Jeff and I have been performing and creating together for over 10 years (I’ve included some nice throw back photos for those of you who have kids headed to college!). During that time we’ve had the pleasure of delivering fun, meaningful, educational music and programs to Boulder and the surrounding areas. Through collaborative efforts with other organizations from non-profits like, Thorne Nature Experience to City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, we’ve reached thousands of children and their parents in our local community. More so than all this, our audience, YOU, have welcomed us into your lives! You’ve shown up at countless Jeff and Paige concerts, through rain, snow, toddler tantrums, and new babies arriving. And we’ve been right there with you. I’ll never forget having to use my breast pump in between sets after our son Wolf was born, or crying in joy when I first felt the love of becoming a parent and looked out at the audience to see that same love shining in your children’s eyes. You’ve shared your lives with us and you’ve allowed us to share ours with you. For that we are eternally grateful, and we’ll keep showing up for shows as long as you do. BUT WE WANT TO GO FURTHER AND WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT.
J&P back in 2010 at a mountain birthday party!
We want to reach more kids, teachers, and parents than we can possibly access with our physical selves. Our latest album—Little Songs, Big Science: Musical STEAM For Kids is our first big attempt to do this.
Little Songs, Big Science is more than just an album. We have a far-reaching vision to go along with it. We want to get this science and nature-based album into the hands of teachers, preschoolers, and parents far beyond our live performances. And we want to give those families and schools the tools they need to have a full Jeff and Paige experience.
The vision and the steps:
Jeff and Paige’s Meadow Music Wedding in 2013, so everyone could be a flower girl/boy.
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STEP ONE: Standards-based lessons/activities that go along with each song on the album. In collaboration with the University of Colorado Natural History Museum Education Team we’ve designed these lessons and they will be available free of charge to anyone who has the album. But a lesson plan and a recording, don’t quite give you a whole Jeff and Paige experience, we’re also making videos that go with each song.
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STEP TWO: Music Videos that go along with each song. These videos will demonstrate, or use, the science concept in the song, and include fun engaging visuals to get kids (and their adults) ready to play and experiment. The videos serve to bring “Jeff and Paige” to the kids that might not be able to get to a live show (b/c of time, distance, or financial concerns).
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STEP THREE: Donations of this music curriculum (music, lessons, and videos) to 1,000 classrooms.* We’ll donate the whole thing to 1,000 classrooms, starting in with BVSD PreK-1st classrooms and Boulder County preschools, and expanding from there.
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STEP FOUR: YOU! We need your contributions to make this a reality. To see a sample video and read more about the details and research behind this project visit our GoFundMe page.
When all of these steps are complete Little Songs Big Science will be not just a kids’ music album it will be a mini do-it-yourself-science curriculum that brings Jeff and Paige and their brand of educational music and fun into classrooms and homes!
* If you want to geek out on some of the research behind the effectiveness of using music to teach science check out this article.
The last thing I want to add to this blog entry is that over the years Jeff and I have heard the most beautiful funny and sweet stories about how your kids/students have been touched by our work. Without those stories our lives would be very different. Here are two of my favorites one from a local fan, and one from far away…
Leo, two years old, was potty training and he had his very first crush on Paige. So whenever he was getting ready to give the potty a try his parents would tell him,
“ Leo, Paige really wants you to go on the potty. And if you go number two she will be SO happy.”
I think Leo is probably starting middle school by now!!
Just before Wolf was born we arranged digital visit with a classroom in Iowa, here’s what the teacher had to say:
“I cannot even tell you how excited my students were and continue to be about our hangout today. They sang ‘We’re Hiking’ all the way to lunch (even though there is a no-talking-in-the-hallway rule). I couldn’t have contained their cheer even if I tried (which I didn’t!). It’s always scary (at least for me!) doing something totally new and different but there is also a sense of pride in knowing that I was able to bring something to my students that they otherwise would not have been able to experience. Thank you for your inspiring presence in education and being so generous as to donate your time and efforts to us! ”
Please help us reach so many more kids by contributing to our fundraiser today!
Jeff and Paige want to bring their latest album–“Little Songs, Big Science: Musical STEAM* For Kids” to more people and a more diverse audience. Jeff and Paige aim to do this in two ways: videos that are free and available to all and donations to classrooms.
This 6th Jeff and Paige album is a little different than previous Jeff and Paige work. Each song includes one science concept presented with simple lyrics.
(*STEAM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.)
THE PROJECT: Jeff and Paige focused Little Songs Big Science on young audiences, like preschoolers and kindergartners, whose science curriculum is often overlooked. The aim of this album is to make science accessible and fun to teachers and kids, and most importantly available and affordable to all!
But that’s not everything… Jeff and Paige have partnered with the education team at the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History. This team is developing (and testing and evaluating with real audiences) simple experiments / activities to go with each song. These will be made available, in lesson plan formats, on the Little Songs Big Science webpage as the team gets them ready. (The Air Pressure lesson plan is available to view on our site. )
HERE’S WHERE YOU COME IN: Jeff and Paige are creating videos that go along with every song (the Air Pressure video on this page is a first example). These videos will include the activities from the lesson plans, demonstrating or playing with the science concepts therein.
These videos will be fun engaging tools for parents and teachers to use to get kids excited before, after, and during the experiments. When all of these steps are complete Little Songs Big Science will be not just a kids’ music album it will be a mini do-it-yourself-science curriculum.
And yes there’s more… Jeff and Paige aim to donate this full curriculum (album, lesson plans, and music videos) to preschools throughout Boulder County — from home schools to public schools and ALL Boulder Valley School District PreK – 1st Grade classrooms.
Priority will be given to schools with underserved populations, but we hope to raise enough money so that all are included.
If you’d like to understand more about the project (the reasons behind it, the itemized expenses, etc. you can read on below). If this is enough information for you, we’ll take a moment to thank you here:
For all your support in continuing to spread a message of joy, hope, and love for science and the natural world, thank you. By creating this campaign our aim is to help create the next generation of environmental stewards and we cannot possibly do this without you. With so much gratitude, thank you for your support. ~Jeff and Paige ( www.jeffandpaige.org).
MORE DETAILED INFO:
Students (and their grown-ups) receiving the project will have learning experiences that connect them to science, music, and the natural world. Students will learn, without even realizing it, that they are connected to the natural world and that their actions and understandings have power. Students will learn science through the arts: music, movement, theater!
In 2014 the Boulder County Environmental Education Collaborative (BCEEC), a working group that consists of representatives from most environmental education providers that serve youth in Boulder County schools, completed a comprehensive surveys of these offerings. Their findings identified preschool science and environmental education as a gap in the existing offerings for preschool populations, particularly in free and reduced lunch schools. This project will help to fill that gap.
The kinesthetic, musical approach to teaching science in the classroom is new and exciting. The activities and songs will be accessible and fun for all who use them and encourage active engagement with science and the natural world.
Jeff & Paige’s music and performances are accessible to kids of all ages, learning styles and cultural demographics. Their training as teachers and use of visual props, costumes, song, theater and of course music make them a perfect fit with second language learners.
Itemized Expenses:
–Video Production (Editing, filming, and post-production): $5000
–Props and space rental and equipment for Videos: $500
–Curriculum Donations: $1000
–Staff to coordinate and deliver donations: $1000
–Artist stipend: $2500
MORE ABOUT JEFF AND PAIGE:
“I don’t want to be a princess when I grow up anymore. I want to be a bat!” Lily age 4 after Jeff & Paige Camp.
Through their live shows and six different albums J&P have reached thousands of children with a joyful spirit of play and passion for ecological awareness. Children, teachers, & parents rave about the impact that J&P’s work has on their lives. This isn’t just musical entertainment. It’s artistic work that creates science fans and plants the seed to become life-long stewards of the environment. J&P fans (from grown-ups to 3 year olds) are transformed by their experience of watching and participating in science lessons brought to life through theater and music.
J&P have won several awards for their musical programming: 2016 National Parent Products Award (NAPPA) Award, 2013 and 2016 Parent’s Choice Award, and Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education Award (CAEE) for excellence in programming (full list at jeffandpaige.org). J&P albums use songs, storytelling, & interactive play to engage kids with nature, music, and movement. Little Songs Big Science includes, interactive songs that combine advanced vocabulary and overarching science concepts with catchy hooks and encouragement to explore/connect with the natural world.
