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by Jodie Brown, Music Teacher

Among music educators, there is a widely held belief in the necessity for respect, integrity and authenticity in teaching world music. This is a belief that I share. In practice, this belief can impose limits (especially in working with young children) while simultaneously opening up minds and hearts. The latter–along with a quest for authenticity–was my goal in choosing music for kindergarten and Main Circle music experiences during our all–school Central America culture study.

The Spanish words for numbers 1 – 10 and the names of several body parts are now firmly in the vocabularies of our kindergarteners thanks to a Mexican counting song (with no real name) and a song and dance from Ecuador called "El Juego Chirimbolo." Through singing, dancing and speaking Spanish, the study of cultures has been integrated and made more real to the children. This music will be performed over the next few weeks.

Although the Main Circle has focused on Costa Rica, these children have plunged head first into music from Guatemala! The marimba culture of this country lends itself beautifully to the use of our collection of xylophones for reproducing songs from the Guatemalan countryside. (This is a perfect example of my quest for authenticity as mentioned above.) Although the music is far more difficult to learn and play than would be one of our typical xylophone endeavors, the children have gravitated to the rhythm, the language (they've learned to sing the songs as well) and the spirit of this music which is quite different from what they hear everyday. It's been a wonderful experience to hear the enthusiasm in our children's voices as they sing these now familiar (and much loved) tunes about the little drummer outside the church ("Tamborcita") and the earthen bowl ("El Barreno"). All of us are richer for this experience!

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