Making The Recorder Program Affordable
Submitted by Christina Ann Baker, Lexington Park, Maryland
Idea posted 2004-12-17
I work at a Title I school, and I've experimented using various types of inexpensive recorders. I know that $5.00 is a stretch for some of my kids (I actually have many homeless students), but I make it work. I use a reproducible recorder kit with my students each year, and I make copies from my budget so the children do not have to purchase a book. I also have about 40 recorders available for rent for students who cannot afford them that I have procured from various sources. I always tell my children that they are responsible for one of following three things:
1. Bring in a recorder in a case (or a ziplock bag does in a pinch),2. Turn in $5.00, or
3. Have a rental form signed by a parent stating that they will be responsible for a school recorder during the course of the year. (The students do not take the recorders home unless they are involved in my school's Recorder Consort, which has an extra recorder to take home to practice.)
We also play recorder in third and fourth grade. I encourage the parents to purchase a recorder by saying that they are investing in their child's education for two years for only $5. What better deal can you get?
I encourage fourth graders going onto fifth grade to donate their recorders back to the program for a less fortunate child. (They check with mom and dad first.)
