Singing in Schools

Last Friday night on ABC TV’s Stateline program, there was a segment featuring a lady by the name of Rosalyn Happs, a music specialist trying to introduce the ‘novel’ notion of singing in schools. In case you weren’t aware, the overwhelming majority of teachers do not do any form of music tuition in their classrooms any longer. The reason? There’s a music specialist in the school. When they move to a new school with no music specialist they are so unused to programming in music that it never happens. This is tragic. It was wonderful to hear about Ros Happs’ program and realise mine is not the only voice out there in the wilderness urging teachers to teach music in their classrooms, in whatever form that may take. Anne Trigg, local ASME committee member, sent the following quote from Ros Happs, which I reproduce here: Continue reading →

Education, Physical Activity and Aging

Having recently finished reading Norman Doidge’s book ‘The Brain That Changes Itself’ I was interested, in particular, to see what he had to say about education, physical activity and aging. Given that the children we teach today are tomorrow’s world leaders, and the senior citizens of the day after that, these facts are relevant to all of us. Continue reading →

Book Review: ‘Learning Through Drama, Dance and Song’

The Kidz-Fiz-Biz book ‘Learning Through Drama and Song’ was recently reviewed by Martin Blaszk. A few of the points made by Blaszk are: Continue reading →

Babies and Early Childhood Development

I don’t know whether or not you’ve seen the current movie ‘Babies’. If not, I recommend it because there are lots of lessons in there for us all. It’s only short – I think 1 hour 20 minutes – and has no narration so is almost a silent movie observing babies. You might think this would be as exciting as watching grass grow, but surprisingly it is beguiling and intriguing and absolutely adorable. If you can survive the first five minutes, you’re hooked. David Stratton gave it 3 stars I think, from memory, Margaret Pomeranz gave it 4 stars. It is getting rave reviews worldwide. Continue reading →

Fit Kids

I had the privilege recently of working for four days in a primary school (K-7) in the south-west of Western Australia. The purpose was to teach musical appreciation and interpretation along with basic musical elements of pitch, dynamics, tempo, beat and rhythm. I decided to have fun with this to show the children, and their teachers, that music can be a full-bodied adventure. The experience reinforced the benefits of physical fitness. Continue reading →

Relaxation for Kids

Let me stress to you the importance of teaching the children how to relax. Children are sometimes loud and boisterous because they think that’s how they are expected to behave. Sometimes it is attention seeking. Find out why. Continue reading →

Your Important Role as a Teacher – An Inspirational Essay

As teachers it is very clear that we have a responsibility to our charges. For some children, one teacher who believed in them and encouraged them, is all they’ve got and all they’ve ever had. And that one teacher can make all the difference. Sobering thought but true. So when you’re feeling down and wondering why you’re still teaching, remember that you are making a difference. Continue reading →