Music and the Sterchi Turkey Hoedown

We missed Lisa today but the children were excited to spend time with Caroline. They presented her with a thank you card and showed her the beautiful centerpieces that were inspired but the metal insects she sent us in a special insect themed package last month. Caroline always has something special for us, and today was no exception. She brought us two books with no words, and the first book she learned to read. Thank you Caroline for your thoughtfulness, and please visit us again soon!

Yesterday, while the children were at the magnet wall, they spotted our collection of musical instruments.  They began to explore our drums and tambourines, but we had to play softly since we were inside. Today, we brought our instruments outside so we could shake, drum and shout to our heart’s content. Sally began playing “The Ants Go Marching” on the recorder; Leigh played “Twinkle Twinkle”, Margaret serenaded us with Hannah Montana. On the pirate ship, Kian, Rowan and Charlie began to play Jingle Bells on the drums. When Sam changed his instrument to a chime, Kian chose a recorder and Charlie chose small cymbals. Did they feel the drums would drown out the new instruments? Soon, more and more children joined in and we started to notice different ways to play the instruments and combine sounds. Jack first beat a drum with a mallet but then alternated between the drum and tambourine, creating a musical pattern! 
The children’s interest in music growing, so if you have any musical talents, connections or ideas to share please reach out! We expect the concepts around sound and music to project into the New Year, so stay tuned to see where our musical inquiry leads!

​We heard our mystery guest before we could see them. A warbaly sound came down the hall…but what and who was it? It was Louis and Reed Sterchi making turkey calls! Louis demonstrated how to make the call of a female turkey to attract males when going hunting. Then we learned that Tennessee bluegrass is a very popular and lively genre for Tucker room dance parties. Thank you so much for bringing southern twang to St John’s!