Dance Like Crazy

It's great when you have some children and adults who have been there for 4 or 5 weeks in a row. The only down side was that we didn't have anyone new among the 13 children and 4 adults. To prepare for our upcoming Animal Week celebrations, we started off with "Old McDonald". We also sang "2 Little Blackbirds", "Apples and Bananas", and "What are You Wearing?" Everyone enjoyed the dual sounds of the Ocean Drum, and laughed and danced like crazy under the parachute. Ocean Drum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_drum

Warm Welcome

It was a great first day at the Gooch Family Drop-In Centre! It was fun getting to know all of the staff there, some parents, and the kids too. There were 19 kids in total, most were aged 3-5, with less than five kids under the age of 1. The littlest children were accompanied by their mothers. I tried to introduce them to some classic songs today like "Wake Up My Hands," "The Little Green Frog" and "What Are You Wearing?", and I must say they're an enthusiastic group! I was completely thrilled by the group's response to all of the music. They were all singing along and the kids were all trying their best to do the actions while they sang. Since it is such a big group, things got a little bit hectic when we stood up to to sing "Down by the Station" and travel around the circle. However, there were a few grown-ups who really helped out and got all the kids moving in the right direction. I brought in the chime bars for IOTW and the kids loved them! There were a few tears from one or two kids when they had to share but with all of the adult support in the room, I am confident that this will improve. They loved the parachute and even pretended to sleep during "Sleeping Bunnies" without my prompting. Yufeng, our Gooch contact, asked me if I could sing a special song for Mother's Day so I came up with a variation of "I love you, You love me," that suited the theme, and all of the moms seemed to really enjoy it.

Overall, it was a great start to the session and I'm looking forward to next week!

Not the Usual Energy

An interesting class today at Robertson. It felt like there was a bit of a last minute scramble to get moms out to class, but we ended up having a pretty good turn out - most of the moms were returning participants. Kristin stated the rules of class (sit on mat, no cell phones, participate with children) before we started. Most of the children were older and they were able to sing and do actions on their own. Because there have been so many older kids participating consistently at Robertson, I'm thinking of doing some more advanced material. I brought the cowbell and agogo this week for instrument of the week which everyone very much enjoyed. The jam got everyone moving and singing more and as always, the children loved the parachute. This evening's class felt a bit off with the energy compared to usual, hopefully next week we can get it back.

Doors, Stores and Firetrucks

The return of some who hadn't been present since early in the session, along with 2 new adults and one new child made for a fun time today. Altogether, there were 12 children and 5 adults who helped me "Shut the Door", go to the "Corner Grocery Store", and "Drive That Firetruck". We also sang about the weather, giving equal time to "Mr. Sun", and "All of the Raindrops". The big sound of the Djembe captivated all. And the familiarity with the programme had the children doing an excellent job of sharing the instruments during the jam session. Djembefola Drissa Kone playing the sumalen in Bamako, Mali (2006): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH_fdU68UwY

En Français SVP?

It was an interesting class this evening at Robertson House. There was a smaller turnout than usual at the beginning - one returning mom with her two toddlers, and two new moms with theirs. One of the new moms came with her son who is almost three. They are newer to Canada from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and speak French with little English. I pulled out the little French I remembered from high school and asked them some questions and gave some directions. I kept the songs simple today and was reminded of music's universality as the boy was able to follow along with the actions and sing the repeated words in songs like "Roly Poly" and "Baby Shark". We had some more participants arrive to class at the end of the movement portion, just in time to roll the ball which everyone was able to share successfully today. The parachute was a lot of fun as it's always nice to see the children dance and giggle together underneath. We'll see what next week brings - maybe I'll have to start working on some more French vocab!

Ending on a High Note!

I have to say I was a little emotional about this being our last class. Many of these women and their children have been taking the class religiously for up to 1 year so I will definitely miss their smiling faces and abundant energy. I knew I had to cut the class a little bit short so we could do the certificates, cupcakes etc. so I did "the best of ..." songs that were very popular throughout the session for both the children and moms alike. After the sing-a-long, we emptied the instrument bag for a final round of "Three Little Birds" and "Twist and Shout". All in all a great ending to a wonderful session.

Good Things Come in Small Numbers

Small group today after last week's mob. There were 6 children and 2 adults present, all of whom had been there before. But the smaller numbers didn't dampen the enthusiasm as we sang and clapped to "Alice the Camel", "All de Nations", "Johnny Works with one Hammer" and "Sleeping Bunnies". Claves made lots of nice clicks as the IOTW. And the parachute proved to be a big hit as always. Claves: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claves

Earth Week

A wonderful celebration of Earth Week started with the Rainstick. The children enjoyed the sound of the IOTW as we sang "Thunder Pounding", and were quite good at replicating it. We celebrated the planet by singing and dancing to "Oats and Beans and Barley Grow", "Down, Down", and "This is My Trunk". Then we went walking, just walking along, singing our walking song. We had a large group of 17 children, along with 7 adults. 11 of those children, and 3 of the adults were attending their second or third session. Rainstick: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainstick

Warm and Sunny @ Beatrice House

It was yet another energy filled class at the Beatrice House. It was a bit overcast outside but very bright and sunny inside the RSF music class. Many children came late today so we started off small but grew steadily. We began by taking a journey using many transportation songs: Wheels on the Bus; Zoom, Zoom, Zoom; Little Red Wagon; Row Your Boat;, I've Been Working on the Railroad and then went on to sail to Jamaica with Baby Shark and Jamaica Farewell. We also made a stop in Mexico where we revisited the Spanish version of "Twinkle Twinkle". The Spanish speakers were delighted to sing that one again this week. We ended the class with a big jam of "Three Little Birds", "ABC" and "In the Jungle".

Bright Sunshiney Day

Because this week is Earth Week for Rainbow Songs classes, I decided to do an earth themed class at Robertson House this evening. Everyone participated and sang their hearts out today! We began class with "Thunder Pounding" - perfect for the rainy day we had. Then we moved on to sing about the sun, trees, the seasons, and went on an eco-friendly journey together. It was really a fun class and the moms responded so positively to the material we covered. My favourite part of this evening was the jam. I loved hearing the moms sing aloud to "I Can See Clearly Now". They were so loud that I didn't have to worry about being heard over them because they knew what they were doing! It definitely felt like we were singing under a blue sky in the room. I hope this evening brought some sunshine for all in the class as it did for me :)