April Fool’s Day!

by | Listen & Learn Music, Uncategorized

It’s only 8:30 am, and I’ve already been pranked…by my principal! He sent out an email telling us to come to a faculty meeting at 8:00 am, and then when we got there, we found that there was no meeting, only delicious muffins :) I’ll take a prank like that any day of the year.

And in honor of the first day of April, here is the newest song of the month:

April, it’s April,
For thirty days it’s here,
April, it’s April,
The fourth month of the year.

April Fools is on day one,
Jokes and pranks are so much fun,
Play a trick on one of your friends,
Before this day ends,

April, it’s April,
For thirty days it’s here,
April, it’s April,
The fourth month of the year.

April 22nd is Earth Day,
Let’s keep our planet clean,
Recycle and plant some trees,
And make the whole earth green,

April, it’s April,
For thirty days it’s here,
April, it’s April,
The fourth month of the year.

Spring is here the whole month long,
And flowers start to bloom,
When April showers are over,
The sun shines in our room,

April, it’s April,
For thirty days it’s here,
April, it’s April,
The fourth month of the year.

I have a busy but exciting month ahead of me. I’ll be celebrating both my mom and dad’s 50th birthdays, next week is spring break, and then the following week, Zach and I are off to San Diego! I can’t wait. But for now, enjoy your April Fool’s Day and if you play a prank on somebody, make it a nice one!

March is Here!

by | Listen & Learn Music

I have one word for this: hooray! The arrival of March makes me happy for several reasons, first and foremost being that we close on our new house in less than two weeks. I’ve been daydreaming about all the songs I’ll write in my beautiful new home office, a space dedicated solely to music and music therapy (which of course includes this blog). I know a change of scenery will jumpstart my creativity :) But there are more March highlights: a weekend trip to Chicago for Zach’s company banquet, a visit from my aunt, and the advent of Spring!

I was feeling happy last year when I wrote the “March” song, which I hope you like:

March is here, yes March is here,
The third month of the year.
Thirty one days march into spring,
And that is a wonderful thing.
Yes that is a wonderful thing.

St. Patrick’s Day will come around,
Find four-leaf clovers on the ground.
Leprechauns and rainbows too,
Clothes of green for me and you.

CHORUS

Get ready for the start of spring,
And all the fun that it will bring.
Soon enough we’ll have spring break,
Let’s celebrate, for goodness sake!

CHORUS

March is here, yes March is here,
The third month of the year.
Thirty one days march into spring,
And that is a wonderful thing.
Yes that is a wonderful thing.

Singing this tune puts me in a great mood, and I hope hearing it does the same for you. What are your plans for this month? Are you as excited for spring as I am? Enjoy your Sunday afternoon…and if you’re as lucky as I am, your day off tomorrow for Casmir Pulaski Day!

Month Song Makeovers

by | Uncategorized

Good evening! I just received this email from Kim, a loyal reader and supporter of Listen & Learn. She has some great ideas for the January and February month songs, and I just had to pass them along to you:

“You know what a fan I am of your month songs, so I thought I’d share some new verses with you. I structure my autism groups around themes, so I’m using the month songs to reinforce the themes I use. With that in mind, I’ve added some new versions and reworded some of yours to coincide with my weekly themes. I hope you don’t mind my taking liberty with your creativity.

For January (I know this is a little late to be of any use this year):

January bring a brand new year
Our new president will start
Soon will be inauguration day
And Obama will be in charge

(It was really fun to listen to them try and pronounce Obama).

January brings a brand new year
It’s now 2009
We’ll do our best, be nice to friends
And everything will be just fine.

For February:

February 24th is Fat Tuesday
Down in New Orleans they’ll sing and play
Beads and masks for all to see
A Mardi Gras party for you and me

February’s a time to see
What Black Americans did for our country
Who helped our land become so great
Just one more reason to celebrate.”

Thanks so much, Kim, for these wonderful additions! I will definitely be incorporating the new February verses into my lessons this month. And if anyone else has made over a Listen & Learn tune, I’d love to hear about it.

February…and Football

by | Listen & Learn Music

Good evening! And happy February to you, too. Not only is today the start of a brand new month, but it is also Superbowl Sunday. Though I’m not a football fan, I have indulged my husband by feigning interest in the game :) Sundays are always busy for me, and today was no exception. After church I tackled several household projects, and I didn’t finish until it was time to go back for Church Mice. But now that I’m a little more relaxed, I will make you wait no more for the debut of the “February” song.

February is month number two,
The shortest of all the months, it’s true.
Usually twenty-eight days, but sometimes
At leap year, then there’ll be twenty-nine.

February second is Groundhog Day,
We’ll wait for the animal to come out and play.
Let’s hope his shadow he does not see,
It means spring will soon be here for you and me.

CHORUS

February fourteenth is Valentine’s Day,
We’ll give out cards and “I love you,” we’ll say.
Time for chocolate, and candy hearts too,
Pink and red flowers for me and you.

CHORUS

February also brings President’s Day,
Remembering those who paved the way
For the US to become so great,
And that is why we celebrate.

CHORUS

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you know that winter is not my favorite season. Not even my second…or third…favorite season. But I like to look at the bright side of things, and the bright side of February is that it is short! And one month closer to spring than January! So as the rest of the country roots for either the Steelers or the Cardinals, I’m rooting for the end of football season and hoping that the groundhog does not see his shadow tomorrow. Fingers are crossed!

Today Is…

by | Uncategorized

Good morning! Like many of you, this is my first day back to school after a nice break, and I’m ready to dive head-first into the month. Today I’ll be introducing several new songs to my students, which is always exciting. And while new songs are great, it’s the songs that are familiar to the kids (and staff) that keep them engaged and eager to participate.

The hello song, weather songs, and a couple of the calendar songs are standards throughout the year, and I’m going to share one of those with you.

Each day after singing about the month, we sing the “Today Is” song. I chose to set the lyrics to the tune of “You Are My Sunshine” because it is familiar, and it just happened to fit the words perfectly.

Today is Monday, today is Monday.
Today is Monday, January 5th.
Yesterday was Sunday, tomorrow’s Tuesday.
But today is Monday, January 5th.

The song changes with the day, which definitely keeps me on my toes :) Some of the classes have even started doing sign language while singing the song, which is a great option if your students use that form of communication.

I hope your first day back is a great one! See you again soon.