International Children's Preschool

I teach music with my two pals Becky and Janice at the International Children's Preschool in Burlington. There are seven 2-4 year olds in the class from all different parts of the world. Yesterday we walked in, armed with a bag of auxiliary percussion, a giant hula hoop, and a recording of "The Carnival of Animals" by Camille Saint-Saëns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camille_Saint-Saëns) 
What we had not prepared our easily-excitable hearts for was that our preschoolers were celebrating Halloween early and wearing a mish-mosh of Disney princess dresses, and the boys in your standard occupation outfits, policeman, chef etc. As they walked around the room moving like fish, sharks, and sea weed to Saint-Saëns' "Aquarium," we three teachers did our best to contain our giggles. 
Our break through of the day was when the children were able to walk in a circle. While to you and I this may not seem like a difficult task, ( in fact, for my peer teachers and I it was hard to fathom why our activities were flopping,) for this age group it makes sense. Children develop motor skills based on a combination of their brain development and the experiences they have in their environment. For most of the students this is their first time in a preschool, or an organized social group. Children don't often walk in group circles at home...I don't think, and so they haven't had the experience necessary to gain the walking-in-a-circle skill. 
Our break through came in the form of duct tape.
Pieces of it on the floor. In a circle.
We made just a start on it, but next week, ohhhh man. I expect that we'll do a little, "pretend that the floor is lava and you can only step on the duct tape."
and maybe someday... we'll get special mats for the floor... maybe shaped like something exciting. 
but you know... small steps. 
literally. the children are small.
that is all, Happy Halloween!


Also, Here's "Aquarium."
Practice moving around the room in your own space like a fish, then a shark, then sea weed. 
And good luck with those circles.

Love That Dog

Love that dog
as he's walkin' down the road
I said,
Love that dog
as he's walkin' down the road
Love to call him in the morning,
Love to say, "Hey there, Toad!"

inspired by Sharon Creech's book Love that Dog

SPAE Day 4

Today, against my will, the thought crept into my mind;
I wish we were doing something lighter... something like... "The Wizard of Oz."
Those of you that know me know that I have sworn that I would NEVER do WOO with folks under 12 years old. But... "Coraline" is feeling a bit dark, under the circumstances. Our community recently suffered the tragic loss of a young woman. While our campers are holding up magnificently, I can't help but feel my stomach flip flop when we discuss the dark plot of our show.
Of course, "Coraline" has a happy ending, the child succeeds in winning back her parents AND freeing the souls of three ghost children, no small feat for a spunky little girl- but throughout the day, I wondered if it wouldn't be more appropriate to have tiny folks with helium voices singing that all will be well if you just follow a bright yellow road that's been conveniently laid out through an entire world.
Oh, Oz.
Wouldn't that be easier than dealing with a dimly lit stage, a terrible Other Mother who steals the souls of children after sewing on button eyes, while we are smothered with music that's locked in a minor key and sung only in jibberish?

I wonder.

But as I looked around at the end of the day, I was met with faces of twenty-seven strong and defiant adolescents. 

"They'll beat this," I thought. They're going to stick together, lean on each other. 

They'll make it through this. We'll make it through this.

Maybe it's great that we're doing "Coraline." Because like yesterday's quote says, Dragons can be beaten. Especially in our community. The campers will get me through this one, I'm not worried.

Leland and Gray's Summer Performing Arts Explorations, Day 3

I'm trying to write as two elderly operatic women sing about loving men and catching them in the sea. You see, I'm supposed to be transcribing music from the "Coraline" soundtrack for the summer program I'm co-directing.  It's called S.P.A.E. Yes, I know, it's a strange title. My good friend, Claire (the other co-founder) and I gave it very little thought, and were 16 and 17- so when it was suggested, we both giggled and settled upon it at once. But the acronym does stand for something worthwhile, Summer Performing Arts Explorations.  A two-week program for kids entering 5th through 8th grades in our former school district, where we do just that- explore the performing arts. We act, sing, dance, create sets and costumes, learn about lighting and make up design, as well as learn to build some community! This is our fourth summer. Let me just say that the program has grown considerably, but also morphed and as if having been put in a rock tumbler, has smoothed out some of its jagged and rough spots. We've worked hard to bring the program to where it is today...and we're rather proud. Check out our new and in progress website Leland and Gray SPAE But this is just one venue where I work with those younger than I, and I thought it'd be a great one to focus on at first, to collect all of the lessons that I am continuously taught by these tiny and wise human beans.

So, for today, I will give one quick lesson.

Emma Urbaska, a 12 year old who's attending her third year of SPAE was embarking in a round of "Freeze," an improv game where two people work together to create a scene, then someone freezes them, takes one person out, assumes their position and changes the scene entirely.

Emma jumped in as an elderly person asking for assistance crossing the street.

She stated:

"Back in my day I didn't have arthritis!"
Makes sense. Thank you Ms. Urbaska.

Here are some pictures of our production of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" last year.

and I will leave you with a quote from the inside cover of Coraline, by Neil Gaiman.

"Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist; but because they tells us that dragons can be beaten." -G.K. Chesterton