Summer 2009 Session - Beatrice House

instructor: Alana Kurtis

Week 1

Our first class at Beatrice House was a HUGE success! From the opening number "Hello" to the closing song "Goodbye", all 14 children were up dancing and singing throughout the entire class. I was also very impressed with the mothers who had strong singing voices and were eager to participate in all aspects of the program. But the biggest hit of all was the parachute! The children literally went crazy when the parachute came out. They screamed and danced under the rainbow of colours for what could have been an eternity. It was an amazing combination of energy, spirit and music. I look forward to our future weeks together.


Week 2

Our second class at the Beatrice House was again a big success! We had all 14 mothers and children return for another fun and high energy class.  

The children especially loved the "sleeping bunnies" song and of course the parachute. One mother even came with her newborn baby. She had been to the 1st class with her other child and told me that she went directly into labour once the class was over. She claims it was all the singing, jumping and dancing around! The staff at the Beatrice House have also been very helpful in keeping children safe and helping out where they can.


Week 3

Our third Rainbow Songs Foundation music class at the Beatrice House had a 100% return rate yet again, with all 14 children and mothers.

We all had a fabulous time together and it was really nice to be able to give each child their third week gift (musical clackers - which they very much appreciated). We tried a few new songs and the children especially liked the "Little Green Frog".  This was the perfect song to sing in preparation for the instrument of the week which was the frog instruments from Thailand.

Week 4

For the 4th time in a row we've had all 14 mothers and children return for a fun filled music class. Most of the children are ages 2 - 5, so we continue to have lots of dancers in the class. We sang songs like "Shake Your Sillies Out" and "Hokey Pokey" which really inspire everyone to get up and move around. The children also loved singing "Shut the Door". This is a great focusing song which gets everyone sitting close while learning both words and actions. I've also been able to implement some sign language which I will continue in the following weeks.


Week 5

Our 5th class at the Beatrice house went along swimmingly. Everyone was in attendance except for one mother who had just given birth. This is the now the second mother in the group who has gone directly into labour after a Rainbow Songs Foundation class. How exciting!
The children are loving all the songs especially "Sticky Sticky Bubblegum" and "Little Green Frog". The children have also now mastered the song "Shut the Door" and absolutely love singing it over and over again. They like the element of surprise when we SHUT the door with our hands.
Now that they have a good handle on the repertoire I look forward to adding new songs to our upcoming class.


Week 6

Our 6th class at the Beatrice house went really well. My regular staff helper was not available but she had a replacement ready to help out where needed. We focused on songs having to do with different parts of the body i.e. "Put your finger in the air", "Head and shoulders", "Hands together" etc. and then sang "What are you wearing" which is always a hit with both the children and mothers alike. Lastly, we finished our class with a Jamaican inspired jam session. Most of the mothers are from the Caribbean so I try to implement as many Caribbean folk songs as I can.


Week 7

This week I took all 12 mothers/14 children on a musical journey to the caribbean. In order to get there we used songs having to do with different modes of transportation: Wheels on the bus, Working on the railroad, Row your boat etc. until we finally reached the sunny shores of Jamaica. All the children pretended to be lying on the beach under the hot caribbean sun. Then we had our jam session which consisted of mainly jamaican folk songs. Everyone really appreciated the set list because most of the women are originally from the islands and love to sing songs from their country.