Finding Our Rhythm

Lauren takes voice lessons at a community arts program sponsored by a local church.  She really enjoys it.  At her spring recital, Eli expressed an interest in singing too.  I mentioned it to Lauren's teacher, she agreed to take him on if he wanted to try, and we both kind of forgot about it.  Eli gets excited about something, but once the novelty wears off he usually moves on.  Cub Scouts?  One meeting.  And no amount of begging, pleading, bribing, etc. could get him to go back.  Soccer?  Don't even get me started.  That was pre-diagnosis, and let's just say it wasn't pretty.  I didn't think he really wanted to take lessons.  I figured that seeing Lauren on stage, and seeing another boy perform had planted the idea in his head, but he would soon forget about it.  Not to mention, Lauren was vehemently opposed to him taking lessons.   After all, singing is her thing.

Lauren's teacher started a beginning music class, and I signed Lela up for it.  Lela loves music.  She sings all the time.  She loves the class.  The first week was difficult for her because she wasn't quite sure what to do, and she had a hard time keeping up.  However, by her third lesson she was whizzing through it.  The class has three younger children in it, so she can enjoy it without social pressure.  They play bongo drums, sing simple songs with motions, and do a little dancing too.

Watching Lela in this class, populated by mostly two-year-olds, I couldn't help but wish Noah could participate as well.  Noah doesn't seem to hear rhythms like other babies do.  You can plop a six month old on the floor, turn on some music, and watch them bob up and down to the beat.  Noah never did that.  He is the typical white boy redneck stereotype.  He doesn't dance.  That doesn't sound like a big deal, but it actually is.  The auditory processors in the brain aren't just for hearing things in the environment.  It processes the sounds in music, as well as the rhythms of speech.  If a child can't hear and interpret musical rhythms, then there's a good chance they aren't hearing and interpreting speech rhythms either.  Which leads to speech delays or difficulties.  Which later translates into reading difficulties.  Phonological awareness is the foundation for reading, which is the foundation for learning.

So, anyway, I told the teacher that I wished Noah could take the class.  Her response?  Bring him!  I had plenty of reasons why he couldn't do it.  He can't sing.  He doesn't ever sit still.  I'm not sure how well he can follow directions.  She was unphased.  Bring him, she said.  Let's just try it and see how it goes.  Well, we did, and it went.  The first lesson went better than I thought it would.  He didn't have anything to do with the other kids, but he like beating the bongo drums.  In fact, he was able to whack his drum to the beat pretty well, which was a nice surprise.  At the second lesson, he did a better job of staying with the class, and he seemed to be catching on to the routine of the class.  The teacher is very structured, and Noah was quick to pick up on her routine.  He needs help with holding rhythm sticks, and he sometimes gets up and runs a quick lap around the room, but I'm able to pull him back in pretty easily.  But last week, Oh...My...God...The teacher was leading the class in a welcome song.  It's sung to the tune of The Farmer In the Dale.

We're glad you can today,

We're glad you came today,

Hello to everyone,

We're glad you came today!

I heard a little voice to my left say....daaaaaaaay.  Sure enough.  Noah was trying to sing!  I was so excited.  The teacher lavished him with praise for his singing.  He just grinned.  My precious baby.

So, with everyone else taking lessons, of course Mr. Eli wanted to know when his lessons would start.  So, with a great deal of anxiety on my part, we set a date.  I gave his teacher some tips for dealing with him, and off they went.  Eli surprised the heck out of me.  Voice lessons are supposed to be thirty minutes, but Eli doesn't quite have the stamina for that.  Turns out that singing is a bit harder than he thought.  His teacher has been really good at sensing when he's getting frustrated and stopping before he's just overwhelmed.  His lessons are averaging about twenty minutes long.  But what's so great is that he doesn't want to quit.  He really wants to do this, and that makes me so proud.  It's a huge step for Eli to push through frustration.

So, all of the kids are taking music now.  It'll be interesting to see how this goes for me once school starts back.  Sheesh.