by Rachel | Uncategorized
Yesterday afternoon, I returned home from a trip to Florida and realized I had a song to write, record and post here on the blog. Luckily I didn’t have to think very hard about what to write about — I had just spent 3 days with my immediate and extended family at a reunion.
After reuniting with her cousin whom she hadn’t seen in over 40 years (on Facebook of all places), my mom was able to connect with family members she’d never met or had lost touch with and decided to organize a reunion. Not only did I get to meet lots of second and third cousins, but I also had the opportunity to see my grandma, uncle, brother, and sister-in-law who all live far away.
With the holidays just around the corner, this is as good a time as any for a song about the importance of family. My students and I spend a lot of time talking about their families (and they’re always curious about mine, too); doing so within the context of a song is even better.
I hope you were able to spend some time with your family this weekend, too! Have a lovely week, and don’t forget that The 10 Days of Thanksgiving (complete with chords, mp3, instrumental, and 10 page PDF visual) is 20% off now through Thanksgiving Day when you use the discount code givethanks12.
by Rachel | Uncategorized
A few years back, I had the privilege of creating and recording music for Model Me Kids, a company that creates modeling videos to help children with autism learn social skills. My original songs narrate the Model Me Faces and Emotions and Model Me Going Places DVDs.
Now there’s an app based on the “Faces and Emotions” DVD for both iPhone and iPad: Autism Emotion, which you can download for free in the iTunes store. It’s a great visual teaching tool for helping children learn about different emotions through photos, text, narration, and music.
The app includes four of the emotions featured in the DVD. Each emotion contains a photo slide show of a child experiencing a specific emotion, and you can play the song I wrote for each emotion as well.
I downloaded this app yesterday, and though I may be a little biased, I think it’s a great resource for enhancing my work on the topic of emotions. It’s free, so check it out for yourself…and if you use other apps to help your kiddos learn about emotions, please share!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
As a kid, I was never a crier. My mom used to say that she could count on one hand the number of times she saw me cry when I was younger, and she was probably right. Something always stopped me from letting my feelings out.
I see the same thing happen with my students quite often. Music therapy and even music lessons can be emotional at times, and I can tell when a child or young adult is on the verge of tears. They usually try to hold them back and keep themselves together, but I always encourage my students to share how they’re feeling — even if it means letting the tears fall.
I remember feeling embarrassed every time I cried as a child, even if it was just in front of my parents or best friend. But as I say in the song, everybody cries and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.
I’ve learned that crying can be cathartic…it really does help us face whatever we’re feeling sad about. I wrote this song so that we can teach that to our students and children. Choking back tears is no fun, as I know all too well!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
The timing of this song is a little ironic, since we haven’t had rain here in central Illinois for what seems like weeks now. But I wrote the lyrics a couple of months ago and felt inspired to finish the song over the weekend, so maybe if I sing it a whole lot, we’ll actually get some sprinkles? Wishful thinking, I know ;)
The lyrics came to me in the midst of a huge thunderstorm, during which it thundered so hard my whole house shook. I like a good rain from time to time, so it didn’t bother me, but the storm got me thinking about how bad weather affects people — adults and kids alike.
I wanted to put a positive spin on the weather by acknowledging that it can make us feel blue, but we can look to those we love to make us feel better. This is especially true for little ones who need some comforting during scary storms.
Now, if only I had a reason to share this song with my students. Come on, rain!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
Holidays and special events make choosing a song topic so easy. With Mother’s Day coming up on Sunday, there was no question as to this week’s subject matter.
There’s not much to write about this song that the lyrics don’t already say — the main message I wanted to send is that we should celebrate our moms not only on Mother’s Day, but every single day of the year. I know I do!
I’m lucky to have a pretty darn amazing mom. She’s been such a wonderful role model for me throughout my life, and I want to be juuuust like her when I grow up :) Somehow between working full time, earning her doctoral degree, and the 9,346 other things she has going on, my mom manages to support all of my endeavors AND attend each and every one of my performances (even the late-night ones!).
Moms make the world go ’round, indeed. How are you helping your kiddos celebrate their moms on Mother’s Day? And if you’re a mom yourself, yay for you and keep on being awesome!
