Music class - 27 Nov 09

He had his music class on Friday as a replacement for Sat's. It was just 2 kids, A and my son.

Shouting experiment
The teacher decided to try out something he did in the past, to see if it has the same effects on my son. He asked A to stand far away at the kitchen door while the teacher was at the piano area. Then my son wanted to join A there too - he likes to copy what other big kids do.

He asked A what colours were the objects that he held out on his hands.  A shouted out the colours and my son did too when it was his turn. I was surprised that my son's speech volume was so loud! Articulation is a bit off e.g. "blue" = "buu" cos he cant pronounce the letter "l" yet.

If he can speak so loudly all the time, I think a lot more people would be able to understand him. His music teacher tells me to do that at home ie speak to him from a distance. He says it is the visual cue (the distance) that prompts them to speak louder. In the past, just verbally asking him to speak louder didnt really work. So, using visual cue might do the trick. His music teacher is so kind, caring and such a blessing!

Fingering on keys
The aim of that activity was to teach him which key is do, re, mi, fa etc. He's to play along to what the teacher plays. For the older boy, it was to teach him which finger goes on which key. Needless to say, my son isn't ready for the fingering cos he has issues with finger manipulation. I know of activities that can help but is a matter of finding the time and making it fun for him.
Twinkle Twinkle
Teacher seemed pleased when he was teaching my son that tune. I didnt get the chance to ask why. I'm guessing it's because my son moved his finger to the right keys (for just a few notes). In the past 2 weeks, I had wanted to ask the teacher to try letting my son move to the keys himself (instead of teacher moving his hand there) cos I suspect he is able to for a few notes. Perhaps I'm overly optimistic?
Follow the leader
He's meant to march to the beat of the music, taking turns with A to lead. My son still thinks that when someone is behind him, they are chasing him. He also isnt able to truly follow the lead if a different path is taken. I think he's too excited and a bit of a overload.
Boomshakers
Teacher brought out a new music making instrument called the boomshakers. Very cool but I got worried when he showed them how it's used. I could imagine kids misusing them to whack each other! But of course, it didnt happen. They whacked the mummies and teacher (ouch) and the chairs to get the sounds of the different notes.

I noted that my son was very slightly gagging (more like yawning) very often when he was whacking it. It's that correlation again between his hand movement and oral motor problem, which I dont understand fully.
Soundmakers
Another cool music making object. Kids love this. Noted that he could follow very simple rhythm of a maximum of 3 evenly timed beats. If it's more than 3 beats e.g. 4 beats, he gets excited and beats far far more. Also, if it is unevenly timed beats e.g. slow fast fast, he cant do it. This one I can understand cos it's a problem with his reflexes (I think to do with sending of messages from brain to muscle). Still, I'm happy enough to see that he is finally making a tiny bit of progress ie. can copy/repeat 3 even timed beats.

Advice - 4 yr or 5yr old class
Since his music teacher is very experienced not just in music but also understands early childhood and has observed my son, I asked if he should be with the 4 or 5 year olds next year. His advice was to put him with 4 year olds because of his motor disabilities.