May 5, 2009 WS

Hello Parents & Grandparents of Windsor Street Montessori School students (What a mouthful!)

Tonight I'm practicing my newsletter publishing skills. This is my first newsletter for the Windsor Street Music Program.
Your student has been learning songs from the Old Joe Clark CD during this school year. The curriculum is split into two semesters, so we're nearly at the end of the second semester. We've covered almost all of the material. I hope you've been hearing some of it at home (How about the planting song, Pickin' a Spot?)

This year we've had to be creative about how to organize music classes in the green building. We begin music with one large group of all the non-nappers. The preschoolers stay for 30 minutes, while the elementary students stay for the whole hour. Next year in the new building we'll split into two groups.

Our regular music time is on Mondays from 1:30-2:30 PM, in case you'd like to join us sometime. Please let a teacher know you're coming in case we have a change in schedule. Do you play an instrument? Would you like to do a 30-minute performance over your lunch hour some day? If so, please let a teacher know, and also contact me. If you come on a Monday, I will come early to listen, but you are welcome any day there are no special plans.

Recently we've been studying different versions of the old counting rhyme, Over in the Meadow. We've looked at both classic and modern illustrations. Our favorite Call & Response song right now is John the Rabbit because I recently found some really cute vegetable finger puppets at the Mustard Seed Fair Trade store on 9th Street. Now we can act out the song instead of just singing it! Everyone wants to be the rabbit because he gets to take the vegetable puppets off our fingers as we sing.

Speaking of the Mustard Seed...I am teaching some FREE CLASSES there this coming Saturday, May 9th, featuring Fair Trade musical instruments, some of which your child has experienced in music class. This will be a great chance for you to see all of them in action, with the possibility of buying some for home use, if you like them. The preschool class is from 10-10:45 and the elementary class is from 11-12. It is free but you need to call the Mustard Seed to register: 573-449-6166. We are celebrating International Fair Trade Week (Bang a Drum Against Poverty).

Thanks for reading! I hope to see you at the Open House on Thursday evening.

Margaret Waddell, Music Specialist, Windsor Street Montessori