Have you ever noticed when one child comes up with a silly idea, how the rest catch on and suddenly it's a phenomenon?  I don't remember who came up with the idea of magical leaves, but every time we do something with leaves falling to the ground, they all insist that their leaves are "magical".  These magical leaves somehow stay attached to the tree, despite the blustery wind, the rain, snow, squirrels, birds, and everything else in the tree's nature telling it to drop it's leaves.  Instead of getting discouraged by the path the children chose to take with the leaf activity, I asked them to make up a song about their magical leaf.  Since my song was about the leaves falling gently down to the ground, their song should be about their magical leaf that stays in the tree.  To my surprise and utter delight, they took the same melody, matched pitch, and changed the words to accomodate their circumstance.  Individually, each child showed their creativity, observations, and courage.  I am so proud of them for doing that - and the lesson to me is how it came about by accident, or rather, by letting them take the lead.

I love the social aspect of the 3-5 year-old.  In music class, I do most of the speaking and most conversations take place between myself and another student.  So, it is really refreshing to listen to a conversation between two or three children!  Especially when it is a thoughtful one at that!  Not only do these children give meaning and consideration to the act of preparing for a fall walk, but in a manner in which they interact with and build on the ideas and comments of other children.  These two children happen to be classmates in preschool, so they felt comfortable with each other enough to carry on a discussion, which could have gone on much longer independent of my comments.  This was the conversation as we prepared for a fall walk on a stony road with no cars:

Eddie:  And there will be signs on the road.

Ms. Joy:  Well, there are no cars allowed on the road, so there is no need for any signs.

Eddie:  But, there might be a sign at the start of the road that says, "No cars allowed."

Kyrstin:  Because the road is stony, so if cars went on the road they would get a flat tire.

Ms. Joy:  Good thinking! 

These are the rewards of singing, telling stories, and making music with young children.  They reveal the code behind the daily, unremarkable thoughts of the adult and give a new luster to what we thought was mundane!