Ukes for our school.

I'm just exited to say that we finally got our grant for 25 ukulele's (makala), plus aquila strings for our school here in Berryville Virginia. I've played the uke for my little one's school classes since she was in first grade. Last year I got the librarian at her elementary school interested, and hooked, and in turn she got the music teacher hooked. I've worked with the music teacher since.

In 2 weeks we'll have our ukes and a whole lot of work to do. We'll need a rack for them all and I'll need to set them all up too! Whew! But YAY!

Congratulations!!!

What a fantastic story. Glad to hear it. There are a few people out there on the mainland teaching music, using the ukulele, and having great success. Look at Ukulele Mike Lynch. I hope to hear more about your school's progress.

Thanks Steve!

Nice. Have a great time!

Please share what you find works with the kids. I am hoping to do this next year at my school (I am the music teacher) and could use any helpful hints, tips, and words of wisdom you could share.

You are bringing something very special into these kids' lives

Congratulations!!!!!the kids will love it. They will find success quickly, feel accomplished, and more importantly, be a true participant in the music. Great job!

Congratulations, bonesigh!

We've worked on getting grants for several local schools successfully. Here's the lesson plan we set them up with:

http://ukuleletonya.com/files/beginner_lesson_pkg.pdf

Tonya did a really nice job compiling the resources to make that. Ric

ricdoug said:

Congratulations, bonesigh!

We've worked on getting grants for several local schools successfully. Here's the lesson plan we set them up with:

http://ukuleletonya.com/files/beginner_lesson_pkg.pdf

Tonya did a really nice job compiling the resources to make that. Ric

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Thanks for the info ricdoug! Thanks to everyone else too. The ukes have not arrived yet. I'm waiting anxiously. In the meantime I'm building the teacher at our school 3 ukulele racks to hold all these beauties. I can't wait for him to see them. I'll post pictures when I'm done if anyone is interested.

How old are the kids using that lesson plan? in my day, we were learning notation in the 2nd grade with the dreaded flutophones. I don't want to form my opinion yet since I don't know the age group, but the thing is that I love uke, but teaching music with one to large groups of kids... I don't know how well that works. It seems the kids miss out on music reading.

But like I said, I have no idea of the age group for that plan, so it might be perfect for all I know.

I know I'm in a minority here on a uke board, wondering if uke is the best choice for a certain situations, but hey, at least they even have a music program.

Plainsong said:

I know I'm in a minority here on a uke board, wondering if uke is the best choice for a certain situations, but hey, at least they even have a music program.

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At the Wine Country Ukulele Festival in Napa County last September, James Hill led a workshop where he demonstrated how Canadian schools teach music theory using the ukulele. While the workshop didn't involve reading notes on a page, it seemed pretty effective to me. I learned music by playing the clarinet starting in third grade, and while I'm glad that I learned how to read music, I missed all the stuff about chords that people learn who play instruments that can make more than one note at a time.

mds725 said:

At the Wine Country Ukulele Festival in Napa County last September, James Hill led a workshop where he demonstrated how Canadian schools teach music theory using the ukulele. While the workshop didn't involve reading notes on a page, it seemed pretty effective to me. I learned music by playing the clarinet starting in third grade, and while I'm glad that I learned how to read music, I missed all the stuff about chords that people learn who play instruments that can make more than one note at a time.

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Yeah my school didn't have theory either. I didn't learn about chords until joining the choir my senior year, but it was enough to keep me out if theory 100 in college. My husband is a play-by-ear guy who can hear and dissect chords. I agree absolutely that it's a great skill to learn.

I know it's great for that, I'm just thinking ahead to the other instruments the kids might later get interested in. I became unpopular on twitter for a while for this opinion, so I'd expect it won't be popular here.

It is so exciting to me to hear about all of this ukulele acivity in the schools! As the organizer of the Wine Country Ukulele Festival, I am always on the look-out for programs like these to support. In the past we have been able to provide a scholarship for a public school teacher to attend James Hill's Teacher Certification Program and support a charter school in Hawaii by providing them with ukes and funds. We've also funded James Hill's appearance at a local independent high school which got theri kids interested in ukulele and now those kids have started a program where they teach younger students at a nearby public school that had all of its fundung for the arts cut off. We were also able to help supply both schools with ukuleles for their these programs. It always astonishes me to see how far the ball will roll, once you push it off the hill!
I am always on the look-out for other worthwhile programs to support and new ways in which we can help. We don't have any kind of formal application process, but just keep our ear to the ground in the hope that something will pop-up that appeals to us. Good luck to all of you and thank you so much for keeping music alive for our children.