The Sound of Music
Written By Rani Arbo
print
single page
Opening Notes
We were late for our first Kindermusik class, so I carried Quinn into the community center. We were greeted by the teacher and half a dozen mothers with children on their laps, tapping knees and singing a melodious "Hello" song. I thought it was lovely, but Quinn clung to me and refused to let me sit down, so we stood to the side until the song ended. "Take your time," said Mrs. Tresner, a 17-year teaching veteran. "He'll join when he's ready."
She then launched into a song about a train called the Allee-Allee-O and invited the kids to hop, fly, and tiptoe down the tracks. This was too much for Quinn to resist; he slithered from my arms and started flapping his wings, and we were on board the "Zoo Train" (the name of the class). The hour flowed easily; Mrs. Tresner picked up on suggestions and signals from the kids at every turn. She'd mimic an 18-month-old's hand gesture and say, "Oh, let's fly, then," or take a cue from Quinn's manic stomping to call for a hippopotamus march. Occasionally, she'd divulge a hidden motive. "We're working on developing a steady beat here," she said to the parents, "and an understanding of fast and slow tempos."
Like most Kindermusik classes, ours included kids in a relatively narrow age range, from 18 months to 3 years. Overtly, the kids ignored each other, and they didn't talk or sing much. But under Mrs. Tresner's invisible wand, they moved in unison like an elaborate toddler symphony, rioting and quieting by turns — moms in tow.
< previous | 2 | next >
