When Music Really Gets Played

Sara Hunt, 4, enjoyed her first day of a weekly singing and dancing class so much that she didn’t want to go home at the end of the one-hour session.

The pigtailed youngster, wearing a colorful shorts set and sandals decorated with butterflies, sang her heart out while dancing and swaying to music.

Asked what she liked best about the class, she said it was the teacher.

“She is just very, very fun,” Sara said. “I love her. And I really, really, really like this class. I want to be a singer when I grow up.”

The Little Wonders class is sponsored by the Laguna Hills Recreation Department and taught by Kathleen Kaun Moscato.

The six-week class, held on Fridays in the recreation room at Laguna Hills City Hall, is $38 and parents or caretakers attend classes with children. About 15 children, ages 2 to 5, are in each class. Other classes in Laguna Hills and in other Orange County cities soon will be available.

During the class Friday, an enthusiastic Moscato had no problem getting to the level of the kids--literally.

For much of the class, Moscato sat on a blue mat on the floor alongside the kids. Some of them inched closer and closer to her, mesmerized by her voice and animated gestures.

During “The Peanut Song,” about making a giant peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the kids laughed when Moscato made faces and pretended she was eating a sandwich.

Moscato, 29, was a preschool teacher for six years and has had professional musical training.

“But I much prefer to sing for kids,” Moscato said. “Some kids are so shy the first time they come to class, but by the end of six weeks they don’t want to ever leave.”

Dillon Moore, 4, also was reluctant to leave when class ended. But he seemed perplexed when asked why he was having such a great time.

“Well, just because,” he said.

Of course.