Regardless of whether your clients are doing homeschooling, distance learning, or in-person learning, we can all agree that this school year is going to look different than what we’re used to.

While sitting outside in the backyard watching my girls play and thinking about this, a song about this topic just came to me.

I furiously wrote and wrote, and within minutes the song – called “This School year Will Look a Little Different”- was complete.

I used the song yesterday in a music therapy session with teens and it was incredibly effective.

Take a listen and see if it would be useful in your sessions with children or teens as we begin the new school year:

We sang through the song as an echo song, with the lyrics pulled up using Zoom screen share. We did a pat and clap pattern throughout the song.

After singing, we made a list (using the white board feature on Zoom!) of all the things that would be different this school year. For example, school is online, or we’ll need to wear masks if we’re doing in-person learning.

And, we made a list of all the things that would remain the same this school year: math, reading, art, music, seeing friends (even if online).

Then, we talked through each of the three steps in the song and how we can follow those steps to have an awesome school year, regardless of how different things are right now.

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When I was a kid, I LOVED back to school time.

I loved shopping for new school supplies (Lisa Frank notebooks and Bic pens were my thing!) and was always so excited for the first day of school. I try to bring some of that same excitement into my music therapy sessions on the first day of school. Children’s Resources Educational Center (where I provide weekly group sessions) has their first day of school next week.

Although there is a lot of excitement around this time, for some children there may also be some nerves. Many have moved into a new classroom and some are brand new to the school.

So, one of the first things I plan to do in my music therapy sessions next week is help the students learn everyone’s name (including teachers and therapists). My hope is that this will calm their nerves and help ease the transition into their new classroom.

Here is the song I wrote while working at UCP’s Early Beginnings Academy to help students learn the names of everyone in their class:

Lyrics:
It’s the first day of school now here we go.
It’s the first day of school and I want to know
What’s your name? What’s your name?
“My name is Amy. My name is Amy.”

Simple and to the point, but it’s a great way to work on expressive language (a goal area that many of my students are working on)!

What are YOUR favorite ways to help children learn the names of others in their class?

Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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I know it can be tricky composing songs for clients.

We want the songs to be therapeutic and goal-oriented, but also catchy and engaging. (At least that’s what I’m thinking of when I’m composing for kids!)

Here are a few tips to get you started with writing songs for your clients:

• Repetition, repetition, repetition. When it comes to practicing a speech sound to work on clear articulation or practicing a motor skill to refine it, repetition is key. Our clients need multiple opportunities to practice a skill so they can refine or improve it. So when composing be sure to use repetition as appropriate.
• Add musical variety. Yes we love the I, IV, V, progression, but think about all the ways you can add variety to your songs. How about adding in some jazz chords, some minor chords, or a blues progression? Can you use a samba accompaniment or rock ‘n roll riff? Listen to your favorite songs and think about what it is that catches your ear. Is there a progression or musical element from that song that you could incorporate into your songs for kids?
• Sometimes simple is better. I find that many kid’s songs are too wordy and complex, which makes it difficult for a child to catch on to and learn. For our client’s with special needs, I think it’s even more important to make our songs simple and easy to learn. Use your discretion based on your client’s needs, but I’ve found that simple songs (that are not too wordy) can be the most effective.
• Use rhyming words. Adding rhyming words to the ends of phrases makes them sound catchy and easy to learn. It also helps prompt responses. For example, “What is the color of the scarf on your head? The color of the scarf is ________ (red)!” The rhyme helps prompt the response without giving the answer away!

I hope these tips help.  Get composing! And don’t forget to submit your credits to CBMT!

Image courtesy of Mister GC at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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The ink has barely dried on my Beach Themed blog posts and already I’m realizing people are posting first day of school pics of their kids. That can only mean one thing – it’s back to school time!

Looks like it’s time to shift gears.

I’m excited, though, because at the end of August I’ll be starting a new position providing group music therapy services at the Children’s Resource Center, a school for children with special needs in Miami.

I’m thrilled about this, because since leaving my job at United Cerebral Palsy of Miami, I’ve really missed providing group sessions in the school setting.

This upcoming change already has my wheels turning for new session ideas. And although I have a TON of homemade props and visuals, I am always on the lookout for new materials that I can bring into my sessions.

This week I’ve been thinking about a few ways you can get geared up for the new school year if you work with children and teens with special needs too:

1. Go straight to the Dollar Section of Target. I don’t know about you, but I love perusing the aisles of Target. Even if there are only three things on my list, I always somehow manage to check out with an entire cartful of things. My last trip was no exception. I immediately hit the Dollar Section and it was a GOLD MINE!

Check out the picture at the top of this post. There are flash cards for everything from the alphabet to the U.S. presidents to dinosaurs. I found large colorful calendars with stick-on pieces for the days of the week and months of the year. I found a felt map of the United States with cutouts of each state and a special landmark you can find in each one. I found little games and visuals to help with spelling, counting, and numeral recognition. Even lacing games to work on fine motor skills! I really had to stop myself from cleaning out the entire aisle.

2. Check out the E-Course Tune In To Teens. Tune In To Teens is a 5-hour video CMTE course that I designed for music therapists based on feedback I was getting about what would be most helpful for them when session planning. The course includes an entire section on how to find music that’s appropriate and appealing for teen clients. The course also includes a vast amount of intervention ideas that can be tweaked and adapted to fit a wide variety of levels and needs. And participants have lifetime access to the course forum where we continue to share new session ideas and pop songs we like. Have you checked out this one by JT yet?

You can click here to learn more about what’s inside the Tune In To Teens E-Course and to enroll OR watch video of a sneak peak into the course here.

3. Incorporate a Back to School Book ‘n Song. While at story time with my 2-year-old last week I came across a book that would be perfect to use with young clients on the first day of school. It’s a book based on the tune we all know, “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.” But there are extra verses added about the first day of school. It’s perfect for children who might be a little overwhelmed and apprehensive about the whole experience.

4. Introduce a Back to School “Get To Know Ya” Song.  I wrote “It’s the First Day of School” a few years ago to help the children (and me!) learn the names of everyone in their class. The song also provides the opportunity for children to work on expressive language skills by prompting the child to say “My name is _________.” You can take a listen to that song by clicking here and scrolling down to the audio player.

There you have it – a few ideas to help you gear up for back to school time.

What ideas do you have for easing into the first day and first few weeks of school? I’d love to hear in the comments below.

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In last week’s blog post, I shared about how I’m using any summer “down time” I can find to get a head start on session planning for the Fall.

If you’re in the same frame of mine I am and are need of some musical experiences that address academic concepts with kids, you’re in luck!

Below is a round up of some videos and songs where you can learn how to target specific academic concepts in your music therapy sessions:

Videos:

Movin’ & Groovin’ in Music Therapy (Part 1) – See how to incorporate movement while teaching shapes.

Movin’ & Groovin’ in Music Therapy (Part 2) – See how to incorporate jumping and stretching to practice -AT Words.

Music Therapy + Cognition – See how multiple academic concepts can be targeted within one original song.

Songs:

Here is a Song About S – This song allows children the opportunity to practice the ‘S’ sound and identify words that start with the letter ‘S.’

I Like To Eat Ice Cream – This song gives children the chance to practice counting…with scoops of ice cream!

Look, Look Take a Look – A song to teach opposites.

A Body Parts Song for Kids – A song to practice identification of body parts.

Days of the Week – A song to work on days of the week.

The Letter M – This song allows children the opportunity to practice the ‘M’ sound and identify words that start with the letter ‘M.’

I hope these videos and songs give you some fresh ideas and offer inspiration for you to create your own original songs and activities this summer.

Fall will be here before we know it, so let’s get planning!

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Monday mornings are my favorite.

I know that doesn’t sound believable, but it’s true!

On Mondays I spend my morning making music with babies and their parents or caregivers. I do in home individual sessions and then a large group session at the Brockway Memorial Library in Miami Shores.

I love leading sessions for babies because…they’re just fun to be around.

I love seeing them change and develop each week.

I love seeing them connect with their parent or caregiver through music.

I always like to start my sessions off with movement and one of my favorite movement songs is an original I wrote called “Hands, Hands.”

This song works on basic body part identification and movement of those body parts.

Click here to listen to “Hands, Hands” and see if it might work for one of your sessions. (The clients I work with love the tempo change!)

The mp3 download and sheet music are available for this track so be sure to check it out here!

Stay tuned next week…I’ll be sharing the four key components of my music therapy sessions with babies and their caregivers.

Image courtesy of [luigi diamanti] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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Thanksgiving is my new favorite holiday. I do my very best to go about my day in a state of gratitude and thankfulness, so this holiday is a perfect fit for me. (Oh and I LOVE turkey and apple pie! :)

In today’s blog, I want to share one of my favorite original songs to use in my sessions, “Let’s Make Some Music.”

{Click here to read why I am *adamant* about using original songs in my music therapy sessions with children.}

The beauty of using original songs is that I can be flexible and change the song any way I want based on the needs of my client.

I use “Let’s Make Some Music” during instrument jam sessions, but here are some ways I vary the song based on the differing needs of my clients:

• Direction following ~ I change the lyrics of the song to “It’s time to shake side to side…It’s time to shake up and down…It’s time to shake really…..fast!”
• Body part identification ~ I change the lyrics of the song to “It’s time to shake on your head….It’s time to shake on your knees…It’s time to shake on your toes!”
• Motor skills ~ I can choose an instrument that allows my client to practice a certain type of motor skill. For example, I can give the client a jingle stick to work on the fine motor skill of grasping…or the rhythm sticks to work on bilateral coordination…or the drum to facilitate bringing arms to midline.
• Sustained attention ~ I can extend the song by added extra verses to work on increasing the amount of time my client attends during the intervention.
• Vocabulary words ~ I can change the lyrics of the song to teach various concepts like fast, slow, loud and soft. For example, “Just shake, shake, shake, shake really loud!”
• Social skills ~ I can change the lyrics to “It’s time to pass to a friend” to facilitate the clients passing and sharing instruments.

Whew! Those are just a few ideas of how I can take one original song and vary it in a multitude of ways to target my client’s goals.

Want to use “Let’s Make Some Music” in your sessions? Click below to purchase the sheet music for just $1!

 Happy Thanksgiving!!

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Sometimes I think I’ll never need a gym membership because of all the stomping, spinning, hopping, jumping, and dancing I do in my sessions!

If you’re not caught up already, watch this video and this video for some ideas you can use in your sessions right away.

Today I want to share some original movement songs and ideas I use to start out each session.

In my session structure when working with kids, I typically begin with a hello song and greeting song to orient the clients to the session and their peers around them.

Then without going any further in the session we go right into a movement song. This is a song that prompts clients to clap, stomp, hop, jump, or bounce as the song directs. Sometimes we move within the circle, sometimes we march around the room; sometimes we move like jungle animals, sometimes we move like ocean animals; sometimes we move with rainbow streamers, sometimes we move with the stretchy band. The possibilities are endless and there is so much room for creativity!

Have a listen to a few of my original movement songs:

“Feet, Feet” ~ great for working on identification of body parts and movement. The children always like how the song starts out slow and then gets really, really fast!

“I Am An Elephant” ~ I incorporate this movement song into my jungle themed sessions. We pretend to move like an elephant by stomping our feet and a few other things…

“We Are Spiders” ~ This song was originally written for our Halloween Musical at UCP. But, I’ve gotten a lot of use out of it during my Halloween themed sessions.

I hope you enjoyed these ideas!

If you would like to purchase the sheet music for any of these songs, click on the button below. Sheet music is only $1 a piece.

Oh and be sure you’re on the Wholesome Harmonies newsletter list! I’ll be sending out a little treat for FREE to help you get started in adding these movement songs into your sessions right away. Click here to sign up.

The post Movin’ and Groovin’ in Music Therapy ~ Part 3 appeared first on Wholesome Harmonies, LLC.

Sensory-based interventions are some of my favorite to incorporate into my music therapy sessions.

Many of the children I work with who have special needs are also sensory-based learners. This means they learn about their world through their senses – sight, touch, hearing, even taste!

Here is an original song I wrote to use in my sensory sessions called “Wind, Wind.”

During this song, I use scarves and pretend they are blowing in the breeze on various body parts.

In the song, you’ll hear the line “Wind, wind, blowing on our arms” for example. In this way, the children are not only experiencing tactile stimulation on their arms, they are hearing the word “arm” and associating that with the movement on their arm.

For older children or those who are higher functioning cognitively, you can ask them to move the scarf to the body part they hear in the song.

I find this song very relaxing and a nice way to end my sessions.

Click below if you’d like to purchase the sheet music and use this song in your sessions! Sheet music is $1:

If you are looking for even more ways to incorporate sensory-based activities and interventions into your sessions, check out my E-Book: Sensational Songs & Activities: Sensory-Based Ideas for Music Therapy.

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What a difference a week can make!

Last Wednesday, I was wrapping up my time at United Cerebral Palsy and saying goodbye to my co-worker family that I’d been with for 7 years. This Wednesday, I’m organizing my office at University of Miami, attending new faculty orientation, and meeting the new students who’ll be starting in the music therapy program this Fall.

Exciting!

A few weeks ago something else exciting happened, but I didn’t even have the chance to tell you about it because I was busy blogging for my Summer Series on Music Therapy + Sensory Integration.

The songbook Sing Together: Greetings & Goodbyes was released by the amazing powerhouse duo, Megan Resig and Wade Richards. This songbook contains songs by contributing composers (myself included!)

Here’s how Megan and Wade describe the project:

Sing Together is collaborative project created by Wade Richards and Megan Resig in an effort to encourage music therapists to share their original songs with other music therapists who are looking for new music and therapeutic strategies to incorporate into their sessions. Each songbook in this series contains original work that focuses on a specific theme and shares creative ideas for developing the song into a greater therapeutic experience.

Greetings and Goodbyes offer a selection of work centered around opening and closing a session. Many therapists utilize opening and closing experiences to help their clients transition in and out of the music therapy session or group setting. This is also an opportunity for clients to work on valuable social skills such as using appropriate greetings, decision making, asking questions, maintaining eye contact, and communicating with others.

I contributed two original songs that I wrote JUST for this project: “Come On & Get Ready,” a greeting song (and my personal fave) and “Our Time Now is Done,” a goodbye song (as you probably guessed by the title!)

Ready for the coolest part?

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