“Did you see my flip flop? It lights up!”
Preschoolers…they are seriously the best. Out of every age group that I work with, they are probably my favorite. When you’re working with them there is something that you can count on: they will want to share whatever they are excited about in the moment, from their favorite Christmas present (regardless of how long ago Christmas was) to their newfound discovery of the color turquoise.
The lovely little one behind this quote started out in one of my preschool music classes and continued on to become one of my private students. That particular day in my music class, we were in the middle of an exciting round of the “mystery instrument game” when she raised her hand. Thinking that she was going to give a guess as to what instrument her fellow music class attendee was playing behind the piano, I called on her. You can imagine my surprise when suddenly I had a plastic sandal (and attached foot) about six inches from my glasses!
Part of classroom management is knowing how to handle these little detours, especially when you have six other little ones all looking to see how you respond. Will you ignore the situation and disregard her excitement for the sake of the activity? Will you engage with her and risk having six other feet in your face eager to share their own shoes? It’s a very tricky balance. Personally, I’m one that loves taking the moment to enjoy a good fancy pair of shoes. That’s one of the reasons that private lessons suit me so well.
These types of happenings are so much better one on one. With my private preschool students, I always take the time to talk about the light up flip flops. This is because a moment sharing about light up flip flops can become a rhythm exercise (think “boots” vs “flip-flops”). A moment shared about how mom was driving really fast because they were late coming to piano becomes a lesson on tempo. I’ve learned that sometimes (read that as most times) it’s not about following a strict lesson plan to the letter during my Mini-MusicMaker lessons. Sure, I start with a list of ideas of what I want to cover with each student when we start the lesson, but some of my Mini-MusicMakers enjoy playing with play dough just as much as they are learning to love playing the piano. So why not incorporate it? I’ve now made activities that incorporate play dough for my students — and even some for my older students as well because it’s such a “thing”. When you can incorporate things that your youngest students recognize and love, things that are already a part of their thought process for that day, it is easy for them to make the connection that lessons are a positive part of their life.
But what about learning for the love of learning?? Everyone should just LOVE the idea of learning music and playing an instrument! And after all, they’ve CHOSEN to come to lessons, so OBVIOUSLY they want to be there…….right…?
A question was asked recently in one of the private teacher forums about why teachers believed that people liked/disliked “classical music”. My belief is this: it’s all in how you were introduced to it and what your experience is with it. I feel that goes with anything. I love to read. Given the choice, I would be happiest sitting somewhere outside in the shade in a comfortable chair reading for a week. I love reading everything from Fyodor Dostoyevsky to Liane Moriarty. However, there are some literary classics and authors that I won’t touch to this day because the thought of them makes me think of school assignments and being forced to read. I don’t think of them as interesting, fun or passionate stories or distinguished authors that have stood the test of time because they are great. I think of them as “assignment material.” I can imagine that this is the way that many people think of classical music. I was introduced to classical music (and so many other genres) at home and fell in love with the emotion of it and how the rhythms and harmonies made me feel long before I even knew what a rhythm or harmony was. Music was cool, beautiful and fun long before it was challenging.
It’s my goal with my Mini-MusicMakers to instill that foundational that the words cool, beautiful and fun connect with music. Students that come to me at an older age may already have predisposed notions and that is perfectly fine, but preschoolers are like blank slates. They are ready to embrace all types of music and absorb everything that you teach them. So take the moment to find out about the lego truck that they built or their new light up flip flops. The rapport that you will build with them is priceless, so the time will be well spent.
