Joy Jammers
Join us for Kari’s Joy Jammers by Heart of the Child Music Education from 10:30-11:30am on Friday mornings at The Floyd Country Store.
This class is a joyful, interactive group musical experience for children and their caregivers. These FUN and developmentally appropriate classes are produced by Kari Kovick and Heart of the Child Music Education and foster a love of music while building foundational musical skills, safe connection, secure attachment, and healthy community.
Seasonal songs celebrate the abundance of nature we share in Floyd County with fun songs, lots of movement, scarves, balls, and rhythm instruments. Grandparents and other extended family members are always welcome to watch or play along, too. Sharing music fun as a family is the best way to build your child’s love of music.
Joy Jammers is aimed toward children up to 6 years of age.
About the Program
Since the year 2000 when Kari Kovick founded her Heart of the Child Music Education program, she has been offering joyful, interactive group musical experiences to children and their caregivers in Floyd, VA. Kari’s welcoming attitude builds on the Floyd Country Store’s tradition of creating community through music, as adults and children gather on a rug in front of the stage for fingerplays and lap bouncing games. Children play with rhythm instruments, jump, crawl, and swing, wave scarves to choreographed dances, and freeform jam with a menagerie of instruments. It feels so good to be in class, children don’t even notice they are building the foundational skills for making music for the rest of their lives.
Heart of the Child Music students consistently pursue music creation as they get older, fed by the love of music that Kari nurtures in them in their early years. They go on to participate in programs such as the Floyd Jams Program and Youth Stringband Program; they pursue private lessons, and they form their own bands, such as The Wildmans, Attak, and Subject to Demolition.
HCME has been literally raising Floyd County children with its Social and Emotional Learning-based music program since it began. It still serves Floyd’s youngest members (birth to 6 years old) while watching its first students reach the age when they can start families of their own. One high school senior recently told Kari, “I don’t remember much about preschool, but I remember your music class!” A mother of a now full-fledged adult child told Kari, “My best memories of my daughter’s childhood are of singing with you.”
We hope you will come join us in this amazing program!
Tuition Information:
No student is turned away due to lack of funds!
Session enrollment:
We are committed to bringing you high quality programing. The cost to operate this program is $180 per student per session. In an effort to ensure our program is accessible for all families, we have built in several price options, and also offer a price reduction for siblings. Read the information below and choose the best price option for your family, and then register your child/children using the price point that is best for your family. To enroll multiple children and receive the sibling discount, please contact us directly for assistance!
Our sliding scale is as follows:
$180 – full tuition because our family happily wants to pay
$150 – partial tuition because this is what our family can pay
$120 – reduced tuition because this is what our family needs to pay. Please fill out a scholarship application HERE to enroll at this price.
To discuss payment options, including payments spaced periodically throughout the session, call or email us!
If this session enrollment model is not ideal for your family, please contact us to discuss it! We will be happy to work on an individual plan for your family to ensure your child / children can join us in Kari’s class!
Sibling discounts: free attendance for newborn siblings up until the age of 3 months, then a 20% sibling discount after 3 months of age, and for any siblings of any age in families with 2 or more kids. If you have multiple children, please contact us to ensure the program can be affordable for your family!
Reach out to Leigh at leigh@handmademusicschool.org or 540-745-2110 with any questions or concerns you have about the cost of attending or the process of registering – we want to help ensure your child/children can join us!
VISITOR PASS:
We welcome visitors from out of town to attend Joy Jammers using a single-session visitor pass! The cost of a visitor pass is $20, with a 20% sibling discount.
To pay with a credit card, please register online using the visitor’s pass option. To pay offline, and/or to make use of the sibling discount, please contact us, or drop in to class!
Interested in joining us after a session starts?
We’d love to have you! Contact us to discuss pro-rated enrollment!
Payment Options
You are welcome to pay for Handmade Music School lessons, camps, workshops, and other events using credit card, cash, or check. Credit card payments will include a 3% processing fee by the credit card companies, and is the only option available in the ’self-booking’ method of our online registration system. To pay using cash or check, or with questions about payment options, please reach out to Leigh in our office. Call her at 540-745-2110 or email her at leigh@handmademusicschool.org.
Scholarships
Our mission is to make this program accessible to all, regardless of finances. Partial and full scholarships are available depending on need. Please fill out the scholarship form HERE. Scholarships are awarded based on need and funding availability. You will be notified within 2 weeks of your application date.
If you have questions about our registration, costs, or discounts please contact info@handmademusicschool.com
Teachers & Staff
The Handmade Music School is thoughtful and careful when considering who will be teaching at our music programs. All of our teachers are patient and caring caretakers of local traditions who have been involved in our traditional music and dance community for years. Each teacher is required to go through our safety procedures before being hired. This includes:
- A background check
- The team includes staff who are certified in First Aid & CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation)
- Our staff is skilled at teaching music and dance while creating a safe and compassionate learning environment
- Our staff understands the vision, mission, and values of the Handmade Music School and the importance of interpersonal and community building skills
Kari Kovick
Fall 2026 Class Schedule
Each class session is held from 10:30 am to 11:30 am at The Floyd Country Store. Please enter through the side door, as the Store (and the front door) does not open until 11 am.
Interested in joining us after a session starts?
We’d love to have you! Contact us to discuss pro-rated enrollment!
Dates are subject to cancellation or change pending teacher availability, inclement weather, illness, etc.
- Friday September 18
- Friday September 25
- Friday October 2
- Friday October 9
- Friday October 23
- Friday October 30
- Friday November 6
- Friday November 13
- Friday November 20
- Friday December 4
- No classes on October 16 and November 27 due to teacher travel and Thanksgiving
Policies & Procedures
Closures and Inclement Weather
In general, Joy Jammers follows the Floyd County school schedule for closures due to inclement weather. We also reserve the right to cancel a class due to instructor illness or life complications.
In the event of a weather closure, we will make announcements via email, text message, and on our social media. If you would like to ensure you receive email and / or text message alerts about the schedule, please let us know!
In the event of a class cancellation, we will do our best to schedule a make-up session!
Illness General Statement
If your child is sick please keep them home from the program. We hope they feel better soon!
MEDIA & PHOTOGRAPHY
Classes take place at The Floyd Country Store, and all attendees grant Handmade Music School permission to photograph and record their child / children for promotional and educational purposes. Further, these images may be used in print and digital materials, including social media, although we will never include personal identifying information (i.e.: names) with any attendees. If you object to this possible usage, please reach out to us in writing and we will avoid including your child / children to the best of our ability.