Reply To: Kids that don't understand

[nafmeadmin]

Sometimes you have to step back and change something; maybe there is a different instrument or a different role those few children could play. Who knows what other factors are at play here – it could be that a child is very distracted by something tough going on at home, or he isn’t eating enough at lunch to have the energy to concentrate, or there could be a learning disability that hasn’t been diagnosed or documented yet, or maybe they just don’t have the attention span at that young age to focus as long as their peers can and they just need a little more maturity to be able to handle it. Give all the help and support you can, scaffold just like you are doing, but at a certain part, move on with the class and have that child take on another role (bass bar? lead the singers?). Maybe next week something will click – maybe next year something will click! If they don’t get it today, that’s okay – they are still being exposed to the concept, making music, and having this great musical experience that will benefit them in so many other ways : )