February 2, 2026

Important Dates…

Monday, February 2: Current/Alumni Family Registration for the 2026-2027 school year opens at 8 a.m. online.

Monday, February 9: New Family Registration for the 2026-2027 school year opens at 8 a.m. online.

Tuesday, February 10: Dine to Donate from 4-8 p.m. at the Troy Panera.

Friday, February 13: School CLOSED for Parent-Teacher Conference Preparation.

Monday, February 16: School CLOSED for Presidents Day.

Insights from the World of Words and Melodies

Children are born knowing rhythm. Cradled in the nurturing womb of their mothers for nine months, they are surrounded by the beating of their mother’s heart and the pulsing of her blood. It is the most primal rhythm: the rhythm of life. The soothing tempo of a heartbeat continues to be a comfort for the infant even as she grows outside her watery world. This is an undeniable phenomenon as we have all seen the solace a newborn feels when held warmly against a parent’s chest. And, as children grow, they realize their own inner beat, the pulse of their own heart. It is no wonder that rhythm is an underlying component in a child’s development, as it is the undeniable thread that runs through words, poetry, literature, music, and life.

I was delighted when I learned that Omope Carter Daboiku, affectionately known as Mama O, was to be with us sharing her skills and knowledge of storytelling and poetry. The overriding theme of her residency centered on “Dreaming a Peaceful Future,” focusing on poems as vehicles for expressing ideas, feelings, or stories. She emphasized the rhythm of the words in various poems by clapping out the syllables, recognizing phonemes, and inviting the children to join in with her. This enabled the children to hear, create, and feel the flow of the poem. She explored rhyming patterns of the words in poems and clarified that not all poems required words to rhyme. She explained to the children, “There are different ways to express ourselves, to show how we feel. We can be happy. We can be sad. We can put words and rhythm together, and we call this a poem. Put music to it, and it becomes a song!” The culminating focus for the older children was writing and illustrating a collaborative piece which began with the prompt, “May there always be . . .” With Mama O’s distinct, vibrant personality and her expressive facial features, the time spent with her will not be forgotten by the children or the adults fortunate enough to participate.

Inherent in every poem there is a deliberate pulse that the poet creates. This intentional beat gives life to the ideas or feelings that are being expressed. The same applies to stories. A perfect example of this is in the writings of Bill Martin, Jr. He used rhythm, rhyme, and repetition to create a cheerful and attainable reading experience for young children, inspired by his own struggles with reading until he was taught with poetry when he was in college. He believed that the most important thing was how his writing sounded, and that the musical cadence of his text helped children learn and engage with books like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. When Martin was collaborating with Eric Carle, who illustrated the book, Brown Bear, he approached Carle and, voicing a rhythm, asked, “Should it be bum, bum, bum, bum, bum-bum-bum-bum, or this?” And, then he offered another rhythm pattern. Carle replied humorously that he had no idea what Martin was talking about. Martin explained when he writes a book, first comes the rhythm, then comes the words. This is brilliant to me and so true to how children are wired to learn. When I am reading a poem or a story to children, I am always mindful of the intentional flow the author purposely intended. That is why I prefer to read the story as a continuous piece, rather than stop to answer any questions children might have. I believe that stopping interrupts the spirit that has been created and lessens the impact. I welcome questions the children have, but ask that they save them until the end. If you are curious about Bill Martin, Jr., you can access this article by Abigail Wheetley; it chronicles his journey from a struggling reader to an educator with a doctorate degree, a successful publisher, and author of more than 300 children’s books: The Rhythm of a Writer: The Unlikely Journey of Bill Martin Junior.

Research supports exactly what Bill Martin, Jr. found to be true, that rhythm skills in early childhood are closely tied to language and reading development. It is fascinating how the brain works to make this happen. “Children with stronger rhythm abilities have sharper neural connections to speech sounds, which means their brains respond more precisely to syllables and phonemes, critical for decoding words…Reading is itself rhythmic. The brain must track speech patterns, predict upcoming sounds, and organize language into meaningful units. Children with poor rhythm processing often struggle to segment words, which is why early rhythm skills can prevent later reading difficulties.” (Tierney & Klaus, 2013; Gordon, 2020.) Activities like clapping to music and rhythm games where the child is moving and singing all strengthen the auditory-motor pathways in the brain, giving children a cognitive boost that helps reading come more naturally. Musical rhythm play directly enhances literacy skills. We are very mindful of this and incorporate activities everyday to aid the children in their development. Join us for music time at Overfield, and you will see all of these elements coming together in a spirit of enjoyment and camaraderie. And, to think that all of these enriching activities are foundational skills for reading and language!

In the introduction to Talking Like the Rain: A Read-to-Me Book of Poems, there is a wonderful excerpt from Isak Denesen’s book, Out of Africa. It is a lovely simile that highlights the rhythm of words and the associations they create for the listeners, as follows: “One evening out in the maize-field, where we had been harvesting maize, breaking off the cobs and throwing them on to the ox-carts, to amuse myself, I spoke to the field labourers, who were mostly quite young, in Swahili verse. There was no sense in the verse, it was made for the sake of the rhyme . . .It caught the interest of the boys, they formed a ring around me. They . . . waited eagerly for the rhyme, and laughed at it when it came. I tried to make them themselves find the rhyme and finish the poem when I had begun it, but they could not, or would not, do that, and turned their heads away. As they had become used to the ideas of poetry, they begged: ‘Speak again. Speak like rain.’ Why they should feel verse to be like rain I do not know. It must have been, however, an expression of applause, since in Africa rain is always longed for and welcomed.”

Music, poetry, and literature have always been a significant part of my life. My father had a beautiful voice and loved to sing. My mother did not have a beautiful voice, and she loved to sing! She also loved poetry and introduced me to the beauty and strength of words and the rhythm in prose. Even in her older years she always had her favorite collections of poetry nearby for easy access. Often when I would visit, we would pull out our favorites and read them. I remember on one occasion when it was her turn to read, I asked for “Invictus” by Ernest William Henley, one of my favorites. I closed my eyes to listen and afterward, I realized she wasn’t reading it from the book; rather, she was reciting it from memory. More often than not, she knew these poems by heart. What a lovely expression, “To know something by heart.”

I also had the good fortune to grow up in a family where singing together was what we did. It was the glue that cemented us, helped define us, and gave us our greatest pleasure. Even in times of sorrow, it was a way for us to come together, to regain a sense of equilibrium and perspective together with the understanding and acceptance that life goes on. One of the most poignant moments for me came when my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. When he was without words or any seeming sense of meaning in his life, whenever I was with him, he would hum. This occurred only with me, because music was our “language,” our shared love. Even in his bewildered mind, there was a spark, a tiny spark to communicate that he understood. Then, I knew he was “with” me, and I would sing! The countless hours and experiences we spent singing at the piano or with the guitar gave us a lifetime of joy and a bond that could not be shaken, even in the throes of a disease as tragic as Alzheimer’s.

I share this personal story with you to emphasize the power, the beauty, the inexplicable capacity that words, poems, music, and stories have had in my life. These are tools that all humankind has used from time immemorial to communicate their feelings, ideas, their dreams, their fears, their loves. These are accessible to all of us to share and to build memories with those we love. May you use them wisely! Read to your children. Sing with them. Create poems, stories, and songs together. Discover limericks! Make up new words! Laugh, cry, shout out with joy! May you always find the perfect rhythm that connects you to others, so that even when your little ones are grown, they will say, “I remember when . . .”

“I have words that I love–tree, butterfly, bee.

I like butterflies because they’re quiet.

They’re part of Nature,

And I discover something new all the time.

That’s why I like to write poems.

They tell how I feel.”

(Caroline, 4.8 yrs.)

Carla Briggs – Librarian/Music Lead

Registration for 2026-2027

Enrollment for the 2026-2027 opened today for our current and alumni families! You can find a description of class offerings and can sign your child up on our website.

If you have not already registered, we encourage you to do so right away, as classes fill quickly.

PLEASE NOTE: After you have submitted your online registration form, you will be contacted by the office within the next 72 hours to verify your class choice and pay your registration fee. Your registration is not confirmed until you have been contacted by the office and paid your registration fee. If the class you wish to enroll in is full, you will be given the option to be put on a waiting list.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to the office if you have any questions about next year’s class offerings. We hope to welcome you to Overfield next school year!

OFP Super Bowl Squares Fundraiser

OFP knows we have a lot of fantastic football fans in our community. We have decided to join in on the fun again this year and celebrate with an in-house fundraiser for the Super Bowl.

Use this link to purchase your tickets for a randomly selected square on our super bowl board and have a chance to win at the end of each quarter. Half of all ticket SALES stay with OFP and the other half will be split with a winner coming from each quarter of the game.