I’m in a room with twenty-five children, four of whom use wheelchairs. As the children act out a song about butterflies, I choose several students from the “typical” classroom to partner with the children with disabilities. The students walk over cautiously at first. But they seem to overcome their shyness as they dance about the kids in wheelchairs. Smiles of pride come to their faces – they’re just five years old, but they’re doing something helpful that makes a difference in another child’s life.
This is my third year as a teaching artist with VSA MA at the Condon School in South Boston, integrating music with the literacy curriculum for children in the early childhood classrooms through first grade. Condon’s student population includes many students with special needs, and VSA MA’s main goal is to bring together children with a range of abilities through the arts.
This year, we combined classrooms in my music sessions to bring together students from Condon’s Developmental Day Care (DDC) program with the Pre-K and kindergarten classes. The DDC students face many obstacles in their daily lives – most have multiple, severe disabilities.
The other children in the school see the DDC students coming down the hall and may feel curious, worried, or even fearful. My music program aims, in part, to help demystify the lives and experiences of these fellow students, and create a place where everyone can enjoy an engaging arts experience.
I’ve received capable assistance from Maureen Finnerty, known to her young fans simply as “Moe” or “Miss Moe”. Moe – who has cerebral palsy – has been part of VSA since her own youth. It’s clear when you meet Moe that her early arts experiences had a formative role in shaping her career. Today she serves in a variety of roles as a teaching artist, theater director and performer.
Moe helped demystify the DDC students for me, too. With her help, I learned about how to make my repertoire of tunes, stories, rhythm and lyrics more accessible to a child with a severe disability. I learned about the stimulating vibration of rumbling thunder cans, which help enhance these children’s experiences in learning about the Big Bad Wolf or the troll in the Billy Goats Gruff. I learned about using soft-textured beanbags for learning through touch, and providing stimulating colors as we waved scarves.
Most of all, I saw how the active experience of music and movement can bring a story to life for children with a variety of abilities and learning styles. A favorite among the youngest children is my song about the Three Little Pigs. I assign the students parts – as pigs, houses and wolves. For some, there’s little to match the experience of belting out the blues chorus of the Big Bad Wolf.
It’s especially fun to watch one little girl from the DDC class respond to the song. Her speech, mobility and eyesight are limited, but the minute anyone mentions that wolf, she starts to blow! With the help of her teacher, she’s soon careening around the classroom to the bad-wolf chorus.
I also learned from Moe that an important learning milestone for the DDC students is the understanding of cause and effect, and making choices. In my music/movement rendition of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, all of the students have a chance to choose different ways to participate, including playing a colorful rain stick to make the sound of the river, shaking a thunder can to create a “troll” effect or tapping rhythm sticks to make the Billy Goats’ “trip-trip-trip” on the bridge.
Helping students understand and make these choices is a big part of enhancing their educational experience. It helps them grasp the concepts in the story, too. Through acting out the story, I hope the students are not only having fun, but learning something important. Whatever challenges they might face – whether it’s a physical disability, language barrier or a learning issue – they have strength inside themselves to stand up to adversity and overcome it.
Liz Buchanan’s music programs are designed for fun and learning for children from infancy through age seven, although older children and adults also love her songs. Liz loves engaging children with stories and drama, building literacy learning through the arts. Liz holds an MFA in Creative Writing as well as a Masters in Education. In classrooms, in libraries, in the community—Liz’s music and creative arts programs help children love learning. Click here to see more of Liz’s Music on Songs For Teaching.
Click here to see more songs for working with children with special needs.
This blog post was originally published on VSA Mass Blog for All on May 2, 2013.