Helping Each Other

It was nice to see the attendance this week after last week's warm weather left a light turnout. Many kids were new to the program, and delighted at hearing their names sung by the group during the Hello song. Though there is a bit of an age gap between some of the kids, there was something in the class for everyone, and some of the older kids seemed to really enjoy helping their younger siblings with the hand gestures. I'm sure next week will be just as rewarding for everyone.

Listen to the Water!

Another great class at Robertson House this week! This particular group of moms seems to love singing. Their enthusiasm helped the kids to get motivated and involved. I was very impressed with everyone’s focus when learning Listen to the Water. It paid off when we sang the song and passed the ocean drum around. Great actions and great participation! 

Latin Fun Part 2!

Today I brought the cowbell to class for the Instrument of the Week. The kids and caregivers alike enjoyed trying to keep a steady beat on it while I played Latin music in the background. One older child was a real pro at playing both regular and double time beats. We also did some partner dancing and practiced freezing when the music stopped. 

More Parents!

This week was one of the most fun classes at Ernestine in a while. The staff at the shelter made a couple of announcements stressing the importance of parental attendance, and the turnout was much better than in previous weeks. While some seemed shy at first, by the end the parents were having as much fun (if not more) than the kids! There were lots of opportunities for parent-child bonding, and hugs were all around. I'm also so proud of how far the kids have come with remembering the lyrics and singing along, and they are sharing instruments during jam time without having to be reminded. Today we focused on the tambourine, and the grown-ups provided some nice fancy flourishes. All in all, today was a joy from beginning to end.

It’s a Zoo in Here!

Today, our friends were all about animals. Everyone really put their all into roaring like tigers, running like cheetahs, and hopping like bunnies. It was a full menagerie! During our instrument sharing, I’ve been really pleased to see how this group is progressing, as well as our “older” friends helping the younger ones with passing along to the next person. It’s still a work in progress, but that’s the key word — progress!

Rainy Rainbow Songs

Due to the warmer weather, there weren't quite as many families in attendance this week. At first it was just one parent and child, but they took the opportunity to bond together over a slightly looser class structure to accommodate the size. Eventually a couple more slightly older kids came in, and they were so great with clapping along to songs that I made sure we had an extra long jam session. We started with a slow easy rhythm for ABC, then moved on to a shuffle for Everybody Knows I Love My Toes, and finished off with a big rollicking Twist and Shout, with an amazing extended finale. These kids have a lot of musical talent, and though I won't welcome the return of the cold, I'm looking forward to having more kids in the class next week.

WooHoo!

It’s great to be back at Robertson House with so much enthusiasm from the residents! We had a big crowd for our first class of the session, with lots of active participation from the parents and staff. My favourite part of the class was a call-and-answer part of Rockin' Robin when the parents eagerly sung back “woohoo”, in response to me singing “tweedily deedily deet!” If the parents are having fun, the kids are too! Looking forward to a great session at Robertson House!

Latin Fun!

I heard that some of the participants and staff enjoy Latin music, so I brought Brazilian caxixis (similar to maracas) to class today to demonstrate them and pass them around. We listened to some Latin songs and tried to shake the caxixis on the beat. The kids were dancing around and enjoying the Latin groove.

Shake Our Sillies Out

We had a slightly smaller group this week, and unfortunately not a lot of parents. Nonetheless, the kids were engaged and extremely high-energy. In fact, I wonder if moving to a slightly larger room (like the playroom) might be a good option in the future where there would be more space for parents and fewer couches for the kids to crawl over during classes.  Regardless, the attention in the room became focused on the maracas, which we shared one by one around the room. Eventually all the kids got maracas, and we had an extra-long jam session with just maracas (the kids have a great feel for shaking in time!). Next week we’ll start making use of all of the instruments in the bag.

Cabin Fever

The weather outside may have been frightful, but the music inside was definitely delightful today at Redwood. It seems that our group had energy to burn today – we went through two rounds of requests for monkeys jumping on the bed, as one was simply not enough! Even when the weather cleared up, we still danced up a storm of silliness.