GROUNDWORK IN THE STATESMAN!
Musician gives preschoolers free chance to dance
Nonprofit seeking to expand program to other classrooms that can't afford to spread joy of music.
By Claire Osborn
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, January 14, 2007
How do you teach preschool children about music? Sing to them about an alligator. Get them to jump up and down on the floor and chant a rhyme about monkeys. Put bells in their hands.
Neal Kassanoff, 40, said he thinks this experience is so important for children that he has created his own nonprofit organization, Groundwork Music Project, to provide free music classes to schools that can't afford to pay for them.
Preschoolers in Neal Kassanoff's free music classes learn about music as they play. Joycelynne Williams-George and other Open Door students particularly enjoy the bells that Kazanoff brings.
For the past year, Kassanoff, a local children's musician who co-authored the music for the movie "Hands on a Hard Body," has taught four free music classes a week at Open Door Preschool on Cherrywood Road in East Austin.
His goal is to raise enough money to expand the program to other Austin preschools with needy children, he said.
"Neal is the rock star of the campus," said Diana Perez, a parent and a teacher at Open Door Preschool. "The kids see him and go crazy," she said.
Kassanoff, who has a master's degree in school psychology, looked as if he were starring in a comedy as he taught a class of 11 2- and 3-year-olds this week.
While he sat on the carpet with the children, he rapidly came up with musical exercises, such as getting the children to raise one finger and make a buzzing sound.
Some of them plinked on a nearby piano, while others got so close to him he almost couldn't play his guitar.
The whole class paid rapt attention when he got them to sing a song about an alligator's mouth and then asked them to stand up and jump while he strummed away on his guitar.
By the time class ended, a child had crawled on his lap as he played his song about a gorilla named Thelma Sue.
After the class, Kassanoff said that he didn't mind the chaos.
"The idea is to learn music through play," he said.
Exercises throughout the class are designed to teach the children many things about music, including scales, rhythm and tone.
"One of the reasons I like doing this is that I get to be creative," Kassanoff said. "I get a lot of energy from this."
Perez said the classes have also taught her students simple math because Kassanoff counts off in songs using his fingers.
It also gives the children a way to express their emotions and learn new words like "gorilla," she said.
Kassanoff said he still makes a living as a children's musician at other preschools, including Habibi's Hutch in South Austin, where parents pay for lessons.
One of the parents at Habibi's Hutch, Dipak Topiwala, is helping Kassanoff raise money for his nonprofit group by organizing monthly music benefits at Ruta Maya Coffee House.
The benefits, on the first Saturday of each month since June, each raise about $1,000 for Groundwork Music Project, Topiwala said.
One of the musicians playing at the January benefit was Tony Scalzo, a songwriter and member of the band Fastball.
Scalzo's son takes music lessons at Habibi's Hutch from Kassanoff, said Scalzo's wife, Nanette Labastida.
Labastida said her son comes home humming Kassanoff's songs.
"They're catchy," she said. "Neal's dedication is what I like."
About me: Neal Kassanoff founded the Groundwork Music Project to provide free music education to preschool aged children. The program operates out of Austin, Texas and educates children at Open Door Preschool and the ASPIRE Program.
All people are musical and early childhood musical experiences are essential to developing basic musical skills.
To find out more about Groundwork, go to
www.groundworkmusic.org
Donations of all sizes are welcome!
Founder and Artistic Director NEAL KASSANOFF with Executive Director EMILY FAGAN
Who I'd like to meet: If you believe in music education please drop us a line or request us as a friend. We welcome your donations, your assistance or just your general interest.
This site is for anyone on myspace who wants to keep up with the progress and goings on of the Groundwork Music Project.
DERTYBIRD will be performing at Momo's This wednesday Jan 9th with Jeff Plakenhorn and Jeremy Nail.The Bird Starts at 6 pm Hope to see you there!Last Chance to see Dertybird in Austin This Month! Thanks for supporting The Bird!
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Sept. 24, 2007 -- Learning music may help children’s communication skills more than studying phonics, according to a new study. http://children.webmd.com/news/20070924/learn-music-to-boost-literacy-in-kids
IFI Music is the only 501c3 non-profit established specifically to SUPPORT, PROMOTE and UNITE the Indie Music Artists and their Community. We are a new
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