His Life’s Filled With Children, No Kidding

On the first day of school, Jim Rule burst into tears.

And then he went home and told his wife that he wasn’t going to cut it as a grade school teacher. He was no good with kids. He would go back to his old job as a piano tuner, to his old dream of becoming a Broadway star.

Now, four years later, Rule teaches a bilingual kindergarten class at Lincoln Elementary School in Santa Ana. He and his teaching partner are each the father of three. And now, with loads of material from school and home, Rule has switched musical gears from opera and musical theater performer to children’s singer and songwriter.

“When I became a father,” said Rule, 41, “it changed the entire focus of my life.”

Today, he will give a Father’s Day family concert at the outdoor Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, with songs from his award-winning album, “Share This World” and his new album, “Let It Shine.” Today is also his 11th wedding anniversary with Jody, a former kindergarten teacher and now full-time mom, but there is no time for a big celebration.

On weekends, Rule often sings for kids. On weekdays, he teaches kids. At night, he goes home to Casey, 7, Timmy, 4, and Emma, 2, in Lake Forest.

“There are times when you’d rather be on a bed of nails than read books to your kids,” joked Rule, “but you gotta do it. It’s that simple. . . . This is home, and this is what we do.”

He never thought his life would be so full of kids.

Before Rule became a dad, his life was a late-night blur of touring, rehearsals and shows. He performed with a touring company of “The Mikado” and sang in “Evita” at the Downey Civic Light Opera.

But after his first child was born, he turned to teaching for a more stable career.

In 1991, Rule got his first job as a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher and fell apart after only one day. But he stuck with it, and the next year, when a job teaching kindergarten opened up, he took it.

Now he loves working with small kids and using the Spanish he learned in high school and college.

On a recent morning, he and his team-teaching partner, Peter Morales, 44, helped the kids make Father’s Day cards. Both men wore shorts and tennis shoes, and made the kids laugh.

They make a great team, said Principal JoeAnn Bruzzo.

As a teacher, Rule is still on stage. His face is still putty, twisting into mock horror or indignation at his students. He is still dramatic, putting kids in a wagon when they cry and imitating the “whooo-whooo” call of an ambulance siren. He still picks up a guitar, singing in English and Spanish with the kids.

“A lot of our kids need a father figure,” he said.

Rule started writing songs in 1989, after a phrase he heard at an education conference stuck in his head. The song, “Roots and Wings,” led to his first album.

In 1994, the album won a prestigious Gold Seal award from the nonprofit Parents’ Choice Foundation, which recognizes excellence in children’s media.

After school, Rule spends afternoons in the recording studio or working with Opera Pacific’s Overture Company, which presents opera at schools throughout Southern California.

These days, he can’t imagine why he used to laugh at the way his wife’s eyelids started drooping at 9 on school nights. “Now,” he admitted, “I just have to look in the mirror and see that look.”

But no matter how tired he is, he leads his kids through the same routine every night: dinner, brush teeth, bedtime, story time.

“Parenting should be planned and treated with the respect and awe it deserves,” he said. “It’s the most important thing you can do.”