The final class at Beatrice House

Our final class this session at Beatrice House was a huge success! The room was filled with songs, laughter and pizza; the shelter made sure to make the “graduation ceremony” a big deal by ordering pizza for everyone. The certificates were also a big hit – I think they gave the mothers a real sense of accomplishment, and the kids loved getting the individual recognition as I read out their names. Before handing out the certificates I sang the songs which have become class favourites, like: Sleeping Bunnies, What are You Wearing, Baby Shark, Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, and Little Green Frog. It was sad to say goodbye, but I hope to be back this fall for another exciting session of music making!

I Love the Rainbow Songs CD!

It was another quiet week at Robertson House with only three families in attendance.However, the energy was palpable and we were able to sing through tons of material with enthusiasm and focus.

We started with some counting: 10 Little Fingers, Partner Counting Song, Johnny Works With One Hammer, and Two Little Blackbirds. We also sang about some other animals:Listen to the Water, The Turtle Chant, Six Little Ducks, Johnny Didn't Have Any Breakfast, Sleeping Bunnies, and The Ants Go Marching.

After Rolling the Ball and Passing the Beanbag successfully, I showed the group how to play an instrument from Brazil known as the cabasa. It makes a sound similar to when you vocalize "ch," so as we passed it around we sang songs in which we make similar sounds: Clean-O and Brush Your Teeth.

We kept the cabasa out for the jam as we reviewed, what I call, the "one love" medley:Three Little Birds, One Love and Stir It Up. We also sang other familiar tunes, Jamaica Farewell and Down In the Valley.

After class I spoke with some of the moms and staff members and heard that many of the children walk around singing The Hello Song all week long. Many children also request that the Rainbow Songs Foundation CD be played during the time spent in daycare. One little girl went so far as to say that she LOVES her Rainbow SongFoundation CD and plays it in its entirety at least once a day! How amazing is that?! I LOVE to hear stories like this from the staff and it gives me a nice feeling knowing that they will be listening and jamming all summer long.

Sleeping Bunnies

The kids have all officially fallen in love with the song Sleeping Bunnies. After doing a series of transportation songs: Wheels on the Bus, I've Been Working on the Railroad, and Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, and singing songs having to do with different body parts, like Head and Shoulders, I had the children curl up on the carpet for Sleeping Bunnies. It's a rare moment to have everyone quietly lying on the floor without moving or talking. These kids have no problem pretending to sleep because of what comes next.....a BIG wake up which includes jumping around like crazy to the lyrics "hop little bunnies hop, hop, hop." It's become a class favourite which brings big smiles to everyone's face. Another highlight on Monday was the jam session which included a beautiful two part harmony in In the Jungle and Down in the Valley. We definitely have a great group of singers in this group!

One Child + Six Grownups = A WHOLE LOT OF FUN!

A bunch of families moved out of Robertson House over the weekend. As always, I am sad to see them go, but something special happened today that made the transition easier for me. Two moms who had moved out over the weekend came for a visit and chose to stay for the ENTIRE class even though their children were in the daycare! I was so touched! I spoke with them after class and thanked them for staying. Due to the small class size their presence was greatly appreciated.

Only one child was available to attend class today and so our group consisted of two staff members, four grownups, one child and myself! It was wonderful because she has attended class for quite some time and so we had a private lesson. I blended together some of her favourites and some new tunes I thought she would like, including 10 Little Fingers, Partner Counting Song, Where Is Thumbkin?, Nothing In The World Monkey Won't Do, Listen To The Water, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Tingalayo, If All The Raindrops and Trees Need The Sun.

For the instrument of the week I brought an instrument from Brazil called an Agogo. I showed the group how to tap the bells using the mallet, and as we passed it around we sang All De' Nations Like Bananas. We then added the other instruments from the jam bag for Jamaica Farewell, One Love, Three Little Birds and Yellow Submarine. 

Because the class size was small we were able to sing through a variety of material, and it is always special to have the time to connect with just one child. I also LOVED having a room full of grownups to encourage and participate with my little friend!

Girl Power!

Tonight we were missing most of the boys but still had a good number of energetic girls in attendance. I began the class by taking them on a journey through the jungle. We talked about what animals lived in the jungle and how these animals would move. The kids loved pretending to be lions, snakes and exotic birds. We then sang a series of animal songs, including Little Green Frog, Sleeping Bunnies and Ants Go Marching. Then we pretended to sail across the ocean on our row boat, singing Row, Row, Row, Your Boat before seeing and singing the song Baby Shark. Getting back to the jungle theme we jammed out to The Lion Sleeps Tonight, as well as a few other favourites, including Three Little Birds and The Alphabet Song.

New Songs Both Challenge and Create Focus

It was a particularly energetic class at Robertson House today. According to staff, the children had been asking about me the entire weekend, so upon my arrival there were lots of hugs and high-fives. Several of the children helped me form a train to bring the jam bag from the daycare and as we made our way through the cafeteria and past the reception desk, there were a lot of smiles and cheers from the staff working at the front desk. I was proud of my little ones for being SO incredibly helpful in setting up the room and cleaning up a bit of mess that was left there from various morning activities.

Despite the somewhat chaotic energy at times, I was able to try out some new songs that captured their attention and made for an enjoyable class. We sang If All the Raindrops, Mr. Sun, Thunder Pounding, Johnny Didn't Have Any Breakfast, Nothing Inthe World the Monkey Won't Do, The Rooster Song, Old MacDonald, Tingalayo and TheLittle Green Frog.

For the instrument of the week we passed around two pairs of Tingshaw Bells from Tibet. This instrument could not have been more suited to today's group of children as we were able to take a moment and mediate, breathing deeply in through the nose and out through the mouth.

Spring time with a newcomer named Autumn!

Yesterday's class was a mix of new and old faces. Many of my families have moved out of the shelter but many new faces have emerged. During the opening Hello Song I noticed a new girl and her mother standing by the door looking hesitant about entering the room. I encouraged them in by waving my hands and smiling. I definitely wanted them to feel welcome. After a few more songs the girl, named Autumn, came in and joined everyone on the carpet. It was amazing to watch the power of music and how it can bring people together. Autumn loved playing the instruments and completely came alive during the parachute. Within 40 minutes Autumn had completely transformed from being shy in to a lively girl full of smiles and laughter. I'm hoping her Rainbow Songs Foundation class helped her feel more comfortable at the shelter and introduced her to some new friends.

Animal Week Fun!

Today we celebrated Animal Week with a smaller group than usual. To be honest, I think this was in part due to the AMAZING sunshine outside! I took the spring-like energy of the outdoors and channeled it into making music with my friends inside the doors of Robertson House.

We started with a request (The Turtle Chant) and kept to the animal theme as we sang through many songs, including: Johnny Didn't Have Any Breakfast, Old MacDonald, Listen to the Water, Six Little Ducks, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Poor Little Bug On the Wall, Tingalayo, Alice the Camel and Elephants Marching.

For the instrument of the week I surprised the group with three different sizes of Wooden Frogs from Thailand! A common type of guiro from Asia, rhythms are created by running a stick up and down the ridges cut on its back at different speeds. The mouth and belly are hollowed out so that the sound may resonate deeply and sound incredibly life-like. We took turns passing them around and sang Little Green Frog and Three Green and Speckled Frogs.

We jammed to Rockin' Robin, Going to the Zoo, and Down By the Bay. We were able to come up with some amazing animal rhymes including, "Have you ever seen a cat doing yoga on a mat!?" Unfortunately, we ran out of time for the parachute, but the class ended with lots of smiles and loud, hungry-sounding tummies. Thank goodness we still had some snacks leftover from the generous Longo's donation!

Preparation for Animal Week

It was a slightly smaller class at Robertson House this week, but we were very focused on making music and I was very impressed by the amount of participation from grownups and children alike. There were also some new faces who were amazing singers!

I decided to prepare the group for another special theme week known as Animal Week. I have been doing lots of animal songs in my regular classes during the week and was inspired by how much children LOVE animal songs. Some were more familiar than others but I took the time to ask the group and prep accordingly. The set list looked as follows: Johnny Didn't Have Any Breakfast, Listen To The Water, Old MacDonald, Three Green and Speckled Frogs, Little Green Frog, and Tingalayo.We also sang some songs from the RSF CD at request (I Wake Up My Hands, Hands Together Hands Apart and Mr. Sun.)

We Then reviewed Rolling The Ball, and because this was so successful we Passed the Bean Bag. 

We had a nice long jam, which included, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Rockin' Robin, and Going to the Zoo to further prepare for Animal Week.

The parachute was a huge hit for the new participants! We sang a song about all the amazing colors (Red, Yellow, Green and Blue) and went slowly up and down as we listened to a relaxing recording ofBlackbird by The Beatles.

Animal Songs

Monday night at Beatrice House was filled with animal songs. We started the class with one of my favourites, The Little Green Frog, and also sang Alice the Camel andSleeping Bunnies. The children just loved pretending to sleep like little bunnies and then wake up for an energetic jumping session. This is pretty much one of their favourite things to do. While I had them standing and moving around I went into a series of movement based songs such as All Around the Kitchen before sitting down for the wooden frog instrument demonstration. We ended the class with a fun filled jam session featuring Old MacDonald had a Band.