WE ARE BACK! And my goodness it feels good to be making music with everyone in the same room. When I entered the room the looks on the kids faces were of amazement, as if I had stepped out of a zoom meeting, through the screen and into their lives. There was an abundance of wild energy in the room that wild horses couldn’t compete with! We had the most fun and I am looking forward to the energetic classes to come.
We were back in person for our second class and we all had a blast! A full room of excited participants and parents danced and moved around as we all sang a selection of fun songs together.
This week was a party! We did lots of dancing together and grooving to the music, not to mention lots of frogs hopping! The best way to get warm after a cold winter day.
Our Winter session started with a fun online class. Although we weren’t in the same room, the participants had lots of fun and engaged with the energetic songs we played.
This week was animal week! The class started with the most dynamic version of Old MacDonald I have ever enjoyed. We got to move like a monkey, fly like a reindeer, and shake our feathers like a peacock! It was a truly unique visit to the farm. My goal on animal week is to get the kids experimenting with their voices, I instruct them to sing like the animals. This usually gets everyone making music together even the kids who usually enjoy being quiet.
It is a new year of making Music at Arise YWCA! What a wonderful welcome "We love you Joanna" is what I get to hear when I sign on to zoom. What a true privilege it is to sing and share music with this group. The Staff and moms are always clapping and dancing, modelling joy and creative expression for the kids. There is a large age range in this group. The toddlers zoom around while the tweens chill on the couches. I alway try to add in a little basic music theory for the older kids don't feel alienated. Here's to another year of music fun!
How many people does it take to row a boat gently down the stream? Today at Arise we found the answer is 4 kids, 3 grown ups, and one baby! As usual the music class was buzzing with infectious energy! When I said "hold hands in a circle so we can row away from these crocodiles" there wasn't a moment of hesitation!
Today was the final day of this session with Arise YMCA. We took the time to sing all of our favourite songs! We also included some winter classics that got us into the holiday spirit. I am truly looking forward to sharing more music with this energetic group in the new year!
Today the mothers and I started our session with a meditation focusing on people that love us, and the feeling of being loved. We then sang two songs and discussed lyrics from the songs that we connect to or feel represented by. At the end of our session, the mothers completed an evaluation and shared their excitement to come back to music therapy in the New Year.
This week we had some fun with American Sign Language. We learned the signs for turtle, tree, and bath. We also focused on rhythm making, clapping 1 2 3 then adding the rhythm into the songs in our jam session. Now that we are in the fifth week of our session the kids are excited to join the class, everyone has great focus.
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