I'm a paper planner person. Through and through. I love to color code, write notes, and keep everything neat and organized on a calendar that I can spread out in front of me and see as a whole. The same goes for reading. I don't use a Kindle - I love the smell and feel [...]
In addition to the music therapy services and adapted lessons we offer to children and teens with special needs, there's another side of my business that I love: our developmental music classes. We've been working together with the Miami-Dade Public Library System since 2010 to offer these early childhood music classes at library branches throughout [...]
Last week I wrote a post that generated a lot of supportive comments. The post was about the new year and how I don't have any new, concrete goals for my business. I decided to take the pressure off myself to achieve more in my business and instead focus on being present as a mother [...]
Happy 2020! The new year is upon us and it's time for a fresh start. I've enjoyed looking back at my past new year's posts and remembering the accomplishments of those years. But this year, to be honest, I didn't accomplish as much in my business as I had hoped. My two girls are young [...]
Christmas is right around the corner (do you even need me to tell you that?) and our holiday sessions are in full swing! We're jingling bells, ho-ho-ho-ing on the kazoo, and playing Holiday Musical Pictionary. I recently started working at a preschool in Miami, where I provide music therapy for the 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old [...]
Two weeks ago I flew from the palm tree-lined streets of Miami to frigid, snowy Minneapolis for the National Music Therapy Conference. Although the temperature change was a bit of a shock, even for me who grew up in Pennsylvania (and has lived in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey), I am so glad I went. [...]
Tell me if you can relate to this scenario: You're in a music therapy session with your tween or teen clients. Everything's been going great. You finish your last musical experience, look at the clock, and realize you still have ten minutes until the end of the session. Yikes! Have you been there too? Have [...]
The theme for Halloween this year at Children's Resources Educational Center (serving students PreK3 - Grade 5) is Pirates. I have to say, I'm a little excited about it. I love the soundtracks to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, so ever since I heard the theme idea, my mind has been coming up with [...]
"Halloween-themed attention & perception training exercises." Kind of a mouthful, isn't it? That'a just a fancy way of saying that we're going to use Halloween songs to work on attention and perception skills (like listening and following directions). Here's an idea that can be used with clients of all ages: Play a spooky Halloween song [...]
Last week, I started a two-part mini-series on the importance of transitions when working with children. Quick refresher: 1) Transitions help children know an activity is ending; 2) They help recap and review; 3) They let children know another activity will be starting; 4) Transitions help reduce challenging behaviors; and 5) They help children feel [...]
