Weeks 8, 9, 10

As we approach our last week of lessons, this is a good time to squeeze a little extra effort into the fall collection, because it will be 4 weeks (!) until we have classes again.  Think about ways that you can keep the music going at home over the holidays.  Here are some ideas:

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  • Copying songs/games
  • Leaving out words at the end of a section or song (try to get the kids to fill it in!)
  • Pull out winter scarves for a a ‘scarf’ song and use those
  • Pull out music from previous collections (if you have them)
  • Play music that you, the parent, think is your favourite.  Use it as a play-along and play and sing together!
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These are really straightforward, and we encourage you to explore outside of the the song collections that we use in class.  The holiday season might be a great time for you to make your own ‘Song Collection’ for your children.  If you could make a mix tape for your girlfriend in high school, then you can make a playlist for your kids now!  Challenge yourselves to make up something that shows off YOUR diverse tastes and interests.

Week 8 Songs

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  • Mississppi Cats
  • Sweet Potato
  • Old King Cole
  • Shenandoah
  • The Sounds of Fall
  • This Little Light of Mine
  • Walking Song
  • Hiné Ma Tov
  • Marching and Drumming
  • Butterfly
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Week 9 Songs

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  • Apples and Cherries (Be sure to memorize the alternate Lyrics: Grey Sand and White Sand, Who’ll buy my Grey Sand?  Who’ll buy my White Sand?  As we will sing this in parts, it sounds even better with different lyrics!)
  • I’ve Got the Rhythm in My Head
  • Goin’ to Boston
  • This Little Light of Mine
  • Sounds of Fall
  • No More Pie
  • Bela Boya
  • Walking Song
  • Lauren’s Waltz
  • Shady Grove
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Week 10 Songs

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  • Here is the Beehive
  • Sweet Potato
  • Marching and Drumming
  • Crawdad
  • Apples and Cherries
  • A Ram Sam Sam
  • I’ve Got the Rhythm in My Head
  • Hiné Ma Tov
  • Walking Song
  • Shenandoah
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Last day of Classes

The last day of class for the fall semester is Sunday, December 9th.

First Day of January Classes, and Winter Dates

The first day of January classes will be Sunday, January 13th.

There will be no classes on March 17th.  This is mostly to tip our hat to the March Break, but if some of you have a late night for St. Patrick’s day, I’m sure you’ll appreciate this day off!

Winter Semester Classes will end on March 31st.

DRUMS!

Our next collection will be DRUMS.  We’re excited about this, and I am particularly thrilled about coming to the end of the full cycle of Song Collections for the first time.  There is a certain nostalgia and excitement in coming back to the first collection we taught, FLUTES.  There are a couple of families that might be around for a re-visiting of the start of the cycle, a great time to see how familiar songs are made fresh again, through the eyes of your much older, bigger child.  Over three years, if you think about it, they will have spent 60% of their lives being exposed to music, and growing their creativity, voices, physical expression, and basic music competence.  I am excited every week to see the growth in children, but this will also be a very interesting time for me.  I am curious to see how the kids grow!