Old and New Friends

The fall session at Ernestine got off to a very positive start, with a number of kids and parents who remembered the songs from the spring session. Everyone was participating right off the bat, clapping along to the songs and calling out certain lines in advance. A number of requests for car-themed songs were shouted out (and one for a “human song”), which made Wheels on the Bus a big hit. We’re in a new room at Ernestine, which is a little more spacious and more comfortable for the parents. Can’t wait until the next class!

Music is a Universal Language!

It's so good to be back at Robertson House! We had a great class today with a lively bunch of families. I was eager to learn all the names of the participants as they came in. As I went around the room, one mom informed me that her daughter spoke only French and may not understand everything in class - that's ok! That same girl was probably the most eager participant throughout the class. She was singing and doing actions despite her language barrier, which was so nice to see. Music truly is a universal language! It was nice to see some siblings in the class as well - always good to sing with family. Looking forward to next week's class!

We're Back!!

It was nice to be reunited with my Birkdale moms, staff and kids again after a whole summer off. The ones that were still there were very excited to be singing and dancing again with me. There were lots of new kids and moms that I met for the first time today. We had a good sized group and they were well behaved. I introduced them to all the different instruments in the bag and went over how to care for them. The kids enjoyed the special instrument of the week, the Chinese Gong, and took turns smashing it to their delight!

Goodbye my friends, goodbye!

Today was our last class of a 20-week session at Birkdale, and the kids were full of energy as usual. I brought the Chinese gong, and had each child try hitting the centre of it to practice hand-eye coordination. We also practiced taking turns and sharing with the ball and our "special number of the day". The kids were ecstatic with their recorder and hand clacker gifts at the end of the class.

Celebrate Good Times

This week was a little bittersweet at Redwood: we hadn't seen one another for two weeks, but it was also our final session together (for now, at least). We didn't let that drag us down, and our time was filled with the wonderful enthusiasm I've come to expect from this group! We sang through a selection of our favourite songs, and our jam became a full-blown dance party. The most anticipated part of our class, though, was the parachute! It's become the absolute favourite here. In the end there were hugs and smiles: who could ask for anything more?

So Long, Farewell!

Since there were no requests for favourite songs for our last session, we decided to sing our "Greatest Hits", starting with the peekaboo Open Them, Shut Them. We moved right into I Wake Up My Hands, Sticky Sticky Bubblegum, and Bath Time, and the older kids did a great job identifying body parts and singing along with these now-familiar words. We moved into an animal trio, starting with Sleeping Bunnies and Listen to the Water, before we stood up to march around the room with The Ants Go Marching. As someone who studied music theory as a kid, I felt like I absolutely had to sing one more major scale with the group, but luckily our Circle Scales let us sing our do-re-mi's while moving in and out of a circle - a great way to feel the music as you sing! I treated the kids to an extended jam time with the more mellow Three Little Birds, and Jamaica Farewell, before rocking out with the parachute to the Sly and the Family Stone classic, Dance to the Music (which these kids did with gusto). After we sang our goodbyes, the kids got to play the guitar one last time and we exchanged many a high-five. The end of a session is always difficult, but I felt good knowing that the kids and moms at Robertson House would keep singing all the songs they learned during our time together, even without me there!

Reunited

It was nice to be reunited with my Birkdale moms, staff and kids again, after two consecutive weeks of not seeing them. They were very excited to be singing and dancing again with me, and had lots of energy, so I kept them up and dancing for a good part of the class. We also explored the rainbow rope and practiced songs such as Roly Poly (practicing opposites) and Row Row Row Your Boat (practicing working as a team and moving body forwards and back in rhythm).

A Gregarious Goodbye (for now)

The progress was palpable for the final class of the session at the Plaza. Not only were the kids participating in all of the songs, keeping rhythm and remembering the lyrics, but they were also anticipating and requesting songs throughout the class! The parents were also more engaged this week than they have ever been. I didn’t even need to encourage them to sing! As usual, my guitar remained an object of fascination (and occasional distraction) throughout the class, but hopefully the clappers and recorders that the kids received at the end of class will keep them musically stimulated and encourage their (already incredible) sense of rhythm and melody. I’m definitely going to miss this group, but both parents and shelter workers expressed a desire for Rainbow Songs Foundation to return, so hopefully it won’t be long before we’re singing together again.

Thunderous Movement!

It was a sweltering June day, but it seemed like the kids at Robertson House barely even noticed as they were just joyful balls of energy for our penultimate class of the session! We did a few Rainbow Songs classics to get warmed up - I Wake Up My Hands, Roly Poly, and Hands Together, Hands Apart. It's so delightful to see how much these kids have grown and changed over the four months we've been together, and how they've mastered some of our staple songs. After getting the giggles out with Sleeping Bunnies and Little Green Frog, the theme of the week was transportation with How Now, Brown Cow. That allowed us to kick our legs like a bicycle, move forward and back like we were in a rowboat, and then chug around the circle to conclude with two train songs: Down By The Station, and I've Been Workin' On The Railroad. We even had an encore transportation song with Wheels on the Bus, which these kids have also mastered. Since we're at the start of the summer thunderstorm season, we brought out the thunder tubes to welcome the dramatic rainfall. The kids loved moving the thunder tubes around the room, hearing how they sounded in different areas and with different intensities of shaking. Our jam time was equally joyful, courtesy of two of Raffi's biggest hits: Baby Beluga, and To Everyone in All the World. I'll certainly be sad to wrap things up next week but I have no doubt these kids will continue making music without me!

Sharing, Helping, and Dancing!

I’m always overjoyed by the enthusiasm of the kids at the Plaza Hotel! Though initially the enthusiasm had the tendency to get chaotic, we’ve settled into a very nice class dynamic. The kids are anticipating which songs are going to come next (it seems like Sticky, Sticky, Bubblegum can’t come quickly enough, as they start asking for it from the beginning of class), and helping newcomers with actions and hand motions. This week had some of the best sharing I’ve seen at the Plaza, with everyone patiently waiting their turn to play with the Ting-Shaw bells, and nobody fighting over instruments in the jam bag (which the kids love bringing out and packing up). There were a number of older siblings this week, which meant we were able to have a nice big parachute jam, and the kids were bouncing with even more energy than normal. It was a delight!