Rainey Room Sing Along

Sharing Family Favorites

As part of our ongoing work to develop and foster children's unique identity in the classroom, we asked families to record and share songs they enjoy together at home. A large part of children's identities are their families and the traditions and experiences they share with them. The family environment is the context in which authentic identity begins to develop. Learning about family backgrounds provides meaningful ways for children to both learn about themselves and to consider their similarities and differences with others. 

In the past few days, children have shared recordings of them and family members, such as siblings, parents and grandparents, singing and dancing to their "family favorite" with the classroom.  Teaching their songs to the class brought the children great joy and a strong sense of pride and ownership. 

Thank you to everyone who has shared their recordings with us so far! ​If you haven't had a chance to send your family favorite yet, there's still time! We will continue to share and learn new songs from each other in the upcoming weeks. We'd love to eventually combine and share with you everyone's favorite song in a classroom playlist.

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Finlay's Family Favorite 

Finlay and his mom, Camille, have a great time dressing up and moving to "This song  is gonna get stuck in your head" at home. After sharing this video with everyone during snack, Finlay observed his friend's reactions and concluded "I think they really like it" as they wiggled and giggled in their chairs. Together, we decided that this would be a great song to add to our classroom dance party playlist.

Remy's Family Favorite

The song Remy shared with us is part of a family tradition that has been passed down from her grandmother to her mother and now to her. The song originated from making cinnamon toast together.
​The needed steps are: mix "cimanon and sugar" in a bowl, "put the bread in" the toaster, "spread the butter" and then you "sprinkle it on, sprinkle it off, sprinkle it on again". And then don't forget to eat it ;)

Saul's Family Favorite 

"The Forklift Song" is one of Saul's favorite songs. Saul's interest in construction vehicles also shows at school, as they are one of his preferred choices in the outdoor classroom. Him and his sister, Riva, sang and performed "The Forklift Song" for us, including an amazing guitar solo from Saul. The catching melody and movement aspect quickly turned this song into a new classroom favorite as well. 

Today it was our turn to lead our first Sing Along of the year!
In addition to some of our old favorites like Baa Baa Black Sheep, Rags, and The Firetruck Song (which was also taught to us by our friend Bea and her family at the beginning of Brown Room) we included the new songs we learned this week from our friends Remy and Saul in our Sing Along.
​It was so much fun seeing our families on the screen and singing and moving together! 

Snack with Lucas 

We have been missing our dear friends Lucas a lot! That is why we were excited to have a snack date with him on Monday. As special guests, his sister Zoe, mom Megan and dad Dan joined us as well. His dad was also our Mystery Reader! Thank you for reading, Ada Twist Scientist to us! It was wonderful to chat about the different foods we're having for snack and exchanging our plans for the day. 

Lucas, we can't wait to see you again soon! We love you!