Arts Unite: pre-k

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In my first post, I talked about the difficulties I was having with teaching my preschoolers Christmas songs for their Christmas pageant. Now it is quickly approaching, and the head teacher has asked me to teach them even more songs!

I had thought it was unrealistic to try to teach them many songs, with "music class" once every two weeks, and they had difficulty paying attention at first because they couldn't remember from two weeks ago. The head teacher finally realized it was important to practice every day, and that problem was solved.

We had an activity making jingle bell necklaces to go with our main song (Jingle Bells). While the kids kept pulling their necklaces apart, they really enjoyed playing (with) the bells while they were singing, and it made what became an hour of learning Christmas songs more bearable. I even managed to squeeze in another activity with the bells, practicing "crescendo" and "diminuendo" as we rang our bells and moved (normally this is a favorite activity that involves movement).

Adding these activities made the lessons more bearable for the kids, but there were still several behavior issues. I really question the head teacher's desire to teach the kids NINE Christmas songs when we had been working on TWO. Practicing every day helps now that she finally realized they need reinforcement, but I honestly don't see the value in teaching these kids songs they will sing once a year as entertainment for their parents (in my opinion, singing holiday songs should be a family, friendship, or religious activity, and being forced to "speed-memorize" doesn't really teach the kids anything).

However, we are singing the "Do(e) A Deer" with our Kodaly hand signs. Although this is purely to show the parents what the kids are learning, I am proud that I can show these techniques to the parents. Using the Kodaly hand signs allows the kids to sing advanced harmonic and melodic patterns that people would normally work on in a middle-school choir.

I know lots of you have dealt with difficult bosses. Let's commiserate! What are your stories? How do you DEAL with it?

2 comments

Hello! This is my first time on the blog. Let me tell you a little about my background: I am currently working on my Masters' degree in music theory, I play cello and piano, I also compose and am interested in including contemporary classical music in music education. I currently teach private pre-school music and piano lessons.

Here's what I like to do with my pre-K class (ages 2-5):

1. We sing age appropriate songs like Itsy-Bitsy Spider, along with hand motions. I like to integrate motions with singing, and it's important to avoid tunes that are hard for young children to sing (like The Star Spangled Banner, which has a wide range).

2. We use the Kodaly hand signs to practice musical patterns and scales. Here's what I'm talking about:

You should be able to click on the picture to go to the Kodaly Society of Northern Ireland, which has more information about this method.

3. We practice drawing and clapping basic rhythm symbols (quarter note, half note, whole note, rest). The younger ones obviously have a different level of proficiency with this, so I don't push them to perform like the older kids.

4. We play simple instruments together, like tambourine, small drums, etc. and use our creativity to find new ways to play the instruments. Sometimes I bring in a "real" instrument to show them what other instruments look like.

5. We listen to music and learn a little about the way music works. We have listened to Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov, and I try to encourage them to think about the music like a story (they like "good guys vs. bad guys"). I also use listening time to teach them musical concepts like fast, slow, high, low, etc. Young children often confuse slow/low or high/fast, so differentiating these two is important. Currently, we are studying the orchestra. I bring pictures of the orchestra and orchestra instruments, and we practice saying the names of the instruments.

While I think this format helps them learn what they need to about music, my "book-learning" education has me at a disadvantage. I have little experience with making this fun for the kids, and I thought I was doing a good job (the kids seem involved and they look like they're having a good time) until last class, when one of the kids told me that he didn't want me to come anymore!!

While I'm not going to let what a pre-schooler says get me down, this comment does show me that I'm not doing something right. To be complete, I should mention that the main teacher has asked me to prepare a christmas program, so we spent a lot of the lesson drilling Jingle Bells, not the most exciting thing. Do any of you have any suggestions for how I can make my curriculum more exciting for my kids? Is the curriculum OK? Are there any fun ways to help kids memorize the words of the song (we normally do call-and-response)?

I hope you non-musicians have learned some from what is working for me, though! Feel free to ask me any questions about this curriculum.

1 comments

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