Featured Class

Music and Movement Class

Members - Aedan, Anna, Brian, Elijah, Louis, Max (and his sister Sophie), Miranda, Natori, and Spencer

Instructor - Susan Conley

Class Sponsor - Anonymous

We are proud to highlight the 4:00pm Monday Music and Movement Class taught by Susan Conley and sponsored by a long-time anonymous donor. This class is for our 3–7 year old members and for many, it is their first experience with music. We focus on the enjoyment of music through singing, playing rhythm instruments, movement and dancing. We incorporate drums, rhythm sticks, shakers, scarves, puppets and music from many different cultures. Our main goal is for the children to have fun with their friends through music rather than learning one particular instrument. From this class, our members “graduate” and are able to take a variety of classes including voice, keyboard, percussion, guitar and band, as individually appropriate.

In Sue’s own words, “Young children thrive on repetition, so we do many things which are familiar to them. My goal in teaching this class has been to form a cohesive group; where the children look forward to seeing one another every week and to have fun through music. It is a joy to see this develop.”

Each week up to 10 members and 6 volunteers dance to a variety of songs, including “We Are Family,” “All the Children are Sleeping,” and “We Are the Dinosaurs,” among others. They also, play, “Name That Tune” and have become quite proficient at this game, especially as the semester progresses. As Daniel likes to state though, “the three most difficult songs for the children to guess are “The Alphabet Song”, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and “Baa, Baa Black Sheep”, as they are all pretty much the same melody. It is hit and miss for them as they have a one in three chance of guessing it correctly.” Following “Name That Tune” the children do some creative movement, where Sue leads them through exercises that allow them to explore different movements and follow her suggestions and direc- tions. Then on to the percussion instruments, which are always a member favorite. Learning about dynamics, tempos, different rhythms and beats and expressing themselves leads to an enjoyable (and often loud) part of the class. Finally, scarves, ribbons, puppets and other props are introduced into the class to allow the children to enjoy a variety of different sensory experiences through sound, color, touch and texture. As one father of a member states, “Every- one cares so much and there are so many volunteers! Last year, when my daughter first started, I had to carry her in and now she runs right in. She loves it!” A volunteer adds, “All the children are all so happy when they come to the program and it’s really nice to see.” Another volunteer states, “When I come here after school, it always puts me in a good mood when I see the children’s faces genuinely happy and interacting together.”