Channing Thursday August 18th

I think one of the most important lessons I have learned on this trip is that nothing is predictable, especially children. Today was one of the best days we have had in group. We decided that we would institute the use of the parachute, given the children would behave appropriately, and it worked. There was far less chasing today, as the children entered the sessions in what seemed to be a far more centered energy. In case you are not familiar as to what a music therapy session can entail, or maybe you and are interested in what we are doing, here is what Ranjana and I used as our outline today. I say outline very loosely as it is nearly impossible to predict the emotional stability of these children.
Welcome Jam
I've got the Joy - Parachute activity
Simon Says
Twinkle Twinkle
Goodbye
Ranjana and I composed a welcoming song to be sung  a capella with parachute movements. We established this at the beginning of the week to establish a sense of stability in the beginning of the sessions. At this point, most children have begun picking up some of the words and singing along, aside from picking up the movements.
I mentioned previously that Ranajana and I had a hard time focusing the children, due to their varying disabilities After some great advice from Julianne, our supervisor,  we decided we would institute more structure forms of activity. Today we began by easing them out of the parachute with an activity I had learned in a christian camp I attended as a child. Because of the religious demographic on this island, we have been encouraged to implement christian songs. This song offers a call and response between two sides of the parachute, Ranjana would lead one side and I would lead the other echoing each others movements. The structure of this activity allowed the children to feel more in control of themselves making them less likely to act out.
As the movement room, we also make it a point to really get the kids moving to the best of their abilities. Keeping along the lines of structural continuity, Ranjana and I wrote a song that plays the game Simon says with musical and physical instructions. These instructions range from fine motor movements such as finger wiggling, to gross motor movements including running or rolling around the room. This echos the feel of the first song where the children feel more in control of themselves as they make the decisions to actively follow the instructions. The children also offered suggestions which Ranjana implemented into the song using their names instead of Simon. She also echoed the choices made by the children in her active music making, supporting the actions of run and hop with appropriate musical choices, increasing tempo, or decreasing dynamics.
After playing simon says for a decent amount of time, the children were actually asking if they could rest or lay down. This was the first time this had happened, previously the children had been begging for more running activities. So today instead of having our active scarf activity with twinkle twinkle  little star, we had each of the children lay down with their feet tucked under the parachute as if they were tucking themselves into bed. While laying down we gently ruffled the parachute to create a "night time breeze" effect, and sang twinkle twinkle little star. This provided the appropriate calm atmosphere we wanted the children to have when transitioning to the goodbye song and leaving with before heading onto their next session.
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In other news!
We went to a recording studio today called Hopscotch Productions to meet a traditional Caymanian band called Swanky. They play a style of music called kitchen band, comprised of kitchen instruments, a fiddle, guitar, and percussion. This experience was absolutely incredible. They were so knowledgeable about the history of the island and the music on the island. I felt incredibly blessed to have this opportunity! We ended up jamming with them with their Caymanian music and they recorded us!