October 5, 2020

Hello Families,

We want to check in with you, our community, to update and assure you that we are continuing to take the health and well-being of our community, customers, and teachers very seriously.

We miss seeing you in the classroom, we really do. We feel it’s important to take a moment in an open and honest way, to discuss as a studio where we are coming from as of today. There are 2 strong aspects that have us continuing on in a virtual setting.

1. As you most likely know, our classes are group interactive classes with babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Typically these classes are held in a room, with various props and instruments. When, for example, 6 children are enrolled, it means that at the very least 13 people are in the room because of course our classes include loving caregivers. We know that you, the adults, can remain socially distanced with masks on. However, it’s virtually impossible to require these things of your children. Babies and toddlers naturally explore by putting objects in their mouths. They want hugs and they want to explore with all their senses including touch. When we do return back, we’ll have to consider this aspect so everyone is safe.
2. The other aspect is our reality as a small Kindermusik business. Without of course getting into all of the ins and outs of running a studio, we hope we can help you, our community, understand our challenges. Typically for a class to run we have to pay our rental fee and our teacher fee. In addition to those, there are administrative fees, insurance, and operating costs. If we were to hold a class at half capacity which is 6 children, we are actually losing money to hold the class. We typically do that because we have faith the class will grow over time. But in this scenario, there is no room safety wise for class growth. As a very small local family owned business, we just don’t have that money to spend in this covid climate. To hold a class past break even would essentially put a large group of people together in too small of a space which compromises safety. For example, 8 children, would be 17 people in the classroom… you get the idea.

As of right now, due to those main reasons, we must continue virtually. As the weather becomes a bit more dependable, and not quite so hot and rainy, we are considering offering some programming outdoors which could eliminate rental fees. We are currently brainstorming that idea.

Here’s the thing though. We’re having a BLAST with our families via our online classes! Our Kindermusik Virtual+ program is NOT a lesser program, but simply a different one. Consider this. For now, instead of enrolling and paying for 1 class per week, you are enrolling and paying for 12 classes you can come in and out of at your leisure throughout the week. We know it’s not the same. We totally do. BUT, we do know (because parents are telling us) that children are learning from our program. Laughter, smiles, bonding… all the things that Kindermusik typically provides is still happening. In fact, there are children meeting other children, and at the end of class they tell each other “I love you!”. Also, we want you to remember that in the end, the goal of Kindermusik is for YOU the adults to lovingly engage with your children. Whether in person or virtual, THAT is the goal. So if you need to put your device up high out of sight and let it guide YOU as you interact with your child, that is great. If you want to interact visually with us too that’s great, but not required.

We do ask that you strongly consider us. We are a small local business who needs you so we can keep this amazing program going. Our focus right now is to keep all our teachers in work so that when it’s safe, they can return back to doing what they love in person. Your registration means SO much, and contributes so much to keeping us in business so we can provide loving classes for years to come.

We invite you to try an unlimited week for $15 to see what you think. In addition, a new online Bilingual Birdies unit (Jungle Animals) begins this week if you are interested in Spanish music classes. The Bilingual Birdies route also includes the 12 Kindermusik Virtual+ classes. You may know that we have our private online piano and voice lessons but did you also know that we have adult self care Yoga and Tap classes? New 5 week sessions begin this week!

We are all in this together. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and make adjustments and changes along the way.

One more thing, we are nominated for Best Music Lessons in the Playground Family Favorite Awards. Could you take a moment to vote here, and click on Grow and Sing Studios on page 4? Let us know when you vote so we can give you a big “thank you!”.

All the very best,

Holly and Will Lesnick
Owners, Grow and Sing Studios

Kindermusik Virtual+ | Bilingual Birdies+ | Online Birthday Parties | Online Voice Lessons | Online Piano Lessons | Online adult beginner tap classes | Online adult yoga | Online Store

 
 
 
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Hello amazing families far and wide,

It’s Ms. Holly. I woke up this morning and had a realization that it was time for me to open up with you about how things are going over here at Grow and Sing Studios. Here’s what’s on my mind, I’m going to keep it real. Here we go.

Over the last bunch of months I have had to make tough decisions. There were times when I thought maybe, perhaps, we could go back to in person in a safe way. Time and time again the answer to not return in person quite yet was very clear. The most recent was the harsh reality of one of our educators turning up positive for Covid. First of all, she is okay. I just wanted to be sure I told you that! BUT, the reality is that if I had made a different choice, I could have been responsible for passing the disease along to a Kindermusik family. They could have brought it home to a loved one who then may not have been okay. The answer was clear to me that we must wait.

There are also some really specific business things that are contributing to this choice as well that I know most people don’t quite think about. Each time we hold a class out in the community, we have to pay our teacher (who deserves to be paid well), and we have to pay rent. There are many other expenses too, but those are the big ones. In order to even “break even” we have to have a larger number of families per class than we are comfortable with in these conditions. In Kindermusik it isn’t just the kids, it’s the parents with the kids. So even in a small, barely break even class with 5 kids, we have at least 10 people plus the teacher in the room. Then there’s the conversation of how to keep everyone separate and protected. There are babies who are just starting to walk, toddlers who don’t know how to slow down, and young children who are putting things in their mouths (which is developmentally GREAT). It’s all so much and all opposite of how to keep Covid from spreading. We have considered doing some outdoor classes, but currently we are in the deep heat of Florida Summer, mixed with random rain and thunderstorms at every turn. How do we plan and schedule anything right now for outside without a strong possibility of needing to scramble to cancel? We can’t.

Okay, so the biggest thing that is on my mind outside of the fact that we miss seeing you in person, is my staff. What can I say about them? They are amazing! My hubby Will, Angelyn, Kristen, Marisol, Lisa, Jasmin, Aidan Amato and even our daughter Anna who does some of our social media. We care about them so much. This may sound really dramatic, but each day I wake up just praying I can keep them all in work with our online classes so we can easily bounce back from this when we can get back to “normal”. So far, Will and I have found a way to keep them all going and remain a strong unit. It has come at a cost because our enrollments have been lower than normal which means lower pay. Even with that reality, they have stayed loyal, strong, committed, and dedicated to keeping our little Grow and Sing ship afloat. Huge thank you to all of them. I honestly couldn’t be more blessed to have such an amazing group of people to work with.

So where are we now? Today is the day before we begin our school year program. It’s a day when I would already normally be nervous, but today I’m REALLY nervous hoping that many of you will consider taking a leap of faith with us and sign up for one of our online programs. I can say that our online experience isn’t less quality, it’s just different than what many families are used to. Is it exactly what you want? Perhaps yes, perhaps no, but it’s still Grow and Sing! You may not realize it, but each registration means the WORLD right now. Each time one comes in, I let out an exhale because it means that maybe my small business won’t become a statistic in the many businesses that have already had to shut down.

I’ve noticed in our communications with families that there are about four different responses we’ve been getting.

1. There’s the family that has been having the time of their lives in our Virtual Classes. They’ve been asking if we would continue virtual even after the pandemic ends and we return to the classroom.
2. There’s the family that believes in what we are doing, and knows even though virtual may not be the optimal option for their child, they are committed to our program and their child’s learning. They know that keeping connected with us online for now is still an amazing way to learn. They look forward to our return in person, but are thrilled to connect with our educators virtually right now. This is the family that believes in what we do and wants to keep the amazingness going!
3. There’s the family that is on the fence. They want to sign up but don’t know if their child will really be into it, or really learn much.
4. The family that just wants to wait until things are back to normal. This could be for many reasons including financial. If you fall into this category, there isn’t any judgement from me. I completely understand.

So, I just want to make sure you know a few things. The first is that our enrollment is never a contract. If you sign up for one month and realize it’s just not working for you, you’ve paid either $68 (for Virtual+) or $80 (for Bilingual Birdies+), received home resources, downloadable music and tried. On the other side, you may sign up and realize it’s what will become the best thing for routine and ritual in your home. Our programming is unlimited. I like to think of it like when you go on a cruise, you get your schedule under your door each day, and can attend whatever you want. We’ve never done that before and people LOVE it! Our programming also includes all children in the family. So again, using that cruise analogy, it means if you have a baby, toddler and preschooler, everyone can go to their own activity! So while yes, it’s very different, there are some definite perks to being online. Paying $68 to give our program a try doesn’t seem like a big risk, but on our side, it’s a HUGE message to us because you are helping keep this Grow and Sing ship sailing.

If you haven’t been keeping up with what we’ve got going on, be sure to view our menu above. As you can see we have two tracks for families which include all the children in your home. We have online private lessons. We also now have some classes for the adults (Yoga and Tap Dance) because self care is crucial. Finally, we have online Birthday Parties!

Being a small local business owner has never been easy but now it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I am not giving up, in fact, I’m more committed than ever to connect families through music. It’s just in a different way for a while. Consider us. Thank you.

Wishing you health, safety, and beautiful musical moments together,

Holly Lesnick, Director/Owner

Kindermusik Virtual+ online program | Online Bilingual Birdies | Online Birthday Parties | Online Voice Lessons | Online Piano Lessons | Online adult beginner tap classes | Online All Levels Yoga Flow

P.S. Please share this blog post with your friends far and wide.
ONE MORE THING: if you don’t have children, but want to help, you can enroll in a class, and we can gift it to a family in need. Just contact us and we’ll get that set up. xo