Children with severe disabilities and medical conditions are rarely given a chance to learn to make music. If they are not strong or well enough to attend school and need daily medical support, they miss out on one of the things that can most dramatically change and improve life. Breaking down the barrier to music, this microproject will empower GITC to train these amazing "Home and Hospital" teachers to sing, play, compose, adapt and teach musical games & songs to their very special students.
Children with serious or life threatening conditions experience daily isolation and academic exclusion because they depend on round the clock care to survive. In each school district, most spend their days without peers and their teachers may visit for just an hour a day. There is no arts instruction for them. Music is the most healing medium. It both transcends activates vocalization, spoken and written language. Making music brings so much joy and learning for these vulnerable kids.
This project supports brief teaching artist residencies for "home and hospital" specialty teachers to learn to play, sing and facilitate music with their students during each visit. With adaptive instruments and techniques, these compassionate teachers will receive training and tools they need to make the life-changing difference for their beautiful, fragile students. This project will bring joy & make a timely difference for students right now and through these teachers, for many years ahead.
No one knows how long medically fragile students have in this world. Every day matters and high quality days matter even more. When families see their kids strumming, singing & smiling, the impact is deep. Their child is happy, learning something active & new, and the family connects through positives, not worries. Long term, this improves the children's self-sufficiency, resilience and it builds relationships. To families this brings joy, to teachers, long term success with even more students.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
