Keep It Up Robertson House!

What a fun first class at Robertson House! It was my first time ever running an RSF class and I had no idea what to expect. I arrived at Robertson House and was greeted by Kristin, the staff member who will be supporting me this session, and began setting up for class. Moms began trickling in with their children, and I began to get a good feeling. The time came to start and Kristin and I encouraged the moms to come sit on the mat with their little ones and leave their cell phones aside. Everyone listened and arranged themselves accordingly. There was some crying going on from a couple children, and things started to feel a bit hectic, but as expected, once the music began everything calmed down. The children became excited and most of the moms were singing and moving along as well. “Wheels on the Bus” got everyone singing and participation was awesome for the rest of the class. Such a great, energetic start for the session, I hope Robertson House keeps it up!

Thank You Robertson House!

What a wonderful way to end the session at Robertson House! The room was full of positive energy and although there were many new faces, a good time was had by all.

I was most encouraged by the participation of the grownups as we sang through many songs including Roly Poly, Bath Time, I Wake Up My Hands, Hands Together Hands Apart, Mr. Sun, The Wheels On The Bus, Little Red Wagon, Listen To The Water, Three Green And Speckled Frogs, Little Green Frog, The Crocodile Song, The Rooster Song, Old MacDonald, The Ants Go Marching and many others. We jammed to a medley of tunes; Three Little Birds, De-Oh, Rockin' Robin and some holiday favourites including the oh-so-popular Jingle Bells. We finished with some parachute time, making sure to find all the colours one by one as we sang in unison.

I took some time at the end of the class to hand out certificates while Jo Tamming assisted in helping some of the moms fill out evaluation forms. From what I could overhear, the majority of the comments were extremely positive. Teaching at Robertson House this fall has had its challenges but in my opinion, it has been an extremely rewarding session personally. I have grown so much as a teacher and hope to establish new connections with families in the new year!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

We had yet another very energetic class at the Beatrice House. Sadly a few of my long time mothers/children had moved out but I was delighted to see some new faces in the crowd. We started off the class with a few warm up songs: "I wake up my hands", "Head and Shoulders" + "If you're happy and you know it" before moving onto a few class favourites: "What are you wearing" and "Sleeping bunnies". Again, the children just loved pretending to sleep like bunnies before anticipating the big wake up! We also added sleeping crocodiles and T-Rex. We rocked out in the jam session with some Christmas classics: "Let it Snow", "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer" before giving out the certificates and clappers. A lovely ending to a fun filled session.

Almost Christmas at Jessies!

I had a great time filling in for Rebecca Jess today at June Callwood Center. The moms were at a parent meeting elsewhere within the building, so it was the staff bringing the kids to class today. There were five children with their respective staff caregivers. At first the class seemed kind of low key and sleepy (I think they were due for a nap), but once I brought out the instrument of the week, the Agogo from Brazil, they came alive - both kids and grownups! I played them some recorded Latin music which they seemed to really like, had them practice clapping the cowbell beat with their hands, and each took turns soloing with the Agogo. They proved to be quite musical and seemed to really enjoy seeing the Agogo, as they told me it was the first time they had seen and played one. This flowed nicely into our lively jam session and parachute time. I was also able to catch up with Barbara after class. I hadn't seen her since I last worked at Jessie's over a year ago, so it was a nice little reunion.

Sent Off with a Smile

Although it was a small group this week, there was a mix of familiar faces and some new ones. I was so happy to see that both moms seemed comfortable sitting with us on the floor, so after making some introductions we started the class with The Hello Song. 

I took the group through tons of material including Roly Poly, Where Is Thumbkin?, Open Em Shut Em, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Mr. Sun, Listen To The Water, Five Little Minnows, I Had A Rooster, Old MacDonald, The Wheels On The  Bus, Row Row Row Your Boat, The Bicycle Song and Zoom Zoom Zoom. 

We also made sure to Roll The Ball, and once successful, we also attempted to share with our neighbour as we sang Pass The Beanbag. One child was having difficulty but her mom was incredible prompt in helping her. It made a huge difference and I made sure to applaud her efforts. Leading by example is truly the best way for any child to learn a new concept!

For the instrument of the week we passed around the singing bowls from Tibet. While I was demonstrating one mom exclaimed, "This is so relaxing." I told her to feel free to lie down with her child, close her eyes and think some positive thoughts. Chanting and humming along to the soothing sound of the bowl can help center the mind and allow the body to release negative energy simply by taking deep breaths.

We jammed to Three Little Birds and Baby Beluga with the newest member of our group laughing along the way. She was adorable and VERY musical! At the end of class (after the parachute, of course) the two older children had a tough time saying goodbye so we got ready all together, making up a song about putting on our coats, boats, hats and mittens. This seemed to send them off with a smile!

Animal Week at Robertson House!

It was Animal Week at Robertson House, and with lots of new faces and personalities in the room I made sure to keep the group focused by mixing familiar and new tunes together.

We sang through tons of material including The Turtle Chant, The Flea Song, Poor Little Bug On The Wall, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Listen To The Water, The Crocodile Song, Old MacDonald Had A Farm, I Had A Rooster, Horsey Horsey, Ants Go Marching (Movement) and Elephants Have Wrinkles (Movement). 

For the instrument of the week I brought out the Wooden Frogs from Thailand. As we passed them around the circle we sang The Little Green Frog and Three Green And Speckled Frogs. As expected it was tough for some of the little ones to share with brand new neighbours on each side, so we took our time and sang only one song for the jam, Going To The Zoo. 

Even though some of the moms chose not to sit on the floor with us, the majority of them were singing along, so I think that sets a good foundation for next week's class!

Christmas is in the Air at Beatrice House

Blog Highlights: We had yet another enjoyable RSF class at the Beatrice House. Many of the children were already talking about Christmas and Santa so I took this as an opportunity to sing some Christmas Songs including a French song called "Aujourd'hui La Cloche Sonne", which the mothers really enjoyed learning. We also sang "Rudolf The Red Nose Reindeer", "Jingle Bells" and "Let it Snow" before returning to our regular repertoire including songs like "Sticky Bubblegum", "If you're Happy and You Know it", "What are you wearing" and of course the class favourite "Sleeping Bunnies"....to name a few. During the jam session we brought back some of the Christmas songs and the children enjoyed singing while banging away on the instruments. I left a good 5 minutes for the good-bye song at the end as we had 22 children in attendance!

Music Magic at Robertson!

It was small group today with two moms and two small children, one being only a couple of days old and the other being just over one year old. However the energy was extremely positive and the moms sang out which lent itself nicely to creating some great moments.

The one year old child was extremely interested in the guitar today and I gave her some time at the beginning of class to run her fingers along the strings. She had been away last week due to illness and it was as if having the week off allowed for the learning to really sink in as she was the STAR of the show today. She was dancing, clapping and vocalizing to virtually every single song. Her mom even took some videos because it was so exciting to see! It is moments like this where everyone is group can SEE the difference music makes in the life of a child. She had been grumpy all day and as soon as we all began singing her demeanor completely changed. We sang through tons of material; Roly Poly, Mr. Sun, One Button Two Button, I Wake Up My Hands, Sitting In My Highchair, The Wheels On The Bus, Row Row Row Your Boat, The Crocodile Song, The Turtle Chant, Little Green Frog, Three Green And Speckled Frogs, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, The Flea Song, Old MacDonald, The Rooster Song, Horsey Horsey and Elephants Have Wrinkles. 

We also took some time to Roll The Ball which gave the one year old a couple turns in a row (to her delight!). She was VERY interested in the jam bag so I helped her pull it into the middle of the room and we sang through a couple more animal songs together; Three Little Birds, Rockin Robin and Going To The Zoo. We finished with the parachute going up and down slowly to Blackbird, laying the little ones down on their backs so they could look up at all the colours.

It felt like an extremely special class because of the relationship I was able to solidify with the one mom in particular. She has been coming week after week and I was happy that she was able to see the MAGIC that is MUSIC! I left class with both a smile on my face and in my heart. Looking forward to next week!

Enthusiasm Can't be Numbered!

Good thing enthusiasm can't be numbered, as today we had a small group of five children and two adults, but boy were they energetic. We sang Sticky Bubblegum, Alice the Camel, Poor Little Bug on the Wall, Listen to the Water, and What are You Wearing?. They used the ocean drum, our instrument of the week, to make ocean sounds and keep the beat. As usual the parachute brought screams of delight from the children. And, as happens every week, the class ended with a group hug!

Jessie's with Jessica!

I really enjoyed having a little reunion of sorts with some of the staff at the June Callwood Center as I had not seen them for such a long time. I did not recognize any of the moms and their kids but felt right at home in the space and environment. It was a small-sized class, but all of the participants were very engaged (both caregivers and children). We had a mixed class – some babies and one older toddler who I had to keep very entertained to keep focused on the class! I demonstrated the darabouka, which they were all excited about as I don't think they had seen it before, and showed them a Middle Eastern rhythm (Beladi). They were amazing at keeping the basic Beladi rhythm going while I did a more complicated matching rhythm pattern on the drum. It seemed to be the highlight of the class.