Here at Song of the Heart we are firm believers in the power of rituals. Rituals bind communities and cultures together, gives meaning to our days, gives people a sense of security, and helps us identify other members of our culture. Rituals can also give children a sense of predictability, comfort, and social safety.
We have cultivated a special Song of the Heart goodbye ritual to cap off every class. Each teacher may put their own spin on it, but the essentials are there. We’ve already covered the goodbye song and wishing well, but there is still a little more. Let’s dance out the door!
Your educator picks a song to play while your children line up at the door. Lining up is a learned skill that will help them with school readiness, and then they have to wait their turn. Inhibitory control in action! We’ve been practicing it all class long, and we get another dose of practice at the end.
Some classes utilize hand stamps as a final gift from the educator to the children. It always matches the theme of the class, and the children always look forward to it! This is a precious moment when the educator has the opportunity to help your child develop the pro-social behavior of making eye contact. This can be hard for lots of people, and learning to do it as a child, in a loving environment, with a beloved teacher is a gentle way to help teach it.
Eye contact, a hand stamp, and then the cherry on top . . . a personalized sung goodbye. Your teacher will use your child’s name, giving them a sense of importance and validation. This is also modeling good vocal technique. The teacher encourages your child to sing goodbye back, using their teacher’s name. This sweet exchange lets your child know they are cared for and are important as an individual. It gives them an opportunity to practice singing on pitch, in an appropriate range, in a call-and-response structure. They’re getting one-on-one attention and a mini music lesson all in one brief moment.
This out the door ritual prepares your child for the transition away from class, into the lobby, and back to the car. Transitions can be very difficult for some children, so predictability and routine are essential for making it doable for them.
This brief moment is one of our favorites in class. We love each and every child enrolled at Song of the Heart and want them, and you, to know it!
We’ve sung, we’ve danced, we’ve explored, we’ve imagined, we’ve played, and we’ve snuggled. Now it is time to say goodbye.
But this is Kindermusik. We don’t say goodbye. We SING goodbye.
Each level of Kindermusik has a different goodbye song, appropriate in complexity to the developmental range of the children. Read these simple, yet beautiful, goodbye lyrics.
Foundations:“Goodbye babies, goodbye grownups. Goodbye everyone, it’s time to sing goodbye.” This song is so simple, with gentle repetition — perfect for very young babies in their pre-language learning phase.
Level 1:“Farewell, my friends, until next time, let’s wave goodbye. Farewell, my friends, until next time let’s wave goodbye today.”
For older babies who understand more language and are starting to vocalize, this song is slightly more complex yet still highly repetitive. It involves waving which is the typical developmental way a child this age can express goodbye.
Level 2:“Goodbye, *goodbye* (echo), Goodbye, *goodbye* . . . it’s time to wave goodbye to our friends. . . .”
This simple song teaches toddlers to begin singing back as the educator models a simple “my turn, your turn” method to learning pitch recognition. For you music theory enthusiasts, you will recognize it as the descending minor third, an interval found almost universally across cultures in childhood folks songs and school-yard taunts.
Levels 3 & 4: “Everybody wave and sing goodbye . . . sing goodbye goodbye.”
This song continues to challenge the children as they develop language and musical skills with more participation, more singing, and an uptempo melody.
Level 5: “Fare thee well, fondly, my good friends. Fare thee well now ’till we meet again. Think of me fondly, my good friends. Farewell, for now, farewell.”
The most complex or our goodbye songs for our oldest musical makers, this song challenges their singing skills and continues to promote the socialization and bonding of the group that they’ve been learning all throughout the years.
Wish Well: To cap off our classes we like to wish each other well. This is a brief but sweet moment when we can make eye contact, think of the other people in our class, hold them in our hearts, and express empathy for them. This idea is inspired by the Wish Well Ritual from Conscious Discipline that offers a way to help someone by sending them calming, supportive, loving energy, when physical help is not an option. It teaches children empathy through modeling and provides them an opportunity to think of others.
Studies have shown developing empathy allows for building social connections, regulation of one’s own emotions, co-regulation of another’s emotions, and promotes other positive social behaviors. In this modern divisive world, we could all use a little more empathy. That is, in part, what Kindermusik is all about. And one of the reasons why we are Song of the HEART studios.
And with that . . . together, or apart, you are always in our heart. We wish you well!
