We don't have the curriculum. It was donated to us, but didn't arrive in Hawaii before we left. We all had plan Bs, but none of them have worked either. Instead, we're going by the children's books I brought with me and our gut.
Does anyone remember Raffi? I grew up with Raffi. (my dad is Raffi's twin)
I looked him up the other day on Wikipedia because, aside from his songs, I didn't know much about him.
Raffi is a Global Children's Troubadour. Reading about him, I discovered that he does no advertising whatsoever because he does not believe in commercializing childhood.
And this explains why not very many of you know who Raffi is.
But do you know Down by the Bay? How about Baby Beluga or Everything Grows and Mary Wore Her Red Dress? Maybe you know 5 Little Ducks Went Out One Day.
Raffi wrote those.
The kids at CICFO know all of his songs. It's pretty great.
Do you remember learning to type with Mavis Beacon? We tried to download it on all of the computers that ICHope brought for the children. It failed. Both times. On all computers. However, I did find a website that provides typing lessons and tests.
Unfortunately our first week has been fraught with power outages and internet problems. When that happens, I walk up and down and call out letters to exercise specific fingers. I know my keyboard really well. We've progressed to words and sentences now.
Do you remember School House Rock? I thank God every day for YouTube. I'm so glad that it isn't blocked in this country. The 'Nouns' song has been running around our heads for the last few days. We've even got the older kids (that's who we show it to) singing along with it.
With the little kids, I try and sings songs that have words with the letters that we've gone through that day.
With the middle and older kids, I try and make sure they understand what they're saying when they sing songs that they already know.
Today was a little bit different for the little kids. One of them asked me if we still use 'Do Re Mi' when we sing. It was pouring outside, we had just sung a bunch of rain songs, including the one I'd taught them on Tuesday. In that dim and dingy classroom we were sitting in a circle with the desks pushed against the walls. We created a Sound of Music moment. I was singing, they would say the note syllables when it was time, we were swaying, it was beautiful. It was the real deal, not Hollywood or fabricated in any way; but this moment, as perfect as it was, was sad. My camera battery was beyond dead. Of all the days for my camera to run out, it had to be the day that we were the cutest ever. What did we learn today in class? Never leave the house without a charged camera battery and a poncho. We played in the rain before we headed back home. It was glorious fun. Unfortunately, there is zilch footage of it. Trust me, it sucks more for me than it does for you.
So this is us, being as innovative as we can. It's exhausting. We love it.
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