The Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) program is participating in the March Musical Madness concert held in the Highland Elementary School Cafeteria on Monday, March 21st, at 6:00 p.m.
The Crookston Early Childhood Family Education program is led by many of Crookston’s teachers and school principals. ECFE Coordinator Gina Gunderson explained the basis behind the program and ideology behind the organization, “The Early Childhood Family Education program is based on the idea that parents provide their child’s first and most significant learning environment and parents are their first and most enduring teacher’s. ECFE works with parents and caregivers to support, strengthen, and empower families,” The program frequently collaborates with Crookston’s Public Schools, City Hall, and the Crookston Library for many of their events around town.
The March Musical Madness concert is an annual interactive concert performed by the 5th and 6th-grade Orchestra Students with the Pop String students led by High School Orchestra teacher Haley Ellis. ECFE has made it a tradition to work together with Ms. Ellis and the students behind March Musical Madness to create memorable and interactive concerts for the children to enjoy while listening and participating in songs they know and love. “It’s been a tradition for ECFE to work together with our Orchestra Department for this great event. The children get to sit on the floor, and Haley does a great job explaining the instruments to them. In the past, the Orchestra has played “Old McDonald Had a Farm” and “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” and Ms. Ellis has brought stuffed animals so the children can dance and sing with the animals,” Gina Gunderson explained “We’ve used dancing scarfs for some of the songs in the past. Each child who attends will get to take home a small instrument this year.” Gunderson explains that the children will do more than have fun. They will also learn new things as well. “The children get to sit on the floor, and Haley does a really great job explaining the instruments to them and the different sounds, highs, and lows, so they learn great new things,” said Gunderson.
Gunderson feels that the concert is a very important event for the children due to their young minds and the effects music can have on them. “We know that early childhood (birth to age 5) is a remarkable period in human development, where their brains are developing very quickly. A baby’s brain is about 70% of the size of an adult size brain,” explained Gunderson, “We like music, and the human interaction that accompanies it is one of the most intense multi-sensory and physically involving activities in which young children and their caregivers can engage in. Live music is exciting for us as adults and even more so for our little ones, and it’s known for creating happiness and excitement in those experiencing it.”
ECFE holds multiple events for the children each month called Monthly Childhood Events. One of those events is called “Pop-in and Play” on Saturday, March 19th, at the Washington School gym. Another is a trip to the town pool on Monday, April 25th. And in April and May, they have events known as “Un-Plug and Play” at the nearby parks, where the children will get to play games outside and will be apart of the Washington School’s End of the Year Picnic at the end of the school year on Monday, May 16th.
The March Musical Madness concert will take place on Monday, March 21st at 6:00 p.m. in the Highland School Cafeteria. Children ages birth to 5 will be allowed to sit on the floor near the stage to sing and dance to their favorite songs and will get a free musical instrument at the end of the show to take home. The ECFE families can call to register their tickets by calling Gina at 218-281-5078. For more information on ECFE and their schedule for upcoming events for the year, you can see their Winter/Spring newsletter at www.crookston.k12.mn.us/departments-communityeducation-ecfe.
