Kindermusik w/ Carol Anne

Research proves that early integration of music into your child’s daily routine means improving her ability to think, reason, create, and express. We teach children – ages newborn to 7 – music to become better learners. Come to a free preview class and see.

Kids Get to Jam at The School of Rock

Editor’s Note: Good morning. Bobby Herron is here with the scoop on the Comox Valley’s very own School of Rock. Here he is:
I’ve seen the movie School of Rock a few times and have to admit it was part of the inspiration behind the musical boot camp I facilitated a few years ago as part [...]

Sound Advice Music Shop

We are the Island’s full service music center. We offer a full range of instruments, lessons and rentals and professional event staff.

Exposing Kids to Great Music is Easy in the Comox Valley

Editor’s Note: Happy Tuesday! This morning we have Bobby Herron on site giving us the low-down on where to check out all the music greatness in this Valley of ours. Here he is:
Many people around this time are inspired to organize neat little lists that express their opinion of what was good and what was [...]

Kids Rock – Music Lessons Are Not for Every Musician

Editor’s Note: Good morning. Bobby Herron is on site today talking shop about why music lessons work for some kids and not for others. Finding creative ways to help your kids learn all kinds of things is a bit of an art in and of itself. One that is different for everyone. Here he is:
Music instruction [...]

Learning Through Online Music Labs

Editor’s Note: This morning we have Bobby Herron giving us a look inside the creative world of online music labs. Here he is:
I recently began looking online for websites that help teach drumming fundamentals and techniques so that my students would have some resources to help them learn at home. I stumbled upon a tremendous [...]

Kids In The Arts – Local Olympic Experience

Editor’s Note: This morning we have Lindsay Sterk giving us the low-down on getting an Olympic experience right here in the Comox Valley. Here he is:

On November 2 the Olympic Torch is coming to Courtenay. The flame was lit in Greece on October 22 and is now making its way towards Canada, and will hit the ground running [...]

The Guitar That Inspired the Comox Valley

Yesterday afternoon we had the incredible honor of hanging with Peabody Award Winner Jowi Taylor and Canada’s guitar, Voyageur.
With a packed house at the Comox Valley Art Gallery (big thanks to Anh for donating the space), Jowi told the incredible, emotional story of how his travel companion grew out of a vision to unite Canadians [...]

Fostering a Musical Environment for Kids

Editor’s note: This morning, we here at OBE are excited to unveil the debut Kids Rock column from Comox Valley musician and music teacher Bobby Herron. He’s the creative genius behind the seriously successful School of Rock program through Courtenay Rec and has been living music just about as long as he’s been alive. He’ll [...]

Discovering Iconic Canada In A Guitar

A nation that defines itself through music is one that can connect on so many levels. It can honor and sound off clearly about the tragedies, admire the drive and determination of individuals and communities and tell the stories of each of its citizens.
That is what Jowi Taylor set out to do when he envisioned his [...]

The Comox Valley’s Cody Rodgers

Editor’s Note: Today we have Lindsay Sterk giving us the scoop on one every talented Comox Valley youth. Reading it makes my feet start moving…
This is a story about a Comox Valley boy who made it to New York on pure passion and dedication to tap dancing.
From the day I was asked to take the [...]

Intergenerational Music Programs for Toddlers

Editor’s Note: Good Morning. Wow has this last month flown by. As we head into these last two days of the Eat Real. Eat Local 30-Day Food Challenge, enjoy a couple of great Brambles demos. Today, think dairy goodness as the folks from Island Farms are on hand at 11 a.m.
Don’t forget that, in order [...]

Foodie Crafts – Seashell Maracas

Editor’s Note: Good Morning. If you are looking for something fun to do in the local food universe today, be sure to head over to Brambles to meet the folks from Hazelmere Farms. Their unusual and tasty greens are a treat at any dinner table. The demo runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Meanwhile, as [...]

Bobs and Lolo Rock Comox

My pal Ange is ground zero for all things kids and cool. She’s proven it over and over again as I can officially say that I’ve never been steered wrong by her kid sensibility. So, it’s no surprise that – when she heard years ago that the tiny person was seriously ocean-minded, she introduced us [...]

Stories for you Ears with Odds Bodkin

There once was a little, orange record player. You know, the kind that had it’s own case that you could close up, tucking the electric cord inside and would play LPs or 45s if you hadn’t lost the little insert that made the tiny records fit on the turn table.
It followed me everywhere – on [...]

Nature Journal – Trumpeter Swans

When I was a kiddo, nature and I had an odd relationship. Growing up at the base of the mountains, the grandeur of nature’s “big-ness” struck me every time I walked outside. I wanted to explore, just to be left alone to check out the world.
On the other end of the deal, a mild [...]

Seashell Maracas

Editor’s Note: In yesterday’s post, I mentioned that the NeighbourWood Walk for next week would be out at Cumberland Community Forest. I blame it on birthday brain. We aren’t in Cumberland next week. We’re out at Ship’s Point in Fanny Bay.
Sorry about that.
Read on and it may make sense to you why my brain is [...]

Mom-P-Inc. – Carol Anne Parkinson of Kindermusik

Motherhood, it changes you.
While there’s a whole list that involves sagging and wrinkled, exhausted and emotional that can be wrapped in there, for many women becoming a Mom takes life to a whole other level.
It brings out our genuine loves, forces them into places creatively and personally that reveal talents and ingenuity unrealized until that [...]

Retro Mama’s Blast from the Past

My mother made me wear a babushka. (Not unlike the vintage dress in the above photo that I would prefer the tiny person wore every day:))
She thought it looked so crazy cute on a preschooler that I ended up with a whole wardrobe of ethnic head scarfs.
My grandmother loved it so much I acquired my [...]

Kid Internet Tunes that Rock

After the long haul to and from Victoria yesterday (whoa, the traffic down South is one very serious in-my-face reminder of why I L-O-V-E life in the Valley), I was completely shot.
Between the 6+ hour round-trip in the car, torrential rains, bumper-to-bumper traffic, toddler in the back seat and the deafening silence in the house [...]

Mozart to Soothe the Savage Baby

There once was a rather charming, easy-going tiny person running around our house.
While other people coped with whining, meltdowns and fear-striking behaviour, our daughter was going along doing her thing wondering why some of the other kiddos were so upset.
In the last two weeks, something has snapped and the terrible twos have kicked in with [...]