Child Honouring (Raffi)

My kids and I were listening to our Raffi CDs tonight while cleaning the dinner dishes. Raffi's music has been a staple in my classroom for years. I've always been a fan of the rich sound of the music, the inspirational lyrics, and the mix of original and classic songs on his CDs. My three-year-old has been interested in listening to children's music for a while, so I decided to introduce her to Raffi. She was hooked. Her favourite song, Joshua Giraffe, has been played in our house hundreds of times over the last month.

I have always identified Raffi (Cavoukian) as a children's singer. However I recently learned that he is also an advocate for young children. At a town hall forum to discuss the recent decision in Ontario to move forward with full day learning in kindergarten, Dr. Charles Pascal (a leading researcher for early childhood) praised Raffi's efforts to use his music and status as an entertainer to speak on behalf of children's physical and emotional needs. Raffi calls it "Child Honouring" and describes it as adults honouring children by putting their needs first so that they might have a loving, safe, and healthy future. Raffi is also concerned about environmental issues and having a clean planet for our children's future.

Since learning of Raffi's "Child Honouring" I have made it an effort to visit his website and read through the papers and presentations he has posted. I agree completely. As early childhood educators we advocate for the safety and well-being of all of our students' futures. Each one rightfully deserves the love, time, patience, and health in order to develop according to his or her true potential. The question becomes how can we incorporate Child Honouring more fully into our classrooms and inspire families?

http://www.childhonouring.org/