HALLOWEEN: With Halloween fast approaching, this mid-October juncture
is a fine time to review this special festival. Halloween has
evolved from its beginnings with the Celts, through the Romans
and eventually through Christianity. The Celts of 2,000 years
ago celebrated their New Year on November 1 and Samhain the night
before. The Celts believed that on this night the boundary between
living and dead became blurred. It was a mystical time in which
Celts believed their leaders, the Druids, were better able to
predict the future. The Romans conquered the Celts in A.D. 43.
The Romans in October honored goddess Pomona, whose symbol is
an apple. This likely explains the tradition of “bobbing”
for apples. As Christianity spread in the 800’s, Pope Boniface
IV designated November 1 All Saints’ Day, also called All-Hallows.
The night before was All-Hallows Eve and eventually, Halloween.
This year, MOS teachers and children will celebrate a Pumpkin
Festival Halloween day. Each child brings a pumpkin to carve and
all children will carve the pumpkins out on the playground beginning
around 8:45 on the morning of October 31st. The 2nd and 6th grade
rooms will be transformed into Pumpkin/Story Telling halls. Windows
will be covered and pumpkins lit. Later, half the students will
go to the 2nd grade, the others to the 6th grade rooms to see
lit pumpkins and hear a story presented by a teacher. Students
will then change rooms to have the full experience. Stay tuned
for further information coming from you teacher regarding this
special day and event. Happy Halloween!
- Merrill Badger, Principal
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Happenings:
Wed., Oct. 19th NCLB/Title 1 Meeting 3-4pm
in 6th gr. Class
Friday, Tea Garden is Back! See you at
the picnic benches before school:)
Monday, is the 40th day of school. 100%
attendance is always our goal.
Wednesday, Oct. 26, at Yavapai Performance Hall, Andaen
Musicians “Alturas” perform. Remember your $1
Remember: If your child was here at MOS last year
in 3rd through 7th grade, to come to the Office to pick-up Terra-Nova/AIMS
Test Report for your child.
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The Rightful Place of Music in the Life of the Child
For millennia, music-making has been a human activity held in
common by people of all classes of virtually every culture.
Like all the arts, the impulse to sing or play music on an instrument
is a response to the wonder of existence, and music has been traditionally
a part of sacred and social activities (culture), as well as an
accompaniment to the work and play of everyday life. Until
very recently in human history, the was produced by live musicians,
or by the listener himself.
In the last century, this traditional role of music in human
life has been eroded by the advances in sound reproduction and
broadcasting technology. While the experience of hearing
music is much more a part of daily life then ever before due to
the prevalence of prerecorded, “canned” music in the
environment, the activity of music-making on the part of the populace
is in decline. Music is often merely an element of design
today, whether as a component of video and audio production, or
used as a ubiquitous drone in public places to increase consumers’
consumption and mask the less pleasant mechanical sounds generated
by the machines in our environment. Music-making is increasingly
being left to the professionals, with music itself becoming a
commercial product rather than an activity that is held in common
by all, professional and amateur alike, and that calls on the
best in us, whether we are singing, playing, or listening.
Making music oneself is an activity that engages mind, body,
and feelings acting in harmony from an impulse of the will.
The passive reception of music present in the environment from
mechanical sources actually works upon the individual in the opposite
direction; rather than bringing forth music from the inside, one’s
attention is often called out, away from the self.
An ideal education calls for the restoration of music’s
rightful place in the life of the child. Music is brought
to the child as much as possible from living, acoustic sources:
other human beings. As the young child learns primarily
through imitation, he learns to sing by imitation of those around
him. Music is a part of the child’s life both as a
dedicated activity and as a part of other activities: while working,
dancing, playing. At the appropriate times in the child’s
development, the playing of instruments is introduced, as is the
reading of musical notation. Through the development of
these skills the child begins to become acquainted with the musical
tradition of his culture.
Of great importance for the child is the striving to create something
beautiful together with others. This collective activity,
which relies on the individual preparation done on the development
of the requisite skills, demands consistent effort and concentration,
both in solitude and as a part of the group. It is this
meaningful work itself as much or more than what the child may
learn about music that is most important for the child.
This exercise of the will, and the daily struggle and persistence
involved in acquiring skills for which endless development is
possible, gives great opportunity for the child to begin to acquire
self-knowledge.
An adolescent who has already begun to do this special kind of
work is in possession of a reservoir of inner strength, resources,
and habits that may be of vital importance when he faces the turbulence
of puberty and the ever-increasing demands and responsibilities
of approaching adulthood. In addition, the ability to express
one’s feelings through an art form, both alone and in a
social context, may provide a constructive outlet for the confusion
and disillusion often experienced during adolescence.
Thus the rightful place of music in the life of the child is that
which enables the child to develop, both as an individual and
in harmony with those around him, towards a free and dynamic adult
life.
©2005 Walter Bitner
This article first appeared in LILIPOH Issue 40, Vol. 10, Summer
2005
Walter Bitner is the Director of Music & Dance Programs at
Linden Corner School in Nashville, Tennessee’s only Waldorf
School. He has been teaching vocal and instrumental music,
traditional dance, and theatre in private K-8 schools since 1991.
In addition to his work as a music educator, Mr. Bitner is a specialist
in the historical performance of music from 1500-1750, the founder
and director of Nashville Revels, and the proud father of two
Waldorf students.
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Tea Garden is Back!
Fridays, 7:45am-8:30am
(Students must purchase before 8:07am so they can be ready for
class )
See You There
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