From list at tomhunter.com Wed Oct 3 17:31:50 2007 From: list at tomhunter.com (Tom Hunter - The Song Growing Co.) Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2007 14:31:50 -0700 Subject: Many a Musing from Tom Hunter Message-ID: <001a01c80604$cf4635e0$0302a8c0@SGC> Many A Musing... Greetings to you all as we head ever farther into autumn (and announce a NEW CD). It's just past spider web season around here with webs on fences and bushes glistening with dew in the dawning sun - nothing more beautiful. What's a distinctive sign of the season where you are?... Many responses (thank you.) to my last question about how to get magic marker off a shirt: hairspray (for its alcohol) applied with cue tips topped the list. Scissors were suggested and so was "get a new shirt." . My question this time comes from hearing that many grandparents are interested in family traditions, including familiar folk songs they sang with their own children and now want to pass on to their grandchildren. That suggests grandparents might want CD's of those songs to give to their families. Does anyone have any wisdom on this?. IT'S TRUE -- WE HAVE A NEW CD! It's called "From Seeds So Small - experiencing math through music." We produced it with Teaching Strategies and Kaplan, it's included in the Creative Curriculum for Preschool Math Kits, and now you can get the CD by itself. I'm pleased with how this CD explores what I think is an appropriate connection between songs and math. It's not a CD to teach or instruct kids in math or numbers or multiplication tables, and it has no cutesy originals. All the songs have been around a while, and they've been sung for years as good songs. We've recorded several of them elsewhere, all are chosen to give kids experiences of math rather than teach them concepts, and that distinction is critical. To learn more about this "appropriate connection," click here to find a pdf of the CD liner notes -- you may need to zoom in to read it. We've also included on the CD lyric sheet suggestions of how to think about and use each song. In fact, the liner notes and lyric sheets are as important as the recorded songs in understanding this project. It's new for us to connect songs this closely with curriculum, so we'd love your honest response. Our first new CD in quite a while, and we're excited! You can order by going to our Recordings & Books page on our web site. A story: I spent a week late this summer at a cottage on Little Traverse Bay in northern Michigan. My great grandfather built it and it's been in the family for 100 years. One afternoon we sat on the never-changing porch with gladiolas on the table - my 91-year-old parents, my 85-year-old aunt and uncle, one of my cousins and her husband - and we talked about the future of the cottage. New generations have new concerns, new tastes and interests. There are growing differences about if and how to improve it, but everyone agrees the cottage is the glue that has nourished family connections among us for generations. There's something very moving to me about the depth of those relationships and the impact of that place. You get a long look through many years when you sit on that Michigan porch... Flying home, I thought about a school year starting and all the seeds that will be planted in children's lives in the coming months, seeds that may grow in them for a long time. Maybe they will sing with their children and grandchildren a song you teach them this year. Maybe a book will become a lifelong friend. Maybe an unexpected moment will stick in their memory and sustain them into adulthood. I encourage you now and then to look up from all the daily details (safety issues, nutritious snacks, requirements, schedules, readiness, etc etc) and take a longer look at the kids you spend your days with. What you do with them this year may well last a long time. Oct. appearances: Bare bones here, more details on the web site; always interested in scheduling conferences, staff development sessions, and school residencies. 5-6 - Bloomington, IN - concert and workshops with Bev Bos and Michael Leeman 18 -19 - seminar for the Bureau of Education and Research (BER) - "Strengthening Early Literacy Skills Through the Use of Music" - Thurs. in Birmingham, Fri. in Atlanta 24 - Portland, OR - family concert 25-26 - staff development retreat for Portland area preschool 26 - Hillsboro, OR - family concert Upcoming: Good Stuff for Kids in Roseville CA; NAEYC national conference in Chicago; keynote and workshops for UMAP conference in FL; BER in Dec. in Long Island, Hartford, Boston, Manchester, Portland ME Recordings for sale: In addition to the NEW CD described earlier, all our other recordings are available. What better time to lay up supplies? A cord of CD's for the winter? Fund-raisers, random gifts whenever you want, company in the car or at bed time, to sing along with in the classroom or while making jello - the possibilities abound! Great note this month from a mother who gave a CD as a gift to a friend who had just given birth. The new mom says it's the best gift they got - they play it all the time, and the baby hums. Start 'em early, I say, and songs will last a lifetime. Click here to go to our Recordings & Books page. Happy fall, everyone! Some of you have asked about reproducing parts of this newsletter - yes, whenever you want to... May your musings be many and productive, or if not productive, at least fun.. Until next time. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE SONG GROWING CO. 1225 E. Sunset Dr., #518 Bellingham, WA 98226 (360) 738-0340 fax: (360) 734-0295 songgrow at tomhunter.com www.tomhunter.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 9313 bytes Desc: not available Url : From list at tomhunter.com Mon Nov 19 17:48:19 2007 From: list at tomhunter.com (Tom Hunter - The Song Growing Co.) Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:48:19 -0800 Subject: Many a Musing from Tom Hunter Message-ID: <000a01c82afe$48cdb640$0202a8c0@SGC> Many a Musing... Greetings to you all as Thanksgiving week arrives. We're sending you a shorter edition of "many a musing" with a longer poetic Happy Thanksgiving. Last year I wrote a poem and many of you sent thoughtful responses, so we're trying another one. Last year's poem, "In These Days of Hype and Lights," complete with public domain art added by Doug in Coeur d'Alene, ID, is available on our web site. Click here to go directly to the Resources page. The visuals make it extra moving. Also available on the resources page are three songs specifically recorded so you can download them free - just take 'em! I'm particularly eager to get your response to "As Human As They Can Be." The blessing on the resource page (in sheet music) is being used in several churches. Take that too if you want, or ignore it if you don't. All of these things - poems, songs, blessing - are our gifts to you. Feel free to spread them around however you want, and mention our website when appropriate. The seasonal push for gifts is upon us. What better gift than songs? We have a bunch of good songs on good recordings awaiting your order. Click here to go to our Recordings & Books page. If you want CD's autographed before we send them out, let us know. With that, we hope you have a wonderful week with at least a little time for "moments saved from scurrying." A Moment Saved A moment saved from scurrying, A moment set apart To sit before the children come, Before the school day starts, A moment somehow strong enough To hold up all the rest, To lean against and settle back, To breathe the quietness. Here there aren't requirements, Computers don't exist, No debates on readiness, No tests or scores or lists. Here you see the children, One at a time, I mean - Josie wearing wizard's robes, Both cheeks painted green. Aaron spinning, Crystal's songs, Pedro digs all day. Jack collects things, anything, Annie finds a way To hide in every corner. The details tumble on, All the ways you know each child, And how each one belongs. Then somewhere from the details Comes growing gratitude, So much thanks to feel and give For what you know and do, To have such power to teach kids well, To feel so full, alive. Wait a minute, hold that thought - Pedro just arrived. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE SONG GROWING CO. 1225 E. Sunset Dr., #518 Bellingham, WA 98226 (360) 738-0340 fax: (360) 734-0295 songgrow at tomhunter.com www.tomhunter.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 9313 bytes Desc: not available Url : From list at tomhunter.com Fri Dec 14 18:55:46 2007 From: list at tomhunter.com (Tom Hunter - The Song Growing Co.) Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:55:46 -0800 Subject: Many a Musing from Tom Hunter Message-ID: <001c01c83eac$d8ca6920$0202a8c0@SGC> Many a Musing... Greetings to you all from a cold and drizzly December day. Big thanks to you who commented on the poem we sent in our last musing, and to you who ordered CD's to send around as gifts. We even signed a few before sending them out. There's still time to order if you want to. Any orders received here by the end of Tuesday, Dec. 18 will be mailed in time for you to have them for Christmas. Everything on the web site is available. Click here to go directly to our Recordings & Books page. Also check the "Resources" page for songs and articles to download. It's very satisfying to know that many of you have passed around "As Human as They Can Be." A question: Why does 38 degrees and damp feel colder than 20 degrees and dry? A thought from Mary Oliver: "Can one be passionate about the just, the ideal, the sublime, and the holy, and yet commit no labor in its cause? I don't think so." (It's from "What I Have Learned So Far" in the wonderful book of poems, Leading From Within - I highly recommend it.) All last week I was in New England presenting seminars for teachers and every day experienced their passion - in our singing together, in tears and laughter, in stories about kids, in the desire to make our labor even more effective. Thank you teachers (and parents) for what you do day after day. With a break coming, may you find some quietness to enjoy, may you have moments that feed your passion, and may your new year be fantastic! Until next time. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE SONG GROWING CO. 1225 E. Sunset Dr., #518 Bellingham, WA 98226 (360) 738-0340 fax: (360) 734-0295 songgrow at tomhunter.com www.tomhunter.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 9313 bytes Desc: not available Url :