Singing Away the Monday Blues!

Considering the large number of participants, we still had a very productive class! One of the moms who has been there the longest (over a year) really helped by belting out the tunes with her daughter. I think having one mom who sings well was inspiring to the others, as participation was at an all-time high. We began the class with a series of songs about the body: One Finger Keeps Moving, Head and Shoulders, Put Your Finger in the Air, and Sticky Bubble Gum, and then moved on to transportation songs: Wheels on the Bus, Row Your Boat, Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, and Walk and Stop. The class ended with awesome versions of Day-O and The Lions Sleep Tonight.

A Great Turn Out

A wonderful turn out for class this evening at Robertson House! Many new faces, and everyone who came last week returned. All the moms were enthusiastic and sang along loudly, and a lot of the children were singing too, which I loved to hear. I taught everyone the Little Green Frog song, and the moms all laughed out loud as I squished my face then stuck my tongue out. I'm glad I provided some amusement for them! Drums were the instrument of the week. There are only a few at the location, but the kids did an exceptional job of sharing them today! At the end of class, I gave out four CDs, and reminded moms to return in two weeks. Looking forward to continuing classes after the Thanksgiving holiday, and hope attendance stays up!

Busy Babies!

Today's class involved a fairly wide range of ages (well, a wide range for Jessie's) with kids between 6 months and almost 3 years old. This certainly didn't stop us from having a good time together, especially since all the kids were actively engaged in our songs! We started off with some simpler songs to engage our smallest ones, like Open Them, Shut Them and Roly Poly. Later, we moved onto some songs where our older participant could get more involved: we sang Listen to the Water and she had a great time giving me names of animals that live on or near the water. Our busy little class loved parachute time so we spent an extra bit of time with the parachute, first with everyone underneath, and then with everyone on top – it was a big hit!

Hello!

You know it's going to be a great class when you walk in the front door and hear Hello! being sung to you. It was a mother who had been at a previous session. Unfortunately, she couldn't stay that day, but we had nine children and four adults who added their voices to Clap Your Hands, Now Sing 1, 2, 3, Alice the Camel, 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, 10 Little Fingers, and Shake It Baby, Shake It.

Lifted Spirits

A great second class of the session at Robertson this evening. Most of the moms and children from last week returned, which I loved to see, and one new mom came with her daughter. There was a feeling of excitement and commitment to participation right from the beginning of class. I reviewed some songs from last week like Roly Poly and Old McDonald and added in some new songs like Clap Your Hands Sing 123 and Here Comes Crocky. I think everyone really enjoyed Elephants Have Wrinkles as well - the children had fun swaying their arms and making elephant sounds. I did tambourines for instrument of the week and the jam ended on a strong note with everyone singing and playing along to De-oh. At the end of class I received some song requests for next week and one of the moms came up to me to say that she was happy she came today because she was sad and her spirits had been lifted through the music. I was overjoyed to hear that and told her that that's what music does on a level we don't even realize. I hope to bring an opportunity for moms to feel that way in every class. See you next week Robertson House!

Learning Through Song

Monday was a jam packed musical adventure. The children were mostly two and under, so my aim was to deliver songs for the wobbly toddler. We started with Wake Up My Hands, One Finger Keeps Moving, Put Your Finger In The Air, and then moved on to Clap Your Hands Now Sing 1-2-3, Tickle Song, and The Grand Old Duke of York. Then it was time to get up and move around with Shake Your Sillies Out, Zoom Zoom Zoom, and I've Been Working On The Railroad. The jam included Three Little Birds, ABC, and In the Jungle. I enjoyed watching numerous one year olds “grooving to the music” and watching their moms react as their children attempted to keep time by stomping and clapping. Some pretty adorable moments all around.

An Enthusiastic Group

We were a small group for the first day of the fall session at Birkdale. But the five children and three adults sang along enthusiastically to Sticky Bubble Gum, BINGO, Six Little Ducks, and Jamaica Farewell, among others. As usual, the parachute and jam session had people swinging and dancing.

I've Got Rhythm

This week at Jessie's we focused lots on finding and touching different body parts; we touched our fingers to our noses, ears, cheeks and toes, and we found our heads, shoulders, knees and toes, amongst others! One of the best parts of the class was near the end, though. Our little participants were right into the music and one little guy who is around 20 months old impressed us all with his innate sense of rhythm; our instrument of the day was a hand drum and this kid pounded out quarter notes right in time to the song Somebody's Knocking at my Door during our jam time. It was amazing! We all presume he'll be a famous drummer one day.

Beatrice House Boogie!

It was another jam packed, crazy, rock concert at Beatrice House. Moms, kids, tots and babies all piled in to the room for a very high spirited class! We started off with a few popular songs: Roly Poly, Wheels on the Bus, and Row Your Boat, before teaching them The Little Green Frog and Shut the Door. Then we went on a journey: Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, etc., before finishing with a rambunctious version of Three Little Birds, and an ABC/Twinkle Little Star medley.

Here we go Robertson House!

After having some time off this summer, I was eager to return to Robertson House this evening for the start of the fall session. I was delighted to hear that moms were excited for the class and planning to attend. Moms and children showed up for class smiling and ready to sing, and I had a positive feeling that class would be a lot of fun today. I worked on simple and familiar songs, like Roly Poly, Wake Up My Hands, Wheels on the Bus, and Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Everyone sang and participated. Maracas were a hit today for the instrument of the week and, as always, there were lots of giggles during the parachute. Class ended on a very happy and uplifting note, as moms left the room saying they had lots of fun and were looking forward to next class!