More than Just a Daycare
Harmony Kids Learning Center is a childcare facility located adjacent to Harmony Enterprises’ main production facility in Harmony, MN. More than just a daycare for employee’s children, Harmony Kids opens its doors to welcome children from the surrounding community.
The learning center provides an environment that is nurturing, safe, and just as importantly, educational. As members of a greater learning community, this “Montessori” style center promotes the learning of life skills such as cooking, growing plants, cleaning, and sharing. It also incorporates a broader curriculum, including reading, math skills, social sciences, science, physical fitness, art, and music.
This summer, Harmony Kids created weekly learning units on a variety of topics. One of these units focused on music and musical instruments. Collaborating with the local library, every student was given a percussion or recorder instrument to use daily in their classroom activities. Teachers worked with the children on concepts like tone production, rhythm, melody, and the like. Students were able express themselves through musical performance, while learning about the basic physics behind making music on an instrument.
True Harmony
Harmony in music is achieved when more than one layer of music is performed at the same time as another. Often, the desired outcome is one in which the sound is pleasing to the senses, where the melodic line shifts in rhythm, texture, and harmonic progression with the accompaniment, achieving “perfect” Harmony.
Similarly, Harmony between business and community is created when people with talent in a certain area 
align with others in a combined effort for the greater good.
In true Harmony form, Harmony Kids Learning Center Owner, Umbelina Cremer enlisted the assistance of Harmony Enterprises’ New Business Development Manager, Lane Powell, to help with the music unit at Harmony Kids Learning Center.
Prior to his position with Harmony Enterprises, Mr. Powell enjoyed a twenty-two year career as a public school band director, serving on the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Music Educator’s Association and the Minnesota High School League. The skill set of knowing how to play and teach all of the instruments used in modern concert bands made it a natural fit.
Both Harmony Kids Learning Center and Harmony Enterprises have made a practice of engaging community experts to facilitate a positive outcome with projects. With 75 employees, Harmony Enterprises has an extensive range of employees with varying skills and interests from which to pool talent.
Hands on Education
The musical instrument presentation was divided into two separate mornings involving three age groups of students on each day. The students were given a background on the different instrument families, taught how to produce sound on the different styles of instruments, and sang along to familiar songs played on the different instruments.
The highlight of the experience was when each student was allowed to touch, explore, and even play the instruments. Many of the children were able to make sounds on the flute, reed, and brass instruments all by themselves!
Although some of the sounds were louder and a little shrill, the smiles on the faces and education gained during their unit was music to our ears! If you would like to learn more about Harmony’s role in the community, our relentless commitment to the environment, or how provide innovative global solutions in waste handling and recycling, please contact us here or call us at (507) 886-6666 today!
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