Touched by a Song
Length: one keynote and one workshop
Songs touch us in many ways and using music as a tool for learning is indispensable for early childhood educators.

This dynamic keynote emphasizes seven of the major intelligences including music, linguistic, visual/spatial, kinesthetic, and intrapersonal.

Revisit how songs affect our emotions and create lifelong positive memories. Besides learning numbers, letters, beginning sounds, shapes, colors, patterns, opposites and rhyming, activities will develop a variety of important early childhood social, educational and musical skills.

Share in the learning of action songs, quiet songs, finger plays, lullabies and singing games from many cultures.

This is an exciting, interactive workshop where the participants use their hands, feet and voices. You will go back to the classroom with songs, chants, fingerplays, singing games and a renewed interest in music and the tools and techniques to give you confidence in teaching it.

Open a young child’s mind to the possibility of connecting to others by being "Touched by a Song."

"Hi Miss Jackie!! I'd like to take this opportunity to let you know how much I love your new CD!!! We are doing a kindergarten sing this year and we all love "What's a Friend For". I've had several kindergarten parents tell me how proud the children were to come home spelling friend. It is a wonderful song and those of us at Arcadia Valley Elementary Kindergarten (students AND teachers) thank you. "

You Can Make a Difference Keynote Presentation
Length: one keynote and one workshop
An inspiring and entertaining keynote presentation. With an engaging speaking style, Jackie will motivate you through a combination of child development information and philosophy mixed with a liberal dose of fun. You will return to your classroom with a new appreciation of yourself and the children that you work with. This is a fun, energizing session for all educators.

"Thank you very much for coming and performing in Singapore. It was great of you to conduct the workshops.

It has been an extraordinary experience learning such great techniques and differing activities to teach our children."

New! Smart Babies: Games for Learning and Playing With an Emphasis on Literacy
A baby's brain develops at a phenomenal rate during the first few years of life creating the capacity for learning at a very early age. Jackie will teach you how to support this early years learning with a range of activities, songs and games based on the latest brain research.

You will learn how to create an environment of stimulating activities to do with your infants and toddlers to increase the probability of early reading.

• Using music and movement to accelerate cognitive learning and create early literacy development.
• Ideas for motivating your baby’s intelligence and creativity.

This is an exciting, interactive workshop where the participants use their hands, feet and voices. You will go back to the classroom with songs, chants, fingerplays, singing games and and the tools and techniques to give you confidence in teaching them.

"I played ten of the games with my 6 month old daughter and I’m sure she is much smarter. Thank you for this wonderful workshop."

Cindy Halin, Las Vegas,Nevada

Peas Porridge Cold, Peas Porridge Hot ~ Nursery Rhymes Can Teach a Lot!
Nursery rhymes play an important role in children’s lives.  For many children, nursery rhymes are the very first songs and stories that they learn. 
 
Nursery rhymes stimulate memory, improve language skills, develop appreciation for music, enrich vocabulary, develop phonemic awareness, encourage thinking skills…..and …..they are fun!

The rhyming words and singsong quality of nursery rhymes teach children important pre-reading skills.
 
This workshop will help teachers and parents learn how to teach children the connection between nursery rhymes and learning to read, and participants will leave the workshop with lots of ideas for wonderful activities to experience the joy of song and rhyme.
 
Did you know that you can incorporate other content areas into a simple nursery rhyme? Math, science, personal skills and much more.
 
Interesting information about  Mother Goose and the origin of many of the rhymes will be included plus a bibliography and handouts.
 
Bestselling author and literary consultant Mem Fox states in her book Reading Magic that "rhymers will be readers". Based on research by experts in literacy and child development, she claims that children who know eight nursery rhymes by heart by the time they are four years old will be among the best readers by the time they are eight years old.

"I wish you were my teacher every day!"

Jeanette Gurdy, Aimes, Iowa

Learning Power of Laughter
This workshop based on a book by the same name, will show you how to bring joy into your classroom while integrating humor and laughter into the learning process. Activities that use the power of laughter to encourage your children to be creative, learn sequencing skills, develop phonemic awareness, use their imaginations, develop listening skills, and work with rhymes and language.

Spark a child’s imagination, creativity and love for learning with these important developmental tools.

"Hi Miss Jackie,
I met you last Sat. at The San Francisco Library. I just wanted to personally thank you again for inspiring me! After listening to you speak, and looking at your website, I am excited about contributing to early childhood education through music. I am particularly interested in creating a program for children on the Autism spectrum and
incorporating sensory Integration techniques to help teach motor skills. You are my hero!!! I Hope you had a safe journey home."

Nurturing Literacy Skills in Young Children
A workshop full songs, poems, chants, fingerplays and games that develop phonemic awareness, alliteration, alphabet fun, phonics, vocabulary development and fluency.

All activities are research based and help children fall in love with reading. Emphasis on infants to three years.

"Jackie, your presentation at our Headstart Conference was fantastic. I'm so excited about helping my little ones develop better language and pre-reading skills. Thank you, thank you, Thank you!"

Laughing and Singing Make Way for Good Reading
Long before children encounter formal reading instruction, they should have many opportunities to play with and fall in love with rhythm, rhyme, repetition and sequence. Songs, poems, rhymes, chants, and fingerplays are the perfect vehicles for these experiences.

Emerging research has shown that rhymes and songs are more than entertaining. It says that the critical window of opportunity for helping children develop both vocabulary and sound discrimination is between birth and age six.

All it takes is to unleash the power of these experiences is to have fun with songs, poems, rhymes, and fingerplays. Emphasis on three to six years.

"It was such a pleasure to have you visit our program and provide training to our team. They are still talking about you and your songs live on as they are being sung in every classroom and home we serve. You were rated very highly by our team and they want you back again!"

Simple Games to Promote Early Brain Development for Infants,Toddlers and Twos
A young child's brain grows at a phenomenal rate in the early years of life opening a window of opportunity for learning that occurs only once in a lifetime.

This workshop teaches a fun-filled variety of ways to lay the groundwork for your child’s future. It is packed with everyday opportunities to contribute to brain development during the critical period from birth through age two. Each game is accompanied by information on related brain research and a description of how the activity promotes brain power in your child. These simple games strengthen brain connections needed for language, movement, bonding, and more.

These presentations have been given worldwide and most recently in Australia and Germany and Singapore.

"Wonderful presenter with lots of practical and sensible suggestions."

Infant/Toddler Brain Development
You will learn ways to interact with infants and toddlers at the most productive time in their lives. You will learn how to stimulate their language, physical development, and cognitive thinking.

Activities that promote listening and language skills, coordination, problem-solving, imagination, confidence, dexterity and many other skills. All of the activities encourage bonding between adult and child and are fun to share with a child.

"First and foremost I would like to thank you for these wonderful books on early brain development of children.
Your book was a real great support in my journey with my child Dhaani who is 15 months old.
Since her birth I play all the games mentioned in the series and the results are wondrous. At the age of 10 months she could show her pointer, jack(thumb), head. She could speak hi..bye..apple..and at age of 12 months she could imitate the voice of sheep, cow, crow, cuckoo, duck, cock,and many more."

Games that Develop Skills in Young Children
A jam-packed session full of games, songs and learning-fun ideas perfectly suited for three to six year olds. All of Jackie's workshops are interactive and full of fun and laughter.

"Excellent content material - well presented. Loved her songs -- learned new games. It was fun to learn something new from a workshop & I've been in the business a long time. I liked the information about brain stimulation."

Concerts with Miss Jackie
Family Concerts - Miss Jackie understands the importance of family and uses songs to bring parents and their children closer together.

Chickenpox Doll Concert - A family concert including your favorite doll or stuffed animal with interactive songs. The dolls have as much fun as the children do!

"Jackie, I love your songs. I always teach my children the "Iowa" song you wrote for a conference I attended in Davenport. It has become a tradition to sing it every time we cross the Mississippi on outings going from Iowa to Illinois."