Music and movement sessions in Kulosaari school

Today we have had the last music and movement session of this autumn season with the kids in Kulosaari school. It is an activity I have been offering for free for the children in the school during this autumn term and also during the last school year.

As it was the last lesson of the season, we decided to invite the parents to join the lesson and see what we have been doing all this time.

It has been beautiful to see the parents join the activities, games, songs, move with their children and learn what they have been learning. The parents have also commented that it has been very nice for them to see it as the children have been singing the songs at home…

The most relevant thing, I think, it is how important it is for the children to show their parents what they have done. They were really excited the day I proposed the idea of the parents coming in our last lesson and they have been excited waiting for this moment.

This experience also has made me reflect that it could be a beautiful possibility to develop sessions in the future where parents and children are together in the sessions, so family music and movement lessons. I am not sure if parents and children share spaces like this together -with the hectic every day lives we live in our current society- and especially where arts and artistic education are involved.

Food for thought…

It has also been important this closure, as during this autumn, some of the children have been dropping from the activity because they preferred to stay outside playing with their best friends from their class - at the same time I was offering the activity there was the afternoon club happening, where the kids play freely outside and inside the school. It is understandable that the kids after the long school day want to stay playing with their friends and if one of the friends decides not to continue the activity then the other follows, and this is what has happened, with domino effect… This has been sad to experience but also a learning for me and the children who stayed in the activity that no matter these circumstances we learn to stick to an activity we committed and we end the season, even if we are less. I think it is a learning for life in general: when we commit to something we try to finish it and then we decide next what we want to do with that.

I have experienced these last years teaching in Finland that, nowadays, children are given so much freedom to decide what they want to do all the time -and I know it is important they have a certain amount of freedom- and they don’t have enough guidance… But I will reflect more about this topic in another post.

I am happy to read your reflections in the comments.

#mylearningjourney #grateful #teachersreflections