By Emily Younker
eyounker@joplinglobe.com
PITTSBURG, Kan. — Look up Carol Deats on a Monday evening, and you might find her leading a group of preschoolers on an imaginary walk through Old MacDonald’s farm.
“We actually get up and take a walk” after singing and dancing to the children’s song, she said. “(I tell them to) feel the leaves crunching under your feet; feel the cow’s nose. It really helps their literature skills, and it helps their imagination.”
The activity is one part of Deats’ weekly Musikgarten class, a music education program for preschoolers. Musikgarten is a national early childhood music education program that trains teachers such as Deats in music and movement for children up to age 9.
“Children do a lot of play in here,” said Deats, an assistant professor of music at Pittsburg State University. “They do a lot of singing and movement activities. They do listening activities; they play rhythms.”
Because children’s music education is so important to her, Deats also teaches a university course called Children’s Music for students majoring in elementary education.
Her students are currently working on designing cross-curricular activities that incorporate a children’s song into other areas of study.
For example, Deats said, a student might choose the song “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” to sing with his or her class and then follow up with a social studies unit on the historical importance of trains.
“They will know how to incorporate music into their curriculum,” Deats said of the course.
Craig Fuchs, chairman of the Pittsburg State music department, said he was excited to introduce Musikgarten in the spring as part of the Music Preparatory School curriculum, which offers private music lessons in several instruments and in voice.
He said the goal of Musikgarten is to raise the level of interest in music in both parents and children.
“It’s good quality time for a parent to spend with their child,” Fuchs said. “My kids are a little too old for it, or I probably would have enrolled them in it.”
Deats teaches The Cycle of Seasons, one section of Musikgarten’s curriculum that is a musical celebration of the four seasons.
“We listen to music that relates to fall, or we listen to live recordings of animal sounds that would be found in the fall,” Deats said. “They tell what they like to do in the fall, and we pantomime the movements to rhythm. This is really, really good for the children. It parallels the way children learn language.”
Deats said Musikgarten promotes a range of skills in young children, including language, social and gross motor skills. It also promotes self-esteem, creativity and a desire to learn about the world around them, she said.
A parent is required to attend the class and participate with the child.
“The goal is that maybe they’ll do some of these songs and activities at home, too,” Deats said.
Jill Allen, administrative specialist for the music department, enrolled her daughter, Kennedy, in the program last spring.
“She enjoyed it,” Allen said of her daughter, who was 6 at the time. “She liked playing with the different instruments that you don’t typically see. The singing and dancing, she’s a little shy, but she really got into it when she saw the other kids participating.”
Allen said she thinks the program is good for children and parents alike.
“It gave the kids a great perspective of the musical world,” she said. “It goes to show how involved a child can be and how much joy they can get from learning to play a new instrument.”
Before joining Pittsburg State as an assistant professor, Deats taught elementary music in public and private schools for 10 years. Music and teaching young students about it are two of her passions.
“I just have a thing about my heart, I guess,” she said. “I really feel that music education for the very young is so, so important, and I love preschoolers. I just adore them.”
Music program
Deats’ class is geared toward preschoolers. Families interested in joining the current session should call the Pittsburg State music department at (620) 235-4466.
The spring program will begin in January with the start of Pittsburg State University’s spring semester. The cost of the 16-week session is $150 per child. Applications are available online at pittstate.edu.
