~~Having a Ball~~

Tonight in my Our Time class there was (as every week) a girl of 22 months old. She is highly energetic with an enthusiasm that is so marvelous one cannot help but smile! From the 5 weeks that I have had her in class, I suspect she is also highly creative and has parents who encourage creative thinking! We had an activity with gertie balls (sticky, squishy balls that are very "catchable"). At the end of the activity, I got out the ball bag and began to sing "Balls away, balls away, time to put the balls away." As always, the children rushed to me wanting to clean up and put their ball in the bag! Well, this creative little one put her head into the bag and tried to crawl inside! Maybe she was pretending to BE a ball!!!!

Messy Makes Perfect!

In a book that I recently read called "Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community" by Alfie Kohn, he quotes Eric Shaps when talking about classrooms that run very smoothly: "Deeper learning would look somewhat 'messier' than what I am seeing!" In our Imagine That class tonight(3 and 4 year olds), I sensed some deep development of creativity and spontaneous learning with our rain theme! It looked messy! And I was thrilled! Imagine That!

"Tap your sticks, tap your sticks, tap your sticks!"

Naturally, parents often tell their children what to do in Kindermusik class. I know that it is hard to believe but I have seen it over and over that the best way to encourage your child to participate is to do it yourself! Parental example is more powerful than telling children what to do in Kindermusik or anywhere else. When parents are disinterested, their children wander and follow suit. When parents don't want to participate and choose not to, their children usually do the same. The kids who have the most fun and learn the most in Kindermusik are those who have very active parents who model the behavior for each activity without telling the child what to do. Now, your child may choose to do something different, using hisor her own creativity, but by your participation you are saying to your child: "This is fun. This is important. It is worth the effort". Honestly, Kindermusik Village and Our Time are not good matches for parents who just want to sit back in class and watch their children interact with me. It rarely works out well when this is the case because I am not the center of attraction at Kindermusik: your child is!!! We all come to Kindermusik for the children! Besides, it is really fun for adults especially when you just let go of your inhibitions, play, and let out your own inner child!! So, let's change the old saying to: "Do as I do, not as I say!"

Nap TIme!

One mom who brings both her 7 month old and her 3 year old to the same class said with exhuberance "This is the ooonly way that I get a nap!" They are worn out after class and ready for rest! Nap time! For everyone!

Process Not Performance

Tonight's class taught me a good lesson! I was so excited when the Village mom's did the ensemble so well that I told them that they are the best class! I said "Good!" AND THEN I realized that it made a few feel uncomfortable (that I could see). It's the process we are concerned with for children AS WELL AS PARENTS not the performance!!! Our goal is community music making for the experience of it not necessarily for the result (however great it may be). So, I am sorry for shifting the focus of tonight's ensemble activity but I don't want the mom's to worry: I am not expecting performance next time;just bonding for the fun of it!

The Gift That Stuck Around

At the end of each class last semester, I gave a sticker to each child on their hand while I sang their personal "Goodbye" (this semster I have graduated to stamps). Well, a boy of 2 years whom I have known for a few semesters, came into my classroom for Our Time this morning with a big grin. His mom asked him to show me what he had for me. He gave me a sticker on my hand! His mom said he wanted to give me a dinosaur (imagine such a small one wanting to give me his favorite) but they did not have one. So, he gave me a very shiny blue lizard! I still have it on my hand as I did during the whole class. He paid special attention to my hand the whole hour and kept smiling when he saw that his gift to me was still there! And my heart smiles to have been the receipient of such generosity from a small friend!