by Georgia Mjartan, Executive Director
A few months ago, USA Today featured a story about Our
House. It’s amazing what national news coverage can do! The
day the story ran, I got a call from Rourke O’Brien, the founder
and CEO of the Children’s Music Foundation. Impressed by our
innovative work with homeless and near-homeless children,
Mr. O’Brien offered us a grant to implement a music curriculum
called First Note. This evidence-based curriculum is proven
to engage young minds and bodies through music, dance, and
culture. Each week for 30 weeks, our preschoolers learn about
a different element of music alongside a culture or country.
For example, in Lesson 2 the kids learned beat basics while
exploring East African culture. In Lesson 6, our children used
shakers and sticks while learning about Germany. There are
dances and movements that accompany each lesson, so the
whole body gets engaged. For young children, this kind of
hands-on learning is important.
In October, Our House began using the First Note curriculum.
The timing of our grant award from the Children’s Music
Foundation corresponded perfectly to our organization also
being awarded a grant from AmeriCorps. In Little Learners, our
child development center, AmeriCorps members serve alongside highly-trained staff teachers. The purpose of AmeriCorps
is to bring additional educational enrichment into the classroom. Our AmeriCorps members are tasked with enhancing
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