In the hopes to acclimate Ramsey to other children his own age, plus have a little fun outside of the house, I enrolled him in the local Kindermusik class for his age group. We had started the class half-way through the semester (starting in March) and we attended the last class on April 27th.
The instructor was a 30+ year Kindermusik veteran, "Ms. Sonya". She had told me that this spring semester was going to be her very last class to teach, something she was very sad about.
Instantly, we loved Ms. Sonya. She had been very welcoming and warm. And, since her start, years ago, she has seen soooo many children, each with unique and special personalities.
Since Ramsey has never had a lot of "structure" in his daily schedule (due to not going to daycare), this would give Ramsey an activity whereby he could learn such structure in a fun way through music and dance.
Let's say that the first few weeks were a little "rough". Ramsey was so excited and interested in the other children that he didn't want to sit still for lap time songs, story time, or join into the group activities; he just wanted to run around to investigate and meet new chums! Ms. Sonya assured me that his behavior was quite normal, given his circumstances, and he would acclimate after a few weeks. And, that he did!
In Kindermusik class (or, as Eric colorfully calls it "KinderVirus" - more to come on that soon), Mommies, Daddies, or caretakers, with the children, sing songs with actions, learning verbal, musical, and other skills to interact with others. In addition to the social interaction and meeting friends, we thought KinderMusik would also help with Ramsey's speech progression.
Over the period of 7 weeks, Ramsey met a lot of new little pals and I got to know some of the parents. There will be summer classes (which we won't be able to attend) and then another fall semester with the new teacher, Miss Emily.
Kindermusik not only brought an array of emotions to the family and a learning experience, but it also brought sickness... a LOT of sickness! Other than not knowing quasi-rigid structure via daycare, Ramsey also hadn't had much exposure to other kids'
germs! To keep the story short, this household was sick almost the entire month of April! The very last class imposed yet another virus, of the respiratory and sinus kind. Yay.
All in all though, the class was quite wonderful. The final class
and Ms. Sonya's small "going away" party was last Wednesday. The actual musical portion of the class was about half as long as it usually is, with the final half of the class being a time to hang out, have snacks, and say goodbyes to Ms. Sonya. We will miss her!
Ramsey went wandering again after he'd finished his iced sugar cookie. His little buddy Elijah and his Momma are sitting on the right.
Ya, I don't know what he was doing here. But, it was typical of what he normally did at some point and time, during or after the class!
He's checking out more kids again and seeing what's going on!
Farewell, Ms. Sonya! We will miss you.
