We did it gently, didn't we? How else can we play our drums? Child: Loud Laura Sykes: Loudly. That's right. So we have to sing loudly this time as well. Are you ready? Nina Sebastine: Yes. Laura Sykes: Now, okay. What's one of our favorites drum songs? When I turn my drum over, what do we like to do? Child: High fat sausages. Laura Sykes: Sausages, that's right. So are you ready? We're going to five fast, here we go, cooking in the pan. Here we go. Cooking like ssshhh. We're going to get some music to play them along to this. High fat sausages, here is ready sizzling away. Don't forget your song Big bang. How many sausages? Three. That was a lot. I think we finally got one sausage left. Shall we do more loud banging? Child: Yeah. Laura Sykes: That grand out -- of yoke. So are you ready? We're going to do that with some music as well and we're going to sing along. That's very loud, isn't it? Then we'll have some screaming, shall we? Here we go. Come on soldiers, with your drums. And if you big ones want to stand up and do some march, and you can be like. Getting nice and loud, that's it. Hurray, well done. Okay, let's sit down. Nina Sebastine: Well done. Was that good fun Puppy? Child: Yeah. Laura Sykes: Well, I'll tell you what, we've got something else to finish within today. Let's put the drums and the beata packing in nicely today. That's very nice. Looking after Jay's instruments. Oh, very -- James is being good, unfortunately just bring into the bag. Nina Sebastine: Well done James. Laura Sykes: Well done. That's it. Right, okay, you can pop them in this room. Squeeze the whole in. Child: Have you sing rainbow? Laura Sykes: Wow. We're not going to do rainbow song today. We're going to use our rainbow stream as though Toby, thank you. Let me describe a picture. Then you might know the song that we're going to do with our stream today. Child: Wheels on the bus. Laura Sykes: The wheels on the bus go -- Now the horn on the bus goes -- Child: Beep, beep. Laura Sykes: Beep, beep, beep. The wipers on the bus go -- Child: Twist, twist -- Laura Sykes: Twit, twit, twish. The bell on the bus goes Child: Ting, ting, ting, Laura Sykes: Ting, ting. And the people on the bus go -- Child: Cha, cha, cha, cha. Laura Sykes: Cha, cha, cha, cha. But on our Jo Jingles bus, we're going to use those streamers today. Now we got lovely rainbow stream. I see what? Shall we look at some colors before we use them? Child: Yeah. Laura Sykes: Yeah. Favorite Jo Jingles color? Child: Red. Laura Sykes: Red. What about this color? Child: Orange. Laura Sykes: Okay, Ella, what color is this? Child: Yellow. Laura Sykes: Okay, and now? Child: Green. Laura Sykes: Green. And now? Child: Pink. Nina Sebastine: Oh, not pink. Laura Sykes: We were doing so well. Now last one, what about this one? Child: Orange. Laura Sykes: You're a bad boy. I think now, here we go. Now we might tell you what spread out just a little bit. Sit back a bit. Come on in James, come and get a streamer. Nina Sebastine: You being a climbing monkey? Laura Sykes: Yes, that's right. Nina Sebastine: So what do we do with this? Child: We have to -- Laura Sykes: Would you like some more? Nina Sebastine: Oh, thank you. Laura Sykes: Now we're just -- Tommy, we're going to do circle shapes with our streamer. Okay and we're going to do the wheels on the bus. So is everybody ready? We're going to have some music riddles on the bus. Here we go. Now we guess it's our rainbow song. We'll do this from first of all. Now what show some rainbow. Can you shake it over your head? Where is our little bit of rain? Circle dance. That's it. Wave those rainbows. That's it, shake those colors, shake, shake, shake. Come on, let's find those colors again. Which is red? Orange, That's it. Now yellow. Where is our dark blue? That indigo. That's nothing seeing today Puppy. Let's shake the rainbow over our heads. Where does the rain come down. What shake the sun? Circle. Shake these colors, shake, shake, shake, good girl Jaycee. Come on in James. Last -- those colors. Sing with me. Child: Green. Laura Sykes: Blue, blue, like the sky. Dark blue. Purple. What of we made? Child: A rainbow. Laura Sykes: A rainbow, you're right. Last bit of rain. Where do you get the rain? We need the sun. Shake those colors; shake, shake, shake. All over your heads. Nina Sebastine: I am getting rained over. Laura Sykes: Are you getting rained over by our rainbows today. Guys, we carry on, we will have -- Child: A rainbow. Laura Sykes: Or we're going to have the wheels on the bus. Shall we sing the wheels on the bus? Child: Yeah. Laura Sykes: Okay, are you ready? Nina Sebastine: Toby, help me sing that. Laura Sykes: Come on and sing this Toby, yeah. Here we go round and round. Now where is that horn? Can you find one of those? Beep, beep, beep. Now it's raining. With those wipers on a swish. Now the people need to get off the bus, can you ring the bell? Ding, ding. Now When these people are testing, shall we start on the floor? Well done, give yourself -- right, let's get these streamers in then, isn't Toby? Thank you Jaycee. Child: I'll do a jumbo. Laura Sykes: I'll tell you what we're going to be; sleeping bunnies. Child: Yeah. Laura Sykes: Okay. Then it'll be the end of it, say good bye to Jo. Child: -- back in to work. Nina Sebastine: So is that roughly you sort of make after the class? Laura Sykes: It's a tempo. Yes, I mean normal classes are 45 minutes long. But we always play two different instruments during that time. We're including these action songs several time using props and streamers. Nina Sebastine: And obviously we don't have that much space in here. Laura Sykes: No. Nina Sebastine: You normally got a little bit more space to run around. Laura Sykes: Yes, and a few more children generally as well. Nina Sebastine: Yes. Laura Sykes: But now we like to finish the class with a one little song of sleepy bunnies. Then of course Jo likes to come down and say good bye to everybody. Nina Sebastine: How many children do you have in an average class? Laura Sykes: Average class in 15. We don't like to move anymore or less in a class. And all our age groups are age specific. We're going to do that another day Toby. We start from six months, we have a six months to walking group, walking to two, 2-3, and then we go 3-5. So we can tailor make each age groups. Nina Sebastine: That's great. Laura, thank you so much for coming in. We're going to have a leaving song before we go. Is there one more to do? Laura Sykes: We're going to have. Shall we say good bye to Jo or would you like to do sleeping bunnies. Child: Sleeping bunnies. Laura Sykes: Sleeping bunnies. Okay, let's lay down Jo. They're going to lay on the floor. You're going to be a sleeping bunny. Nina Sebastine: I think I want to be a sleeping bunny at this stage. Laura Sykes: Okay, are you ready? Nina Sebastine: I think James wants to be a cheeky monkey. Child: Cheeky monkey or shaky monkey. Laura Sykes: They jump on the bed, don't they? Ready bunnies. Child: Jumping. Laura Sykes: Are you ready guys? Oh! Watch out, come and sit down Toby. Thank you very much everybody. Nina Sebastine: Well done everybody. Thank you for coming in. It's been absolute pleasure to watch you. Fantastic class, it looks like a lot of fun. Thanks very much.