I don’t know if it’s all the green or the Irish music, but St. Patrick’s Day is such a fun holiday to celebrate!
In the spring, when holidays are a little more spread out, I take any opportunity I can to add some variety to my repertoire as I continue to target my students’ and clients’ goals in an appropriate way.
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My wonderful team of 4 board-certified music therapists and 8 instructors is growing! We couldn’t be more excited about hiring another music therapist, which will enable Music Therapy Connections to serve even more people in the central Illinois area.
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Now that February has drawn to a close and March is officially here, that means spring is right around the corner! March brings St. Patrick’s Day, blooming leaves, flowers, and sunny days to come, which adds an extra pep in the step of those like me who revel in the warmer weather!
Below are two songs all about March that will surely remind us all why it is a month worth celebrating.
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I’m proud to be a music therapist every day of the year, but especially on this one. March 1st is World Music Therapy Day, so today I’m celebrating my colleagues around the globe, the amazing work they do, and all of those who have and continue to benefit from music therapy services.
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Over the weekend, I took a short trip to sunny Florida, and I couldn’t help but get excited about the warmer weather coming our way. Although higher temperatures aren’t here yet, the few days I spent in my sandals and sunglasses inspired this week’s beach-themed post!
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Every February, I start to get really restless and lose my patience for what always seems like a never-ending winter season. Luckily, it’s at this time that we usually have the chance to escape the frozen midwest and spend a few days in paradise — also known as Marco Island, Florida.
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These dreary wintry days have me longing for spring and all of its colors, so I’ve taken that inspiration into my music therapy sessions and music classes with a few colorfully themed songs.
Identifying colors is an important developmental skill for young children, so it’s only natural to practice that skill in a musical context. In this post, I’ve featured two songs that creatively address color identification while targeting some additional goals as well!
(more…)The following is a guest post by Yaniza, a bilingual singer-songwriter based in New York City. Yaniza’s tunes bring joy and sunshine to its listeners through catchy lyrics meshed with acoustic guitar, ukulele, or piano base. Much like her home city, Yaniza’s music is a melting pot of calm, upbeat, and everything in between.
“Fly Away (Free Bird)” is a melodic little reminder for everyone to embrace their inner free spirit. When I wrote the song, I was feeling very stuck in a routine. The only way to get myself out of that rut was to write my feelings into a song!
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Those of us who work with young children know how essential movement is to a successful music therapy session or music class. Although movement is necessary, sometimes when all of the kiddos get up to move, chaos can break out and spread like wildfire!
As a young music therapist, it was hard to manage gross motor movement songs effectively; it always seemed like my clients and students would become dysregulated, run around, and have difficulty following along. As the years go on, I’ve gotten a little bit wiser, and have learned to work smarter and not harder when it comes to movement interventions.
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This year, like so many years before, I set out to become a paper planner person. There’s something so appealing about the idea of organizing my life inside of a pretty planner full of fresh paper, but I haven’t been able to follow through with the implementation…until now.
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