My ukulele student struggles with spelling and reading, and this affects their ability to recall names of chords and parts of the ukulele. So this week we played around with some silly mnemonic devices! We created our own silly phrases to remember the names of the strings. G C E A Gold Cats Eat Apples. And when we had issues with spelling or printing we laughed and worked through it together. Only time will tell if it works to help out memories long term!
We started off the summer session at Arise with some fun animal songs and songs about the summer and rainy weather. We also played the ting shaw bells, an instrument from Tibet that brings two small bells together to make a relaxing chime sound. I'm always amazed at how quiet the group gets when I invite them to listen to how long the chime rings out for. It was very peaceful!
Most of the participants attending our music class this week were new; I got to meet a new group of children and we had so much fun with upbeat songs.
We did lots of hopping with Sleeping Bunnies, and had a blast with I Have a Little Bicycle.
We had some new toddlers join us this week for music class, and we also said goodbye to a set of twins as they move on to be housed. This was bittersweet but we had a fun send-off for them, as well as a fun class for the new participants. The parents seemed to have an equally good time this week as I heard one mom say, "I think I enjoy this class even more then my girls do!"
This is such a great group. The participants are so musical and excited about the class. We started the class introducing ourselves, playing our own drum beat as we sang our name to the group.
We then had a drum circle in which everybody had a chance to lead the group with their own beat. We sang some chants in Portuguese and played our percussive instruments.
To end on a high note, we had a dance party and got to share our dance moves with the whole group.
It's truly magical when we get to celebrate a birthday with RSF. One student had a birthday this week and they invited their cousins to the party and we all had an awesome celebration! The weather cooperated so everyone got to party outside. We shared jam instruments and sang Happy Birthday in Spanish! Feliz Cumpleaños!!
It was time to wrap up the session at Robertson House this week. We sang our favourites and had a blast on our last class of Spring 2023.
We did some hopping with Sleeping Bunnies, went on a journey with Wheels on the Bus and jammed to I’m in the Mood for Music. At the end of the class, we handed out some gifts and the kids loved choosing their books and instruments.
For our last week at Nellie's, we took advantage of the nice summer weather and did our class outside in their gated backyard. The weather made for a lovely and relaxed last class together. One child who was shy earlier in the session kept requesting songs, so we ended up catering the class to her favourites. She opened up so much over our weeks together, she gave me a huge hug when she saw me as well as when we said goodbye. We also had some other adult residents join us who don't normally, but who were happy to be together with us outside. It was a really nice send-off!
This week at Arise we sang about the seasons, played with rhythm sticks, and some of the children taught us some new songs of their own. One of the favourites was a song about the days of the week to the tune of The Addams Family. This group loves to sing along - even if they don't know all of the words, they still try their best! Adults could learn a thing or two from their willingness to try!
It was my first time teaching at Yorktown, so it was a great opportunity to get to know the group. I chose my all-time favourite songs for our first class, and the group responded amazingly.
The five participants were super excited and participative. Can’t go wrong with Wheels on the Bus!
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