Mrs.Debus

Aloha Keiki Choir,

Please click on the link below, this will help you practice our song.

Good Luck!

He Mele No Lilo

Aloha,

This Fabulous article is straight form the Washington Post. It is a little long but I think if you read it all it will be well worth your time. The timing couldn’t be more perfect as we get close to March when we celebrate “Music in our Schools Month” and “Art Education” Month. Thank you parents, administration and everyone who KNOWS that a quality art education program whether it be music, art, drama or dance makes a huge impact on a child’s life.

Top 10 skills children learn from the arts

(by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

You don’t find school reformers talking much about how we need to train more teachers in the arts, given the current obsession with science, math, technology and engineering (STEM), but here’s a list of skills that young people learn from studying the arts. They serve as a reminder that the arts — while important to study for their intrinsic value — also promote skills seen as important in academic and life success. (That’s why some people talk  about changing the current national emphasis on STEM to STEAM.) This was written by Lisa Phillips is an author, blog journalist, arts and leadership educator, speaker and business owner. To learn about Lisa’s book, “The Artistic Edge: 7 Skills Children Need to Succeed in an Increasingly Right Brain World,” click here. This appeared on the ARTSblog, a program of Americans for the Arts.

1. Creativity – Being able to think on your feet, approach tasks from different perspectives and think ‘outside of the box’ will distinguish your child from others. In an arts program, your child will be asked to recite a monologue in 6 different ways, create a painting that represents a memory, or compose a new rhythm to enhance a piece of music. If children have practice thinking creatively, it will come naturally to them now and in their future career.

2. Confidence – The skills developed through theater, not only train you how to convincingly deliver a message, but also build the confidence you need to take command of the stage. Theater training gives children practice stepping out of their comfort zone and allows them to make mistakes and learn from them in rehearsal. This process gives children the confidence to perform in front of large audiences.

3. Problem Solving – Artistic creations are born through the solving of problems. How do I turn this clay into a sculpture? How do I portray a particular emotion through dance? How will my character react in this situation? Without even realizing it kids that participate in the arts are consistently being challenged to solve problems. All this practice problem solving develops children’s skills in reasoning and understanding. This will help develop important problem-solving skills necessary for success in any career.

4. Perseverance – When a child picks up a violin for the first time, she/he knows that playing Bach right away is not an option; however, when that child practices, learns the skills and techniques and doesn’t give up, that Bach concerto is that much closer. In an increasingly competitive world, where people are being asked to continually develop new skills, perseverance is essential to achieving success.

5. Focus – The ability to focus is a key skill developed through ensemble work. Keeping a balance between listening and contributing involves a great deal of concentration and focus. It requires each participant to not only think about their role, but how their role contributes to the big picture of what is being created. Recent research has shown that participation in the arts improves children’s abilities to concentrate and focus in other aspects of their lives.

6. Non-Verbal Communication – Through experiences in theater and dance education, children learn to breakdown the mechanics of body language. They experience different ways of moving and how those movements communicate different emotions. They are then coached in performance skills to ensure they are portraying their character effectively to the audience.

7. Receiving Constructive Feedback – Receiving constructive feedback about a performance or visual art piece is a regular part of any arts instruction. Children learn that feedback is part of learning and it is not something to be offended by or to be taken personally. It is something helpful. The goal is the improvement of skills and evaluation is incorporated at every step of the process. Each arts discipline has built in parameters to ensure that critique is a valuable experience and greatly contributes to the success of the final piece.

8. Collaboration – Most arts disciplines are collaborative in nature. Through the arts, children practice working together, sharing responsibility, and compromising with others to accomplish a common goal. When a child has a part to play in a music ensemble, or a theater or dance production, they begin to understand that their contribution is necessary for the success of the group. Through these experiences children gain confidence and start to learn that their contributions have value even if they don’t have the biggest role.

9. Dedication – When kids get to practice following through with artistic endeavors that result in a finished product or performance, they learn to associate dedication with a feeling of accomplishment. They practice developing healthy work habits of being on time for rehearsals and performances, respecting the contributions of others, and putting effort into the success of the final piece. In the performing arts, the reward for dedication is the warm feeling of an audience’s applause that comes rushing over you, making all your efforts worthwhile.

10. Accountability – When children practice creating something collaboratively they get used to the idea that their actions affect other people. They learn that when they are not prepared or on-time, that other people suffer. Through the arts, children also learn that it is important to admit that you made a mistake and take responsibility for it. Because mistakes are a regular part of the process of learning in the arts, children begin to see that mistakes happen. We acknowledge them, learn from them and move on.

 

January 31, 2013

Aloha to all present and future member of the Keiki Choir, this means second grade students too,
We are very excited to announce that during the spring of 2014 the Keiki Choir and the Middle School 7th and 8th grade band will be traveling to California for a series of concerts, workshops and of course WE’RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND.
If your child is a 5th grade member of the choir this year (2012-2013) they are also invited to be on this trip. As Lilo and Stitch says, “’Ohana means family, family means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten.” It has always been an option for 6th grade students who were members of the Keiki Choir to remain in the choir for 6th grade. Some years we have a several students that opted to do that – they even performed with us in the Christmas and Spring Concerts. Middle School does not offer a choir experience in the 6th grade and we want our students to be able to continue if they so desire. Since next year is a travel year for the choir I hope that many of the singers will choose to remain with us. Our rehearsal schedule will remain the same, the 6th graders will join us in rehearsal when they are released from school a few minutes after the elementary students are released. It is very doable.
None of the children have know anything about this trip and I suggest that you tell them the news as I know it will be all over school on Monday and this is best heard from you.
We are planning an informational meeting for all interested families on February 20th at 5:30 in the Middle School Band room. We will be joined by our trip coordinator Rebecca Ito, from Travel Pro. She is a veteran of bringing K.S. groups to the mainland and a former band parent herself. She will be able to answer many of your questions that evening.
Hope to see you there,

CANON2 from KSH Kula Ha'aha'a on Vimeo.

4th graders have been studying canons. Not sure what one is? Well you might know them as “rounds” or “chase” songs. “Row, row, row your boat” is of course the most well known round/canon.
I love this canon and especially love the way our keiki play it. If anyone knows how I could make this into my iPhone ring please let me know. It would be so much more pleasant to listen to than the ring I have now.

Here are our third graders taking aural dictation the fun way. Listening and “writing” phrases made up of quarter and eighth notes has never been so fun. Who knew that craft foam and popsicle sticks could be so useful?

“Rig- a- Jig- Jig” is a favorite way that our keiki to offer a sincere greeting in music class. I love to watch the eye contact, gentle touch and happy faces as each student joins the rest of the class in this “play party song”. If you are not sure what a play party song is, please ask one of our 2nd graders, they will be happy to tell you all about it.

This was our first day of dancing the box step for our keiki. If you want to see some awesome 5th graders putting out 100% please watch. I you prefer to wait to see them at the concert I would understand. It was such a chicken skin moment for me as a teacher I could watch it over and over again–try to look past the really tall women in the movie (we had two girls absent so I danced with Gage), he was terrific, me not so much, too busy looking at everyone else with awe!

Aloha, Our wonderful Middle School students took some great shots of our darling keiki.

Please click on the link below to see the pictures. Check back to the BLOG often as there are many more pictures to come as well as some video of the concert. Feel free to share this link with your ʻohana who could not attend the concert.

Happy Holidays

A Keikiʻs Christmas 12/07/2012