Dear List:
I am writing to ask advice. My son is in kindergarten, and attends an
elementary school (K-5) divided into lower (K-2) and upper (3-5)
classrooms. That is, K-2 kids are together in one large classroom that
breaks down into smaller groups for various activities, and the grade
3-5 kids are together in another separate classroom.
The school has a music teacher who is a trumpet player and a nice man.
He seems to teach the kids many interesting facts about music and sound
and he brings in a different instrument each week to show the kids.
The grade 3-5 kids receive instruction in the recorder, while the K-2
kids do some singing.
My concern is the singing. It would appear that the teacher has little
to no background in singing or teaching singing. The few songs that
they sing are in a low key, and the teacher encourages the kids to
"stand straight" and "sing strongly." In December there was a holiday
performance and I thought the singing was terrible - the kids were
shouting and there was no unison to the pitches.
I am not suggesting that very young kids be "trained" as singers - but
I wish the teacher would not encourage the yelling and would find a way
to have the children sing more in their "head voice" and more in tune.
I would like to discuss my concerns about the kids singing with the
school Principal, but would like to be able to offer some helpful
suggestions. What advice do you have for me? Buy the music teacher a
book - like Ken Phillips' "Teaching Kids to Sing"? Bring in another
teacher for a few "special" visits and hope the regular teacher picks
up a few tricks?
Obviously there is a need for some sensitivy here. As I mentioned, the
music teacher is a nice man and the kids like him, and he seems to be
getting the kids interested in learning about different musical
instruments. How can we help this teacher to improve his singing
instruction to the kids, and what is a good approach to take when
talking to the principal?
Thanks in advance,
Michael Gordon
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