Music & Movement

Music...

If you work in a 6wk - 5 yr old room, you know that Music is an important part of your day. You can learn to music, dance to music, and pretend to music. So why isn't it used in the classroom more often? I am not talking about the background music some of us play during quiet time, or party time. I mean everyday music time?? I know I don't use it as often as I should. I know I don't want to listen to the banging of the drum or tapping of the tambourine for hours on end. So, my dilemma... how to get more open-ended and hands-on music time for the children in my care???

We have a book, Mortimer, by Robert Munch. We love to take out the instruments and bang away during the chorus. We like to use some instruments when we count or sing special songs. Yet, I know I could be doing more. Like I said, I should be using music EVERYDAY!!! How did I get on this rant you ask??? Check out Ms Debbie and Mr Randy, from Once Upon A Day in Preschool, here and you will see what I mean. Page down to the video's and take a look at the absolute joy on the kids faces as they dance with Mr Randy and the anticipation as they stand in line waiting their twirly turn. It was while watching this video that I realized how little we have been doing for our music time. If we even fit it in to our morning. It seems like we could go a whole week and not have a single get up, twist-n-shout, try out the instruments kind of day.

So, all weekend I have been thinking of how to incorporate more than the singing and finger movement activities we do. (Which are just as important, don't get me wrong & we do this on a daily basis) Yet seeing the joy, the giggling and the movement that the kids have when we turn the music up loud or taking out the instrument to start dancing. The look of amazement when Miss Michelle starts acting silly, and like Mr Randy, picks the kids up and dances with them. The specialness of it... even though everyone gets a turn, you feel like your the only one in the world when your teacher gives you that little moment of time. I could see that on the faces of Ms Debbie & Mr Randy's kids in the video. It was special and that's what makes theirs a great environment.

So... I have decided that outside time would be a great time to make some music. If we bring out the instrument box a few days a week I think the kids will enjoy it and I am almost positive most of my neighbors are working :) If not, oh well. It's not like it is 7 in the morning or 11 at night. I have also started looking online for some Children CD's that I have seen some friends use, and I have revisited Deborah Stewart's blog Little Fingers That Play, and reread all her Music Posts from her blog Excellence in Early Childhood Education. With these little changes I think we can learn to appreciate and make some beautiful music (at least to our ears). That the banging and shouting will only be for short time, while we get used to being able to use music in our daily lives. That the more we learn about music and how to make it, well, it will all come together. So for now, I will keep singing, moving, and introducing instruments to our days. It should make for a happy, noisy house!! (and that can't be bad!!!)

In addition to thinking and ranting about Music & Movement... I did add some Valentine activities into the week. We will have the Valentine Making center, which is just a place to go crazy with the glue, do-dads, & hearts. Though I think almost all of the kids will know how to write and/or read "I LOVE YOU" by the end of the week. We also did some heart sorting, heart counting, and a heart craft. I wish I could show you some photos, but yes, my helper still has the camera!!! So, hopefully I will get it back this afternoon and I can post some tomorrow.

Parents... We will be having our Valentine's Day Party on Friday!!! Please have your children bring in their Valentine's any time after Wednesday!!! We will be sorting them by name, counting, matching and delivering them on Thursday and Friday :). Thanks!!!

Holiday Program

Today we practiced for our Holiday Program. The kids have gotten the hang of singing in front of a group. I will worry about my 2 almost 3 yr old, but I know she will bail as soon as she sees her parents. I don't know if it is out of fear of all those people, or just habit. Since she has been doing it for every program I can remember. She walks into the room, sees her Mom & Dad and when they smile... that's it off she runs. We practice waving, saying "Ok...Now were just going to wave at our Mom's & Dad's right, we won't run to them. We have to sing, right!!" She nods her cute little head, sings her heart out during the practice, and I just know she won't stay for the actual program. That is why I try to get video of them during practice. This way their Parent's know that they did it, can do it, and actually enjoyed it :) I will keep you posted... our program is on Thursday night...

Finishing up all our ornaments, reading about Jesus' birth, and opening up our Advent Calendar's doors each day keep us pretty busy. We don't always get that practice in. But I have learned... it doesn't actually matter how the evening goes... Mom, Dad, Grandma & Grandpa will love it anyway. They will look cute in their outfits with their reindeer antlers, some will belt out the songs like they had to sing to the people in the back of an auditorium, and their will be a lot of oohhh's & aahhh's.

Which brings me to being nervous. I can sing, act silly, make funny faces and just about talk my heart out in front of a bunch of preschoolers. I can also talk to parents one-on-one. Yet, get all those parents in one room, at one time, looking at me... Forget About It!!! I clam up, stumble over words... why?? They are the same people I see everyday!! We have talked for countless hours over the last year. I want to tell them how much their children impact my life. How much I love them. I want to tell them that being apart of their lives has made me so happy and such a better person for knowing them. That when they tell me their child said a word with the same inflection as me, I beam inside. When your child puts her hands on her hips and says "You guys!!" just like I do when I am redirecting them... yes, I smile and my heart grows 3 times it's size. I won't be able to say it on Thursday Night... but I want them to know. Every time your child hugs me or tells me they love me... that's enough. That's why I do this, that is why I open my home to your children. The State rules and regulations, the locks on my cabinets, the silly paperwork... it is all worth it, because your children bring such joy to my life. And the Parent's aren't so bad either!!
So there I said it... I just hope they read it so I don't have to actually speak it :)

Rant

It has been a few weeks since I have written. I have been spending my time wondering... Being a Family Home Child Care Provider is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. I get goosebumps when one of the kids climb the ladder and look back at me with that huge smile... saying "Look at Me!! I DID IT!!!" I live for the moment when the littlest of the kids snuggles in my shoulder and tucks her arms under her and rests her head with a little sigh. How about the security that one of them feels every morning knowing that her transfer will be the same hug that she has received almost everyday since she started. Or what about the time a child comes in for the first time without crying and never cries again... that is a moment. The smile from a parent who know that their child will be okay as soon as they leave, or I will give the same seriousness to a hurt boo boo or story that they will. This is why I became a Family Home Child Care Provider. The passion I feel towards giving families a place to feel secure with, trusting, content... that is my business. It is personal, it is feeling, it is growing... it isn't get up, go to work, do my work and go home. All the paperwork, all the hoops we jump through, all the regulations... it can seem like a business, but I won't let it be. It is my job. I will help make these little people into the big people they will become. Even if they forget ME as a person as they grow, my hugs, my structure, my love will always be there. It may come out in a way they pronounce a word or a few gestures they make... it will be from the time they were here, in my home, with me. I Love My Job!! It Is Worth It!!! All Of It!!!