WHAT DO WE DO WITH FIVE LITTLE MONKEYS: CONSIDERING CHILDREN’S NURSERY RHYMES AND SONGS WITH RACIST ROOTS

“Five Little Squirrels” “Five little squirrels climbing up a tree…” begins my latest recording for children, my newly rewritten version of the old anti-bullying finger play I wrote so long ago called “Five Little Monkeys.” I’ve always loved sharing this old finger play in my children’s music programs, I thought … Continue reading

Story-Weaving: Climbing Up the Apple Tree

Finger plays and songs can be a musical springboard for improvisational storytelling. I call it story-weaving—creating a musical framework to imagine a story with the whole group or combining individual stories by each child. CLIMBING UP THE APPLE TREE—poem by Ruth Dowell, melody by Barb Tilsen (on the recording “Take … Continue reading

RUN FOR FREEDOM

In 1981 young people from reservations in South Dakota participated in the Run for Freedom, a spiritual run from Pine Ridge Reservation to the Sioux Falls State Prison. The Run was held to support family and loved ones who were imprisoned there. Tragically one of the young runners, 11-year old … Continue reading