​What is Integral Steps?

A music-focused, non-profit organization offering unique integrative learning experiences through weekly classes, workshops and events within your community and at a distance.

Why Integrative Learning?

Our philosophy is based on our research: Education should simultaneously challenge your intelligence, involve and guide your emotions, and include the use of your body. Why?

• Because emotions boost your memory and enhance learning.
• Movement helps the brain grow and interconnect.
• The more your brain learns, the more it wants to learn!

Comprehensive learning experiences awaken your developmental potential!

Where can you connect with Integral Steps?

“You are in a community at a distance”
Online programs are accessible to all and are run in real-time. Our head office is in Colorado, where we foster business partnerships and have relationships with local and regional foundations. We have students, donors, and partners throughout the United States and the world.
Some of our in-person events and programs have been in Louisville, Lafayette, Superior, Longmont, Broomfield, Aurora, and Lyons, Colorado as well as Portland, OR, the Bay Area, Twin Cities and Boston.

How can you take part?

Our programs combine music, movement, language, science, emotional regulation, social, and cognitive development. This is what makes learning integrated.
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• Weekly classes for children ages 0-18.
• Enroll in the Instrumental Academy, combining private lessons and group learning. 
• Multigenerational family events, workshops and concerts.
• Professional development for adults through workshops and events.
• Providing tailored curriculum for schools and other educational groups.

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Our History

Alejandra O. Hudon & Emma Shubin • Founders and directors of Integral Steps • Photograph provided by www.rebekahwest.com

In 2012, Integral Steps founders Alejandra Hudon and Emma Shubin met in Boulder’s Dushanbe teahouse. Both shared their experience and expertise of working with children and families. As a musician and Dalcroze Educator, Emma observed that her students had preferences for kinesthetic learning, cognitive discovery, and artistic expression, and wanted to gain more tools to support student development in all three of these areas. As a mental health practitioner, Alejandra worked in family therapy and infant massage, and wanted to develop everyday tools for her clients that included experiential, interactive, and more embodied learning.

Alejandra and Emma wanted to reach out to local communities by working with families. They embarked on a workshop series with Aurora Mental Health (Aurora, CO), designing workshops that combined Dalcroze classes for children with parents in attendance, collaborative art projects, and talk-back sessions for parents. This offered families a new way of interacting and growing from what they had observed.

Integral Steps was born, becoming a place of growth for individuals, families, and communities...

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Hear directly from parents and students about how we've impacted their lives!

Miss Emma makes me feel like I can do anything."

My son is generally extremely shy and anxious. When he first began attending Integral Steps classes, he wouldn’t leave my side or participate without me. He has gone from not speaking at all to generating and volunteering new ideas. He loves to practice and re-create activities from class at home!"

Integral Steps gave my daughter new confidence in her own ability to learn new things through repetition and focus."

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Integral Steps is a place for everyone

At Integral Steps, we value all individuals and families. We include everyone, no matter their national origin, immigration status, gender, gender identity, sexuality, race, religious belief, handicap or disability, veteran status, or socioeconomic status. We have a zero tolerance policy for hate speech and discrimination.

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Additional Resources

If you would like to know more about our methods and the science behind Integral Steps, we encourage you to explore these links and resources. 
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• Music and Movement - Instrumental in Language Development By Maryann Harman, M.A
• Start Smart - Building Brain Power in the Early Years. Revised Edition. By Pam Schiller
• Smart Moves - Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head. 2nd Edition. By Carla Hannaford, Ph.D.
• Education and Ecstasy, by George Leonard.
• “Beyond Twinkle Twinkle: Using Music with Infants and Toddlers” by Rebecca Parlakian. National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2010. https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/1514-beyond-twinkle-twinkle-using-music-with-infants-and-toddlers
• “Cardiac coherence, self-regulation, autonomic stability, and psychosocial well-being” by Rollin McCraty, Institute of HeartMath, Boulder Creek, CA, USA and Maria A. Zayas, Department of Psychology, Brenau University, Gainesville, GA, USA