At the NAEYC Annual Conference I was lucky enough to
meet Patty Shukla, who presented a poster session
there.

If you teach young children and you don’t know Patty
Shukla’s music, you should! I discovered her a couple
of years ago on YouTube, where she posts many outstanding
video (You can find her channel here). Patty is one of those
very rare children’s performers who truly understand the developmental  needs of young children, what they’re able
to do, and what they LOVE to do.

For instance, one of her songs, “Jump,” features her
singing “Jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump” a million
times (actually 64- I counted!) I thought, hmm… that’s
an awful lot of jumping. Well, guess what. Preschoolers and
kindergartners love to jump an awful lot! There are two
slow sections to rest up a bit, then back to jumping! My
students absolutely adore it.

Some of my students’ other favorites among Patty’s songs
include “Wiggle It!,” “S.T.O.P.,” and “Shake and Move.” But
all her music is catchy, easy for young children to understand,
and filled with fun and energy. She’s also produced Spanish
versions of many of her songs.

In person, Patty was just as lively and exuberant as her music!
I asked her about her tango song (the only tango for young
children I know!) and she explained that the tango originated
in Uruguay, where her parents are from, and not Argentina
as I (and I think most people) assumed. As we spoke, others
came by and joined the conversation, and Patty played and
sang bits of her songs. It was so much fun.

I hadn’t realized that aside from recording and producing
videos, Patty also presents concerts all over. I hope I can catch
her in concert the next time she performs in New Jersey!