Fun and Frivolity

Despite being away last week, we still a good group out this week. There were 14 children and 5 adults. 9 of the children and 3 adults were new to the fun and frivolity. Everyone in the group was fascinated by the Kalimba, the Instrument of the Week. Even some of the parents tried it. We had lots of fun singing "Mama Don't Allow" (with appropriate admonishment that not listening only applies to the song), "Trees Need the Sun", "Alice the Camel", as well as really shaking it baby during the jam session. Kalimba: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumb_piano

A Quiet Day

It was a quiet day at Jessie's Centre today however we did have a small group of focused participants, along with two amazing staff members. There was one special boy were stole the show. He was extremely interested in the guitar and so I placed the strap around his neck resting the instrument in his lap. Well didn't he start strumming and singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?! Everyone in the room stopped talking and looked over. He had a HUGE smile on his face and his mom grabbed her phone to start taking a video. I started singing along with him and I chose to simply roll with it and begin the class this way. His mom sat down and we sang a couple more songs a capella (ABCD, Mr. Sun). Then he suddenly shifted in his seat and took the guitar off his lap and handed it to me saying, "Your turn!" It was so cute, we all could have just melted into the floor. His mom seemed in no hurry to leave and so I kept things going with the Wheels On The Bus, Little Red Wagon, If You're Happy And You Know It, I Wake Up My Hands, Hands Together Hands Apart, Sitting In My Highchair, Bath Time, Old MacDonald, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Baby Shark and Zoom Zoom Zoom.

Although my guitar-loving friend had to leave before the jam, he seemed to really enjoy the experience. I also thanked his mom for giving it a chance and staying and she smiled at me and gave me a hug, which was very touching. With only one babe and three staff members we sang through a couple of jam songs before the littlest participant fell asleep and they whisked him away to the nursery.

I am looking forward to seeing my friends again at Jessie's Centre on April 30th, as Rebecca returns next week.

Ommm

I was surprised to have a smaller turn out for class at Robertson House today, but it was a nice change of pace for the class. I brought in the tingshaw bells for IOTW this week and wasn't sure how the class would respond. Luckily, the smaller class served this style of instrument better. It's interesting - in my daily RS classes, this instrument calms everyone down and brings us to a zen like state together and it did so tonight as well. I guess the Buddhists got it right with this instrument! I'm glad this IOTW went over so well today, I'm looking forward to bringing in some more exotic instruments - we'll see what next week brings at Robertson.

Old and New Favourites

I had a wonderful time subbing in for Rebecca at Jessie's Centre today. After meeting briefly with Barbara Poole and her team, they took me upstairs on a tour of the space. I was very impressed at how organized they were and found the room to be buzzing with excitement. After taking some time to set up, I made my way around the room casually introducing myself to the young mothers one-by-one. Sometimes I find this approach to be less threatening and although it takes more time, it can be easier to make a connection this way rather than simply inviting them all over the circle in one big group. Some moms were eating lunch while others were finishing up feeding, and so I began class with a small group that grew and grew as time went on.

We did a variety of material, both traditional children songs and some Rainbow Song favourites including Roly Poly, Mr. Sun, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Trees Need The Sun, The Wheels On The Bus, Row Row Row Your Boat, I Wake Up My Hands, Sitting In My Highchair, Bath Time, Old MacDonald, Baby Shark, Six Little Ducks, Horsey Horsey and Elephants Marching One By One.

For IOTW, I brought along some Tingshaw Bells. We passed these around the room, allowing the moms to realign their chakras and take a moment to reflect and relax during a seemingly busy day. Afterward we brought out the instruments and jammed to Three Little Birds, One Love and The Lion Sleeps Tonight. We finished class with the parachute and it was really nice to have all the babies lying down underneath looking up with their hands in the air. Some moms who initially seemed hesitant about participating were smiling and cooing at their little ones. I must note that Linda and her team were instrumental in making everyone feel comfortable, and that they were nothing short of incredible! I look forward to filling in for Rebecca again next week.

Musica, Musica, Musica!

Over the past few weeks I've noticed that many of the mothers and children are Spanish speakers. Through speaking with them after class (with my limited Spanish) I found out that many are from Mexico and have recently immigrated to Canada. So, I thought since we are teaching many songs in English it would be fun to learn a song or two in Spanish. Together they taught the class "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" in Spanish:

Estrellita, ¿dónde estás? Me pregunto qué serás. En el cielo y en el mar, Un diamante de verdad. Estrellita, ¿dónde estás? Me pregunto qué serás.

After learning the words (and doing the signs), we continued with our regular programming with the following favourites: "What Are You Wearing?", "Little Green Frog", "Sleeping Bunnies" and "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom" before ending the class with the parachute and a rocking jam session.

Balance

I felt we got a good balance of energy with control! Moms and children participated in every song and I was able to go into more depth with the material covered. Kristin was quick to give a hand when needed. The class was full of returning participants and I'm so thankful to them each week for showing up. It really means a lot to me to see the moms singing and connecting with their children - taking the time to just let go and have some musical fun! I gave out a few CDs today too - another reminder of the commitment to class that the moms at Robertson House keep. I'm looking forward to next week and keeping the balanced energy going.

Hello Birkdale!

It's great to be back at Birkdale in 2014 after a great 2013. Music was provided to over 50 adults and 100 children over the course of three sessions last year. This year got off to a good start with 11 children and 5 adults. Several children knew the song "6 Little Ducks", so when I was teaching it to the rest of the class they filled in the "Quack, quack, quack" part. Other songs included "Sticky Bubblegum", "Apples and Bananas", and "BINGO". Everyone rocked out to "Jamaica Farewell" and enjoyed the parachute.

Go With The Flow

Wow! What a packed class today! I was unsure of what the turn out would be this week at Robertson as I was setting up, but at the last minute, the room had filled and continued to fill throughout class time. We began singing the "Hello" song and I was blown away by the fact that I could hear the participants singing much louder than me! Energy again this week was at an all time high with the kids being super excited for class. As the weeks go by, I'm beginning to understand more and more that I need to just go with the flow at foundation classes. I was very happy about the turn out for class this week and hope Robertson House keeps it up!

Sign Language Day!

I decided to make this a sign language learning experience for the moms and children. We started off learning hello & goodbye and then went on to learn most of the animal signs. This brought us to many animal songs including: I Had a Rooster, Little Green Frog, Listen to the Water and Sleeping Little Bunnies. We then went on to learn the sign for "milk", "more", "please" and "thank you" and the signs for the song "The More We Sing Together". We then went over the degrees of the scale and wrapped up the class with a fun filled jam and parachute which the younger children/babies just loved! Splitting up the age groups has made a real difference.

You Walk and You STOP

Today was the first class of the Spring session at Robertson, and we were off to a VERY energetic start. The class was pretty much full of returning moms and kids today and they all seemed very excited to be back after 2 weeks off. One new mom came with her son and it was wonderful to see him light up once the music started. My favourite part of class was when we were all walking and stopping around in the circle. Everyone was giggling and waiting in anticipation until we would sing and start moving again. The energy level was quite high today, so I'll be keeping in mind some more focusing activities to bring in to classes. There's a lot more time to develop and grow with the clients this session, so I'm looking forward to all it has to bring!