SHEPHERD SCHOOL STUDENTS SPEND SUMMER TEACHING

Office of News and Media Relations
Jessica Stark
Media Relations Specialist
Email: stark@rice.edu

Not only do children flock to campus for summer music camps, but current and former Shepherd School students return to fill new roles as teachers. Under the direction of Rachel Buchman, head of the Young Children's Division, the former students lead weeklong camps that aim to develop the innate musicianship of children and teach them to understand music through joyful experience.

The camps, which begin this week, are for children ages 2 to 9 to explore music through singing, rhythm games, creative movement, improvisation, musical storytelling and the building and playing of percussion instruments.

"The classes are a great way to get kids hooked on music," said Juliette Javaheri '05. "It is an introduction to the world of sounds and how to listen to them in a way that brings great amounts of pleasure."

Under the direction of Rachel Buchman, head of the Young Children's Division at the Shepherd School of Music, former students lead weeklong camps that aim to develop the innate musicianship of children and teach them to understand music through joyful experience.

Javaheri was among the seven "young people" to teach at the camps last year. She said the camps were beneficial to her and the other teachers too because it rekindled the spark that first led her to music.

"I come from years of conservatory training, so I know the serious elements of music making can often get exaggerated. It is nice to be reminded of why we are all here in the first place -- to have some fun," Javaheri said.

Javaheri first began working with the Shepherd School's Young Children's Division in 2006 when Buchman asked her to observe some classes.

"Rachel’s enthusiastic approach to music is contagious," Javaheri said. "She is always reminding us that the kids are here in the summer to have fun. And, boy do they have a good time. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find another group of 4- to 6-year-olds getting so fired up by a piece of classical music -- sharing with one another their thoughts and feelings of a selected recording or live performance."

Buchman, a lecturer in music who created the classes at the Shepherd School, has spent more than 25 years teaching music to young people, from toddlers to doctoral students in the U.S., Germany, England and Israel. Researching the connections between children and music, she found singing encourages brain and language development and is one of the most essential educational activities a parent can do with a child.

While the summer programs build on her research interests, they also offer her a way to stay connected to the Houston community and her students.

"The camps are open to everyone -- not just Rice people -- so they keep me plugged in to community needs," Buchman said. "The camps have also become a wonderful way for me to keep in touch with students and for them to come back to the Shepherd School and share their marvelous energy and creativity with the children of Houston."

Spots are still available in some summer music camps; parents can register their children until that camp begins.