Yesterday, was a literal dream come true for me!

I got to facilitate Rockin’ and Readin’ at the Gettysburg Library in Pennsylvania, where I attended storytime and checked out books as a kid.

Talk about coming full circle.

My family and I moved back to my hometown in Pennsylvania in 2021, and though I continue to run my business in Florida and lead virtual sessions with clients in Miami, I’ve also been establishing in person contracts here in PA.

One of the most exciting contracts is with the Adams County Library system, where I’ve been leading Toddler Rock and Rockin’ and Readin’ sessions.

Rockin’ and Readin’ is a program I created to bring music therapy to the library for children of all abilities to experience.

Yesterday at the Gettysburg branch I led a beach-themed session, so we:

• Surfed to songs by The Beach Boys
• Sang and made ocean waves with the parachute
• Read the singable story “There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Shell” (this got TONS of belly laughs)
• Did an ocean animal freeze dance
• Played the ocean drum
• Shook our maracas and sang “Under the Sea”

I loved hearing those little voices singing along with me, and watching the joy on the faces of their caregivers. I am blessed and thankful to do a job I absolutely love!

We have more Baby and Toddler Rock sessions and Rockin’ and Readin’ sessions coming up at both the Miami Dade Public Library System in Florida and the Adams County Library System in Pennsylvania.

Stay tuned to Wholesome Harmonies’ Instagram for upcoming programs, which are free and open to the public.

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Earlier this week, I was Rockin’ and Readin’ at the Carroll Valley Library branch in Fairfield, Pennsylvania.

The library invited me to lead a session during toddler and preschool story time, and we had a blast!

Today, I’m sharing a few ways I turned a typical holiday sing-a-long into an interactive, goal-oriented session for the children and their family members.

See which ones would work for your clients and students!

Sign Language – Prompt children to sign along with the songs. We did the signs for “antlers,” “nose” and “glows” while we sang “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” And, the sign for “snow” as we sang “Let It Snow.”

Props/Manipulatives – I always love to bring in hand held items for sensory stimulation and to give children something to hold onto. Encourage children to move the parachute while singing “Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah.” During the upbeat rhythmic part of the song, bounce the parachute quickly; during the slower part, move it up and down slowly to match the tempo.

Instruments…with directions – Children can choose an instrument and are given instructions to follow during the songs. For example, I added a freeze portion to the song “Santa Claus is Coming To Town.” And for “Frosty the Snowman,” children were instructed to listen closely and raise their instrument high in the air every time we sang “Frosty.”

Add a Book – It wouldn’t be Rockin’ and Readin’ at the Library if we didn’t have a singable story added to the mix. For this session, I brought in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” by Jane Cabrera (she’s got other great singable story books as well). Her adaptation of this familiar song is adorable, and lends itself to a music session perfectly. For example, there are drumming dogs and a party in a pear tree!

These few additions turned a regular ol’ sing-a-long into an interactive session that gave the children the chance to practice developmental skills (i.e. moving the parachute with the group to practice social skills; and listening for cues and following direction to work on impulse control and attention skills.)

I love Rockin’ and Readin’ at the Library and will be back at the Carroll Valley Library in Fairfield, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, January 4th from 10:00-10:30am for Baby Story Time!

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Library sessions are some of my favorite to facilitate.

I love the calm atmosphere and getting to know the librarians and patrons through our classes.

We’ve been offering Rockin’ and Readin’, Baby & Toddler Rock and Holidays with Wholesome Harmonies for various branches of the Miami Dade Public Library System since 2010.

And recently, we expanded to branches of the Adams County Library System in Biglerville and Carrol Valley, Pennsylvania.

Mark your calendar because we would love to see you at an upcoming session in Florida…or in Pennsylvania!

Holidays with Wholesome Harmonies
Facilitated by Ms. Lorena at Lakes of the Meadow Branch (FL):
Halloween Session was on October 13, 2022 @ 4:30-5:00pm
Thanksgiving Session – November 21, 2022 @ 4:30-5:00pm
Christmas/Winter Holiday Session – December 22, 2022 @ 4:30-5:00pm

Toddler Rock
Facilitated by Ms. Lorena at South Miami Branch (FL):
November 22, 2022 @ 12:30-1:00pm

Toddler Rock
At Lakes of the Meadow Branch (FL)
January programs are being scheduled now!

Rockin & Readin
Facilitated by Ms. Amy at the Carroll Valley Branch (PA):
December 13, 2022 @ 10:00-10:40am

Sessions are FREE and open to the public, but you must call the library branch to register.

We look forward to seeing you there and making music together!

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Tomorrow, Friday, September 11th I’ll be Zooming in to offer brand new VIRTUAL Rockin’ & Readin’ sessions for the Miami-Dade Public Library System.

Typically, the music therapists on my team and I travel to library branches across the county to offer our program.

Now, we’re able to offer these sessions virtually, so “virtually” anyone can attend!

(Rockin’ & Readin’ at the Library is one of the topics I receive the most emails about from music therapists & educators. Read this post and this post to find out more information about how I started these programs at the library).

These sessions are so much fun to lead.

Tomorrow, we’ll be doing an Apple Theme, so we’ll be:

• Singing apple songs (lots of apple songs!)
• Rising horses on the farm to William Tell Overture Finale
• Singing and counting apples in the tree
• Doing a singable story called “The Small Seed”
• Playing instruments
• Moving and dancing

The musical experiences are designed to target attention, academic, motor, and communication goals in ways that are engaging and FUN!

Here are the upcoming dates for 2020 –

Rockin’ & Readin’ for Preschoolers
Friday, September 11th @ 11:00am
Friday, September 25th @ 11:00am

These sessions are open to children ages 3 – 5 of all abilities for FREE, but you must call the Coral Gables Library to register and receive the Zoom login information.

Stay tuned for more upcoming session dates and I’ll see you over on Zoom!

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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 Miami-Dade County.

(Rockin’ & Readin’ at the Library is one of the topics I receive the most emails about from music therapists & educators. Read this post and this post to find out more information about how I started these programs at the library).

The classes are completely free (thanks to generous grant funding) and open to children of all abilities.

We offer Toddler Rock for toddlers ages 19 months – 2 1/2 years old and Rockin’ & Readin’ for preschoolers ages 3-5.

These sessions are so much fun to lead.

At any given session, you might find us:

• Giving high fives to work on social skills
• Shaking maracas to work on gross and fine motor skills
• Reading a singable story like “Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear?” by Eric Carle to work on expressive communication
• Moving the parachute and stretchy band to work on receptive communication and direction following
• Singing songs about colors, letters, and body parts

We’ve had a blast this month facilitating sessions, meeting families, and sharing with them about how they can use music at home to enrich their child’s development.

If you’re in Miami, and would like to attend an upcoming class, we would love to see you. Here are our upcoming session dates in 2020 –

Rockin’ & Readin’ for Preschoolers
January 27th @ 10:30am: Claire will be at the Northeast Dade Branch

Toddler Rock
February 3rd @ 11:00am: Claire will be at the Key Biscayne Branch

February 4th @ 10:30am: Clarice will be at the Miami Beach Regional Branch

February 13th @ 11:00am: Amy will be at the Lakes of the Meadow Branch

March 5th @ 10:15am: Clarice will be at the Miami Springs Branch

March 20th @ 11:00am: Amy will be at the West Dade Regional Branch

All sessions are free and open to children of all abilities, but you must call the library branch to register as space is limited.

We look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming classes!

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April was Autism Awareness Month and I had the opportunity to do something I LOVE to do: travel to different library branches throughout Miami-Dade county and lead Rockin’ and Readin’ music therapy sessions.

Rockin’ and Readin’ is a program I created to bring music therapy sessions to the libraries in our area.

Our focus in April was on toddlers and young children with autism and other special needs and for this round of sessions, all my activities were spring related. I incorporated a butterfly movement song, a musical egg hunt, a spring-themed instrument playing activity, and of course a singable spring story.

I chose the book “Five Little Ducks” because many children and adults are familiar with this song and can sing along (which helps them feel successful!)

I’ve used this singable story before, but this time I decided to incorporate one thing that made it stand out from all the other times I’ve done it. One thing that grabbed the attention of the children who were distracted and reengaged them in our activity.

What was that one thing you ask?

(drumroll.…)

The duck quacker!

If you are not familiar with the duck quacker, I highly recommend you check it out.

This silly sounding instruments sounds JUST LIKE A DUCK. The toddlers and children I work with absolutely love it. Every time we got to the part in the song where the mother duck says “quack quack quack quack,” I played that quacker as loud as I could. The group erupted in laughter because I had hidden it behind the book and they couldn’t see what was making that noise.

Was it a real duck?!

The key takeaway here is this: think about what you can incorporate into your sessions that will grab the attention of your clients and refocus their attention back on you. If you work with toddlers and young children like I do, you know we need to have an endless amount of reengagement strategies in our back pocket.

Maybe it’s the duck quacker, maybe it’s the thunder tube, maybe it’s the castanet. Leave a comment below to let me know what’s worked for you and your clients!

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The library is one of my favorite places to be.

I’ve always loved the smell of the books and the peacefulness that lives in the bookshelves.

Well, that is the peacefulness until storytime starts!

If you’ve ever been to one of our Rockin’ & Readin music sessions, you know we get a little bit loud as we drum, shake bells, dance, and sing.

I created the Rockin’ & Readin’ at the Library program with the idea of bringing music into storytime. The musical activities we lead target developmental goals (like working on expressive communication by singing simple songs) and promote literacy (through singeable stories for example). The therapists on my team and I travel to library branches throughout Miami-Dade county to provide these music sessions for babies and toddlers.

We would love for you to join us in making music!

The sessions are FREE and open to toddlers (ages 18 months – 3 years) of all abilities, including those with special needs. Here are our upcoming session dates:

Friday, March 8th Claire will be rockin’ and readin’ with toddlers at the International Mall Library Branch from 10:30-11:00am.

Wednesday, March 13th Claire will be heading out to the Beach. She’ll be rockin’ and readin’ with toddlers at the Miami Beach Regional Branch from 10:30-11:00am and the South Shore Branch from 11:45am-12:15pm.

These sessions fill up very quickly and we limit the number of participants to 15 (to ensure each child has an instrument and to ensure the sessions are not overstimulating) Be sure to call the library branch directly to register your child.

Music therapists, are you interested in facilitating Rockin’ & Readin’ sessions at your local library? Check out this post where I answer some FAQs about the program. I’m also happy to set up a consultation to get you started on the right track in setting up this program in your area.

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In last week’s blog post, I shared about the library programs we offer at the Miami-Dade County Library System ~ Rockin’ & Readin’ (a music therapy program that targets literacy skills) and Baby & Toddler Rock (both developmental music programs).

I’m thrilled that we announced that we JUST received funding to expand and offer these programs at the Brockway Memorial Library System in Miami Shores!

I did a trial session there in April and we had a fantastic turnout. So, I am thrilled to be going back throughout the summer and early fall to do some rockin’ and readin’.

Here is our 2015 schedule:

When: Mondays 11:00 – 11:45am
Session Dates: June 1 – September 30, 2015
Program: We will alternate between Baby Rock and Rockin’ & Readin’ every other week
Where: Brockway Memorial Library, 10021 NE 2nd Ave, Miami Shores, FL 33138

I am so excited. My wheels are already turning with new theme and session ideas for these groups. And, I’ve been browsing the library for more books to add to my singable story collection.

Here are some of my favorite original songs to use in my Baby Rock, Toddler Rock and Rockin’ & Readin’ sessions. Click on each icon below to listen – sheet music & MP3s are available!

Music Therapists: Are you interested in starting up a music therapy program or developmental music program at your library? Did you know I offer consultations about starting these programs? If you’re interested in setting up a consultation, visit our consultation page or contact me directly here. I’ve worked with a number of music therapists & educators to get programs started in their area and I’d love to help you get started, too.

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Does it seem interesting that a post about the library starts with the phrase “Rockin’ Out?”

Typically you think about being very, very quiet in the library, but with the music therapy programs offered through Wholesome Harmonies, we are anything but quiet!

Since 2010, I’ve been facilitating music therapy programs at Miami-Dade Public Library System. It all started with a simple phone call and has expanded into offerings for babies, toddlers and children of all abilities (including those with special needs).

Music Therapists & Educators, if you are interested in a consultation about how to start library programs in your area, visit our Consultation Page here.

These are the programs we currently offer at the library:

Rockin’ & Readin’ is a program I created to allow children of all abilities, including those with special needs, to participate in music therapy activities. These sessions target developmental goals and promote literacy through singable stories.

We hold sessions once a month at various library locations throughout the county. Each session includes goal-oriented music therapy experiences centered around a theme (usually based on a holiday or season). And of course, because we’re at the library, each session includes at least one singable story to target literacy skills.

Our last Rockin’ & Readin’ session for this school year is Saturday, June 13, 2015 from 10:30-11:00am at Hialeah Gardens Library.

Baby Rock is a music group for babies (ages 0-18 months) and their caregivers; Toddler Rock is a music group for toddlers (ages 18 months – 3 years) and their caregivers.

In both groups we utilize developmentally appropriate songs and activities to encourage interaction between caregivers and their little ones and to work on basic developmental skills. (We used this Spanish finger play last month and it was a hit!)

During these music groups, babies and toddlers will explore instruments, scarves, shakers, singing, and movement to music to work on growth in the areas of social, communication, physical, and emotional development. All songs are original and live musical accompaniment is provided on guitar, keyboard, and omnichord. It’s always a rockin’ time!

We are pleased to announce our 2015 summer offerings of Baby & Toddler Rock (combined), which will take place at the Miami Beach Library on the following dates from 10:30-11:00am:

Wednesday, June 10
Wednesday, June 24
Wednesday, July 1
Wednesday, July 15

These programs are funded by the library and/or grants, so the public can attend for free. Offering these programs has been a fantastic way to introduce the community to music therapy and what we have to offer children and families through music.

The really exciting part is that the Brockway Memorial Library has contacted me because they are interested in offering Baby & Toddler Sessions at their library branch (which is not part of the Miami-Dade County system).

I’ll keep you posted on upcoming session dates!

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Because these sessions take place at the library, many of the interventions target early literacy skills. We work on letter identification, rhyming words, letter sounds, and of course incorporate at least one Book ‘n Song into each session.

It’s easy to incorporate Book ‘n Songs into your sessions too!

Today I’m sharing some tips for how to choose appropriate books AND write your own, original songs to go with them:

a) Find books with lots of repetition
Always be thinking – what are the children going to be doing throughout this activity? I like to choose a book that has a phrase repeated throughout so the children can anticipate and begin to sing along with that phrase.

“From Head to Toe” by Eric Carle is one of my favorite books to sing because the phrase “I can do it” repeats on every other page. Many of the children I see are working on speaking 3-4 word utterances, so this repeated phrase gives them the perfect opportunity to practice this. I also add the movement of tapping the chest on the word “I” and the movement of putting the hand up in the air for “can do it!” for those children in the group who are not yet verbal.

b) Find books with great pictures
Verbal identification of pictures is a goal for many of the children I work with. A book with beautiful, visually appealing pictures can help facilitate this.

c) Find books with catchy words or phrases
This can be really fun! “This Jazz Man” by Karen Ehrhardt is the perfect example. Phrases like “bippity bop pippity!” and “beedely bop bi bop!” are just plain fun to say…and offer multiple opportunities to practice those bilabial sounds.

d) Find books that are multisensory
I love a book with textures, flaps or any other way the children can be “tactile-y” involved. The ‘Touch and Feel’ series by DK Publishing has books that incorporate different textures on each page.

The book What’s in the Jungle?” by Pete Seymour is one of my favorite books to sing with, as it has flaps that hide the animal you’re singing about. “Whose Mommy is This?” by Charles Reasoner is another fave. This book has animals’ hiding’ and the children can pull the page out to see which animal is there.

e) Finally…you don’t need to sing every word on the page
I vary the lyrics for my song depending on the age and level of the children I’m working with. Sometimes I’ll simplify the lyrics or create my own if the words on the page are too complex. Just use the illustrations as a guide for how to create the song!

Well, there you have it. These are just a few guidelines to get you started in creating your own singable stories.

I would suggest just visiting the children’s section of the library and see what you can find!

In the meantime, check out a few examples of some of my original Book ‘n Songs:

“Ten Little Fingers” {This one is perfect for my Baby Rock & Toddler Rock sessions!}

“Color Dance” {Watch the video & see how I incorporate colorful scarves!}

“My First Book of the Body”

Now I’d love to hear from YOU! Leave a comment below and let me know your favorite singable storybook.

Image courtesy of Phaitoon at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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