Most Fun Occupation Ever

This morning I began teaching free preschool music and movement classes in my basement. It is my favorite thing to do ever. Before moving to Wisconsin, I taught several sections of Kindermusik, but I have never enjoyed the business side of that venture. I didn't like finding people who wanted to come to class, and I hated charging them money, even though I only charged the mandatory supply fees from the Kindermusik corporation. When we moved to Wisconsin, I had to wait to begin teaching because first of all I was pregnant, and second of all we had to redo part of our basement so I would have a place to teach. Now the basement is finished. I am no longer pregnant, so a few weeks ago I began contemplating preschool music. My daughter loves going. I love teaching it. I didn't want to deal with charging money, so I decided to write my own curriculum and offer free classes for 8-10 kids. Viola!!!! I had 8 students willing to come for free in no time flat.

The theme of my first curriculum, which lasts 10 weeks, is Whimsical Adventures, where we explore fairy tales and nursery rhymes musically. We play instruments, sing, dance, learn a few ASL signs, and encounter about the importance of reading and writing when we draw lists and maps and plans in Nursery Rhyme and Fairy Tale Land.

This morning at 10:00 a.m. my little troop of preschoolers arrived, and we met in my basement, where we zoomed in fast cars, airplanes, buses, and trains to nursery rhyme land. We visited Mary Mary Quite Contrary's garden where we planted flowers, pretended to be bugs and rodents crawling around on the ground and flying the sky. We learned spider songs and rhymes, and danced a spider dance. We made mouse sounds on a drum as we sang Hickory Dickory Dock, played rhythm sticks, and had a tea party with Polly as we circled around her and her teapot with our parachute. I rolled around, jumped and danced so much I nearly got overheated. I can't wait for the next couple of weeks when we visit Jack and Jill, fly like bumblebees, create our own giants, build our own castles out of blocks, learn about glissandos and bass clarinets, and visit princesses, frogs, and runaway gingerbread cookies.

I love preschooler's exuberance with music, their curiosity and their WONDERFUL imaginations. Pretending is such a lost art form for adults.