ATLANTA , Georgia ( CNN ) -- As little Tatyana Larbi , aka Little Miss Muffett , sings about selling her cotton and twigs to the `` sister pigs , '' you can tell the young girl is enjoying her moment in the limelight , even if she ca n't see the audience 's response . The mother of Brooke Stegall , 5 , says opera gave her visually impaired child new confidence . The set and costumes are pretty basic . Most were made by parents and volunteers . But that does n't matter to the beaming mothers , fathers and grandparents in the audience . The fact that these 10 children are performing this day is enough for them . All of the actors in the Pumpkin Pickle Pop Cookies Opera are visually impaired 4- and 5-year-olds . Two are blind , and the others have varying degrees of sight . All are students in Atlanta 's Center for the Visually Impaired BEGIN program . But today is their last day here , and performing this 20-minute opera is their `` thank you '' to their families . Watch an awe-inspiring opera performance » . `` These parents work so hard to make this happen , '' said Anne McComiskey , director of the program . She is very aware of the efforts that both the children and the parents put into the program . `` They have to give up vacation time from their jobs , '' she said . `` Some people travel two and three hours once a week to get here . '' McComiskey says the program works with newborns , sometimes only days old , up to 5-year-olds . It helps parents understand what is possible for their visually impaired or blind children . `` First of all , we are teaching the parents how to teach their child , '' she said . `` Because some 90-odd percent of learning comes through your vision , we have to teach mommy and daddy how to do what they would do typically , a little differently . '' She says with the infants , it can be even more basic . `` With a newborn , you 're teaching them about their body . A lot of kids do n't know they have feet . They have never seen them . '' All of the children go to the center one day a week . The BEGIN program , which is an acronym for Babies Early Growth Intervention Network , was started in 1985 and has about 95 children go through the program each year . The course costs $ 250 to register , but financial assistance is available . McComiskey says the performance reinforces lessons learned during the course of the program . `` Because this is an opera , they are learning gestures that they would n't learn by watching someone else . And they are learning how to listen and respond . They are learning to work in a group . It 's just many of the concepts that we have been teaching them for five years , coming to play in the opera . '' Jacqueline Howard is the center 's music therapist . She came up with the idea for the opera while talking with some of the teachers . She also sees lessons in the performance . `` If you have a visual challenge , you want to be safe in the space you 're in , because you may not be able to see everything around you . So the movements help them feel safe in the space , and we learned to move , sing and play instruments at the same time , which is a challenge for anyone ! '' Brooke Stegall , 5 , played one of the five `` sister pigs '' in this opera loosely based on `` The Three Little Pigs , '' which added the twist of a few other nursery tale characters . Her mother , Rhonda , says the opera changed her daughter . `` She is just a naturally reserved child , and to see her go up there and just sing and do the motions and just smile and have fun -- it was just great . '' McComiskey says that that is one of the goals of the program : to instill a sense of `` I can '' in the kids . In this case , all 10 students seem to have taken that lesson to heart . All of them will be attending mainstream kindergartens in their school districts next fall . `` That is most unusual , for a child that is blind or visually impaired to go right into a typical kindergarten , '' McComiskey said . McComiskey and the program 's teachers worked hard to make sure they are more than prepared . `` We want our kids going into kindergarten ahead of the sighted children in literacy . So we want Tatyana reading Braille , and we want them to be using the long cane so that they can go to the office or whatever , just like anyone else can . '' Adds Jacqueline Howard , `` I always say success breeds success , and the confidence they felt by completing this task , when they 're asked to do other things , they 'll remember , ' I did that . I can do anything . ' `` Tatyana enthusiastically agrees after the performance . `` I am so proud of myself . ''
Atlanta opera inspires visually impaired kids to `` do anything '' `` I am so proud of myself , '' young girl says after performance . Program was formed in 1985 to help blind , visually impaired kids adjust from birth .