Little Songs is something truly special that I dreamt up after both teaching and participating in music programs with my littles. I wanted to offer a program with live music; nothing piped in, and no backing tracks, just 100% Miss Flora and the families! I also wanted something other than the typical rhythm, tempo, and pitch lessons. Those are still fun and important, and I do incorporate those things, but I want more. I've decided to abandon the more formal education aspect and lean into play. That’s where I’ve always thrived!
I’ve been playing guitar, singing, and performing for nearly 20 years. “Hey There Delilah” by The Plain White T’s and “Tim McGraw” by Taylor Swift were a few of the first songs I learned to play on guitar, if that gives you an idea of how long ago that was! I made the switch to children’s music when my oldest was about four, and ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. Now some of mine and my children’s favorites artists are children’s musicians: Charlie Hope, Frances England, and Raffi, just to name a few. I grew up listening to Raffi, so I have officially come full circle.
When you come to a Little Songs Family Music Class, you won’t hear Baby Shark, Cocomelon, or Little Baby Bum. While many of these songs appeal to children, they tend to lack the emotional and cognitive depth and artistical understanding that we know children are capable of. Instead, I provide live guitar music every class and include artists such as Joni Mitchell, Simon & Garfunkel, Woofy Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and The Beatles, along with children’s artists like Caspar Babypants and Laurie Berkner. I include a few public domain well-known songs such as the “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, “You Are my Sunshine”, and a variation on “Wheels on the Bus” so we can all sing along, and once in a while I also pull out my own, never-heard-before originals!
While we do learn at Little Songs, I definitely focus more on connection, bonding, and socialization through music. We explore and learn about new instruments each week, but the lap songs (when a child sits on the parent or caregiver’s lap while we sing), fingerplay songs (using our hands to “act out” the lyrics), and scarf songs encourage interaction and connection between the child and their adult, and between the other children as well. Picture a circle of adults sitting on the floor with their legs stretched out in front of them. On their laps, they each have a baby or toddler facing them. Depending on the age of the child, they will either be looking at their adult, studying their mouth movements (which supports language development!), and interacting with them, or they will be observing the children in the circle next to them sitting on their adults’ laps, and potentially socializing and connecting with them over this joint, joyous experience.
Of course, you can do these things at home and support and connect with your child just as well, but doing so in a group setting adds to the experience! For example, my family and I drove to the path of totality to see April 2024’s solar eclipse. While it would have been fun to see the eclipse on our own, hearing the whooping and hollering of the neighborhood residents made it better because we knew we were all seeing it together. It was a group experience, and it was beautiful! Just like you could listen to music at home on your own, a group music class has the same benefits of going to see the artist in concert. Feeling the energy of the crowd makes the experience even better!
I’m also thrilled to be providing heirloom-quality, wooden children’s musical instruments for these classes, along with 100% organic mulberry silk play scarves (dyed naturally) to use for our scarf songs. Nothing but the best for my Little Songs friends!
I hope I’ve convinced you to try it out, friend. I’m so excited to be offering this one-of-a-kind music program for families because it’s unlike any other that Bowling Green has ever seen before. See you there!
Pic provided by a sweet mum friend who snapped this adorable moment between her littlest babe and I at The Nest downtown!
Comments