"In my decades of work in early childhood education I’ve never met or heard another artist with such an innate understanding of child development in both recorded works and live performances. No other artist has a catalog of original works that spans toddlers to tweens and can shift her engagement style to match that full spectrum of child development. Charity combines musical structure, integrated movement, mindfulness and FUN!!! Charity gets our kids engaged, thinking, singing, dancing and sweating…and by the end, they are all calm, centered and confident in themselves." ~ Andy Reed, Head Teacher, Phoebe Hearst Pre-School, SF
“Charity Kahn is a first-rate musician-composer and highly experienced presenter. She has an empathic appreciation of children’s sensibilities and meets them at their level – creatively, energetically and physically! She promises educational FUN for all ages!” ~ Catherine Starr, Children's Librarian, SFPL, Noe Valley Branch
"Charity is a ray of sunshine in my week! The children absolutely love music time with Charity and enjoy singing and dancing along to all of her songs. She is more than a children’s performer; she is a beautiful artist who has created some of the warmest-hearted songs out there, bringing messages of friendship, love, mindfulness and joy! She has created seven all-original albums filled with amazing songs for the whole family to enjoy. Our school has been blessed to have Charity come three times a month to share her music and message of peace, compassion and lovingkindness. Our community has benefited more than we ever could have imagined, all because of Charity." ~ Jennifer Guinasso, Former Pre-School Director, KidsKollege Pre-School, SF
Bring Charity to Your School, Library or Book Store
Join award-winning family musician and teaching artist Charity Kahn for a highly interactive, joyful and playful music session that will inspire your kids to sing, dance, stretch, breathe and imagine.
Charity integrates music, movement and mindfulness into a child-centered experience that teaches melody, rhythm and rhyme with an emphasis on social emotional learning and themes like kindness, Earth care, inclusion and respect.
Other side benefits: early literacy, sensory motor integration, healthy brain development, self-compassion, laughter and fun!
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Charity is available in the following capacities:
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Schools:
weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual visits
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Libraries, Book Stores, Other Venues:
one-off performances, or class series
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"Charity loves and respects children, and her expertise in sharing playful musical experiences with them is a joy to see. She is a favorite musical performer with the families of our community!
~ Sharon McClintock, Librarian+Manager, Youth Services, Mountain View Public Library
"Our preschool program has been working with Charity Kahn for 5 years now and her well-rounded musical collection has become a cornerstone of our curriculum and social-emotional approach. Not only does Charity’s music include fun and interesting themes that our students can and do readily relate to, like making s’mores or building a treehouse, but she also includes so many messages about empathy, kindness, and respect. When we have music class with Charity, our children especially gravitate toward songs that encourage them to ground themselves and find calmness, using the techniques of mindfulness that Charity incorporates into her music. It’s been incredible to watch three, four, and five year old children, full of energy and big emotions, be able to center themselves so peacefully during our closing meditations with Charity. She is a wonder and her music is absolutely one of a kind! I’ve watched parents beam with pride, seeing their little ones singing Charity’s songs about being grateful, having loving kindness, and treating others with compassion. I think there are plenty of music artists out there that aim to make music that children find amusing- but not enough that really can say they give children valuable lessons about being good citizens of this world. Charity really effortlessly does both with her music! Our children have definitely benefited greatly from their experiences with Charity and I think the value of her work and its ability to really reach and help children is priceless."
- Sarah Miller, Site Supervisor, KidsKollege Preschool, San Francisco
More Testimonials
“Charity Kahn is an engaging and mindful children’s music performer. We’ve had her a couple times at the Campbell Library and the kids and their adults just adore her. She understands kids and really connects with them through her music. Lots of fun, lots of movement, and lots of happy families!”
~ Lauren Wubbels, Children’s Services Librarian, Santa Clara County Library District
Charity has deeply influenced the culture of our school. Her original songs and mindfulness practices focus on love (including self-love), kindness, respect, inclusion, sharing, gratitude, peace, compassion, and community. Before Covid, Charity taught weekly JAM classes in person and we are fortunate to have her continue with us weekly online! We are so grateful for Charity’s endless love and hard work and highly recommend her JAM classes for all! They are life changing. When we aren’t with her live, we are listening to her regularly throughout the day. We start each class with her “Good Morning Song” and “I Love Myself” mantra. It is common to hear the children sing her songs to each other in the play yard. Children love to sing her song “We Love Everyone” to remind each other to share and include everyone at school. Children use “Pebble Meditation Song” to help themselves breathe and self-regulate. She truly is a role-model for our students (and staff) and we love her so much. We have even had a student dress up as her for Halloween! Everything she teaches is ingrained in our curriculum and daily lives. Every year for Graduation, the students perform her original songs in full costume with dance moves for our entire school community. She has brought so much to our school community and continues to be a symbol of hope for us when times are hard. Her music captivates, enchants, and transports us to imaginary lands! Every song is unique and teaches a valuable lesson. Her live and online classes are engaging and fun for the whole family! Her classes teach and celebrate loving kindness, community and belonging. Together we dance, imagine, play, breathe, and ground ourselves. From silly, fun-loving jams to deep, meaningful songs- Charity’s music is always certain to bring joy and meaning!
~ Kelsi Prickril, Director, KidsKollege PreSchool, San Francisco, CA
“Charity is an amazing music educator! Her classes offer a whole-child approach that is designed not only to only meet a child at their individual level, but help them grow in all developmental aspects. From gross and fine motor movement, to dramatic play, to mindfulness, Charity includes it all in a fun and interactive music class that gets kids up and moving, but also helps them build self-confidence and a heart-warming sense of belonging and community. Her music and lyrics are truly inspirational! Over the years, we've made artwork based on her lyrics, and our students often references her songs when reminding each other to act out of love and kindness. Our favorite part of having Charity at our school: she has gone out of her way to form a bond with our students, always reminding them of how loved and special they are. She can't leave our center without a giant group hug from all the students. The social-emotional value of having Charity as our music teacher has impacted our students and teachers so positively and meaningfully. We love Charity and you will too!”
~ Preschool Teacher, San Francisco CA
"Charity’s dedication to teaching and her obvious love of music makes her an ideal candidate for music teacher. She has many wonderful qualities, and is creative, energetic and fun. She weaves music, movement, instruments and stories together around a common theme. Our teachers, families, and children all love music class with Charity!”
- Basima Dabit, Former Site Supervisor. KidsKollege PreSchool, San Francisco CA
Why I do this work
We are living in increasingly violent and chaotic times. Our kids need us to show up for them, now more than ever.
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Children need to feel safe, supported and understood in order to develop. They need to be seen, heard, honored for who they are, and loved unconditionally.
They also need to be shown the importance (the necessity!) of kindness, presence, understanding, co-operation and compassion in our world. They need to hear a story that challenges the one they receive from the media and our culture at large. And we, their caregivers, need this too.
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In these times, the work of being in community with children, learning together about ways to be kind, is of utmost importance.
I bring my music and messages to children, families and communities as an antidote to the sense of fear, oppression and separation that permeates our society. We work together, in collaboration, to grow into kinder, more compassionate, more aware, more welcoming human beings.
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Our job is to generate love, and put it out into the world. So let's get to work!
More Testimonials
More Testimonials
From Laura Ossa, Director/Teacher Sunset Coop Nursery School 1985 to 2017:
"My name is Laura Ossa. I am the recently retired director of Sunset Nursery School. I worked as a teacher and director of Sunset Coop Nursery School for 32 years.
I have known Charity for about 15 years. Both of her sons attended Sunset and Charity did the 3-hours in the classroom workday every week for the 6 years that her sons were attending the school one after the other. Charity also attended the once a month parent education classes and she was very involved in fundraising and in many other areas to help support the school. So I got to know Charity very well.
While Charity was a parent at Sunset she showed herself to be a devoted and hardworking parent. She is an amazing musician and has great rapport with children. Charity ran music circles many times while her children were attending Sunset and came to volunteer many times even after her children had graduated. The children at Sunset loved Charity’s music time and they were always excited when Charity came in to volunteer at music time.
Charity’s Skills:
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She is a great, and very accomplished musician
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She has great energy.
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She sings, she dances and she plays flute and piano and other instruments.
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She writes her own music and lyrics and has recorded many excellent compact discs of her own compositions of music, songs and games for children.
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She can be wonderfully energetic and fun and have the children moving around, singing, dancing, (I love her scarf dance) playing musical games (such as her song about building a tree house) and having a marvelous time.
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Charity can also bring children back from a high-energy musical experience to beautifully toned down quiet meditation songs.
Charity has the ability to have children energetically engaged and also she has the skills to calm the children down and bring them to a quiet meditative space and the children respond very well to Charity’s balanced and respectful directions.
I highly recommend Charity as a brilliant music teacher and as a person of great integrity."
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From Dianne C Alvarado, Administrator, Teacher and Family Support Coordinator at SOMACC, INC:
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"To all who seek a unique moving teacher of music and dance:
Charity Kahn is a leader in Healthy Music and Movement Interactions with Children through her classes and performances teaching children how to stay moving through positivity. I have known Charity Kahn for five years in my capacity as an Administrator, Teacher and Family Support Coordinator at SOMACC, INC. Charity Kahn led our Family Support Parent Action Grant Super Saturdays with Dance and Movement with children through her unique music and teaching style. Her events are always well attended and great memories evolve for families Charity Kahn’s interactions and understanding of her audience and compassion to their ages and abilities is profound. Her work is profound as the children believe they are being entertained.
Charity Kahn has many strengths in family strengthening and friendliness., Charity, as a mother, has the natural intrinsic ability to push children to their capabilities and yet, makes them love and call out for her. Charity Kahn is an avid observer and modifies to make participation for all, very flexible. Charity walks up to the crowd with her headset on and manages behaviors of the entire audience with her concrete supports of calling the children to join her and they respond.
In conclusion, I would highly recommend Charity Kahn. If her ability to walk into the space and take control of the audience while they do not even realize her mastery, Charity Kahn will be an extremely positive entertainer and teacher for any event It is her task to teach a fun activity with her music or to push all participants beyond their wildest dreams with their children. If you find this too good to believe, contact me by telephone or by email at Email anytime."
From Susan Marr, Assistant Director, Phoebe Hearst Preschool
"Charity Kahn has performed at our preschool for more than 10 years – we can’t always book her unless we remember to contact her early in the year! She comes prepared and full of enthusiasm and her program includes yoga and meditation exercises, energetic singing and movement, as well as quiet and magical songs. She engages instantly with the children and her love of music is infectious. We enjoy each of her visits and many of our children and their families go to see her free performances around San Francisco.
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I am happy to recommend her to anyone – she is a true San Francisco treasure."
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To inquire about booking Charity for a school or library visit, please submit the form below and we'll get back to you asap!
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NOTE: I'll be unable to respond between May 30 and June 14. Thanks for your understanding!
