I’m currently on maternity leave, and some of my colleagues have been kind enough to share their expertise through guest posts throughout the summer. The following comes to you from Bear Paw Creek owner Janet Stephens, who creates many of the wonderful movement props I use and love.
As a child, my dream was always to be a wife and mom. I got married while living in Alaska in 1997 with a baby soon to follow in 1998. My husband and I wanted to raise our family in the “Lower 48,” so the fall of 1999 found us moving to Missouri.
Part of my dream was to be able to stay home with my children. Shortly after our move, I was trying to figure out a way to bring in some income. Enter my big sister with an idea. She was a self-employed music therapist and discovered a need for movement props and endless quantities of fabric bags to stay organized–my sewing business was born.
I started creating and sewing stretchy bands, bean bags, Q Chord cases, tone chime cases, puppets, and tote bags. I started on the sewing machine I purchased in high school but soon found the need for my first of several industrial sewing machines. Those were the days before YouTube had tutorials on how to use industrial machines. It has been a continual learning experience.
In the spring of 2012, I took Kat Fulton’s fantastic Online Zenn Course and started working on building my web presence. My favorite outcomes of the class are the connections I made and “meeting” some of the people that actually use what I sew. It’s a pretty humbling and awesome experience to see and hear first hand how they are used.
While my sister was visiting last year, we were able to do a video shoot showcasing the stretchy band. Rachel Rambach wrote a fantastic song especially for the event. Here is one of the long awaited videos.
We also have a new and exciting Stretchy Band “cousin” going to be released soon. Can you imagine a stretchy band that can be used in a straight line and then connected together, combining different sizes for your needs? Watch for the Connect-a-Band™ coming out soon! Come get connected with us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+. You’ll be the first to know about our new products and sale events.
As always, our products are proudly made in America. So are all seven of my children–my dreams being fulfilled!
I’m currently on maternity leave, and many of my colleagues have been kind enough to share their expertise via guest posts throughout the summer. The following comes to you from Amy Kalas, MM, MT-BC.
I am constantly on the lookout for ways to improve my skills as a music therapist, aren’t you?
I find it fun and motivating to discover more and more effective ideas for engaging children in music therapy and connecting with them through music.
The children I work with at both my full-time job at UCP’s Early Beginnings Academy and in my private practice, Wholesome Harmonies, are primarily diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
One of the main things that enhanced my work with these children is co-treating with occupational therapists who specialize in sensory integration. Through these co-treatments, I began to learn about the unique sensory needs of children with ASD and brainstorm how I can address those needs in a therapeutic music experience.
In a session where I have children who are “sensory-seeking” (those are the ones jumping and crashing into things, seeking sensory input), I always ‘start with sensory.’I’ve found that if I “feed” that sensory need by providing the children with a sensory integration experience such as jumping on the trampoline or bouncing on the therapy ball, they are better able to attend to and engage in the subsequent music therapy activities.
Here is a video showcasing an example of one sensory integration experience I use in my sessions with children with ASD:
In this video, the children are receiving proprioceptive and vestibular input by bouncing on a therapy ball, while the music is organizing the whole experience. The lyrics cue the children to bounce and stop; and the rhythmic beat and tempo tell the children how fast to be bouncing. All these elements work together to create an experience that is appropriate and beneficial to the children.
This activity can be extended by having the children move in different ways on the therapy ball: they could lay on the ball on their stomach and bounce up and down, or they could lay on the ball on their stomach and roll front two back, using their arms and legs to push themselves back and forth (I hear a nice 6/8 accompaniment in my head for this one!)
The ideas are endless…why not meet with an occupational therapist and find out some other ways you can utilize the therapy ball in your music therapy sessions?
This is just Part One of a series I am starting on Music Therapy & Sensory Integration on my blog, Wholesome Harmonies. Want to stay up to date on the next installments? Click here to hop on the list!
Amy Kalas, MM, MT-BC is a board-certified music therapist with eight years of experience working with children and adolescents with special needs. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy (2005) and Master’s degree in Music Therapy (2010) from University of Miami. Amy has been employed at United Cerebral Palsy of Miami as a music therapist, practicum supervisor, and internship director since 2006. She recently accepted the position of Interim Professor of Music Therapy at University of Miami.
Amy is also the owner of Wholesome Harmonies, LLC, where she provides music therapy services in the Miami area. She is the author of two E-Books: Tuneful Teens: Creative Ideas for Engaging Adolescents in Music Therapy and Sensational Songs & Ideas: Sensory-Based Ideas for Music Therapy. You can visit the website and blog for Wholesome Harmonies at www.WHmusictherapy.com.
This is the second of a two-part article series by guest author Aaron Schulman. You can read part one here.
In the previous article of this series, we discussed the importance of music in developing cognitive abilities in young children. Now let’s take a look at some practical ways or methods to implement the process in your own home. Whether your goal is to simply enrich your child’s learning abilities with music, piano or guitar education, or whether you aspire to help him or her become the best beginner acoustic guitar player he or she can be, these ideas can help set a normal and quality foundation.
The age of the child is of great importance to how you teach a musical instrument. As a child grows, so will his or her attention span. Studies show that simple instruments, such as a keyboard or hand drum, can be played by nearly any child who can follow simple directions. However, a very young child would not have organized lessons, nor would the teaching last long. It is important that the first lessons be fun and stimulate your child’s interest in music.
As the child matures, lessons can last longer and become more structured. A rewards system, such as short breaks with a special, healthy snack in the middle and end of the lesson, may work well with younger children. For older children, they will be able to see the progress they are making as a reward in and of itself. Intrinsic motivation can be built up as a child begins to get satisfaction from the sheer process and enjoyment of learning music.
But for a child at any age, time spent with a parent learning about an instrument is valuable. For example, you may show a drum to a one year old, and teach them how to say the word drum. This will help develop interpersonal and language skills. As the child learns to tap out a rhythm, they are learning musical and kinesthetic (body movement) skills. For an older child, figuring out tempo and patterns and learning to read sheet music can help develop mathematical skills and self-confidence.
Make sure to encourage your child in his or her process, and remember that each child is an individual who learns his or her own way. Even siblings will not learn at the same pace (so be sure to adjust the details of the learning process to suit individual personalities). A younger child may learn a certain instrument more quickly than an older child. One twin may have an ear for rhythm while the other does not. That’s okay and should be expected as the “norm”. Each child will have differing strengths in each of the seven Multiple Intelligences (learning styles.)
As you may recall from the first part of this series, these seven areas are:
Linguistic (verbal and written communication)
Logical-mathematical (logical analytical skills)
Visual (spatial-creative thinking in abstract ways or dimensions)
Bodily-kinesthetic (using coordinated body movements to accomplish tasks)
Musical (musical talent and ability)
Interpersonal (development ability to work well with others)
Intrapersonal (development of internally oriented tendencies)
A child’s intelligence cannot be measured by focusing on one single area, rather all areas and learning styles must be considered for a complete assessment. And, don’t forget that it is more important to stimulate your child’s brain development with structured variations and challenges in the lessons in music rather than to simply make sure that the child perfects every lesson within a specified time.
The choice of instrument is important as well. Your toddler or young child will not be able to handle a full-sized guitar or even a ¾ size guitar with effectiveness (it may cause more frustration at too early an age as well). With a younger child, a keyboard or piano is a good place to start. As the child grows, he or she may “graduate” to a child-sized mini guitar. The lessons they learn on these smaller instruments will follow them into adulthood and perhaps even promote a lifelong passion for music.
All in all, even if your youngster doesn’t grow up to be a modern day Mozart, you can rest assured that the musical training he or she received as a child helped develop learning styles and skills that will be utilized throughout life.
About the Author: Aaron Schulman developed a passion for playing acoustic guitars over twenty years ago, and continues to enjoy playing, teaching, studying the guitar and writing guitar reviews, like a recent one on the Baby Taylor. Aaron has made it a personal goal to help others find their own “fit” in an acoustic guitar within their personal budget and goals. You can read more reviews, including one on the Taylor 110 e at Strumviews.com.
This is the first of a two-part article series by guest author Aaron Schulman.
Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m a hands-on learner,” or, “I have to see it to understand it”? Developmental psychologist Howard Gardner tells us that there are (at least) 7 Multiple Intelligences (learning styles) that affect the way people learn. He theorizes that people develop intellectually within these seven different areas and all cognitive development must be measured using each area. Whether you are the best acoustic guitar player in your town or have trouble holding a tune in a bucket, your children can benefit from music education, building up and growing their different learning style or multiple intelligence capabilities. These Multiple Intelligences (per Gardner) are as follows:
Linguistic style means using written and oral language to learn. People with strength in this area may learn by reading, note-taking, and listening. Logical-mathematical learners analyze problems. These are people who tend to look at each challenge logically and try to solve it with rational problem-solving skills. Spatial intelligence is using visual and creative thinking in abstract ways (including visual and dimensional learning). Bodily-kinesthetic learning is the ability to coordinate your mind and body to achieve a goal (great athletes could have higher core competencies in these areas). The musical learning style is expressed as ability in patterns, performance, and composition with music literacy. Interpersonal intelligence is the capability of working with and understanding others. Finally, intrapersonal intelligence is having an acute understanding of oneself that sets a standard of living (solid self-awareness skills including strengths and weaknesses).
Each person will develop cognitively within these seven styles of learning. Individuals will have varying degrees of strength in each area. Even children from the same family will invariably have different personalities and learning styles. From many other psychological studies, we know that children’s cognitive development increases at the greatest rate from birth to age seven; and from there it continues to increase more gradually. We also know that we can significantly affect children’s rate of learning with varying stimuli (challenging their development through different learning modalities listed above).
You may be saying to yourself right now, wait a minute – I thought this was an article about playing the acoustic guitar? It is. As it turns out, musical ability and cognitive growth have a very strong bond. One particular stimulus you can use to help your child grow in almost every one of the multiple intelligences is music. As a child learns to play an instrument, they must use several different areas of the brain and several modalities of cognitive learning will develop. In learning to read sheet music, discovering beat and tempo, and using body positioning to play an instrument properly, you can already begin to see a large platform of learning styles utilized.
Scientific studies have also shown that being educated in music leads to higher intelligence in spatial and mathematical development. Specifically, as a child learns patterns, rhythm and pitch, they are actually developing their logical-mathematical reasoning and processing. In teaching your child a musical instrument, you are really helping your child’s brain development in a more well-rounded approach; not to mention the great quality time it provides for parent and child.
(Check out http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1869 For some great information on Dr. Gottfried Schlaug’s research on music students’ developing greater corpus callosum growth and activity. You will also find studies on what is called the Mozart effect on the development and enhancement of spatial memory for music students.)
Studies show that children are capable of developing rhythm and movement even before they are able to speak. In children as young as twelve months, scientists have noted a marked positive influence when a child listens to and explores music and instruments. Children who learn musical instruments before the age of 7 show a tendency to develop a larger, more robust corpus callosum (the neural network that connects both left and right halves of the brain and helps both halves of the brain to communicate). (See aforementioned website for further information on this study.)
Let’s get more practical:
We’ve discussed what music can do for children in general, but what can it specifically do for your child? For infants to young toddlers, music develops their musical and kinesthetic intelligences as they move their arms and legs to the sounds and discover rhythm. For children about three to seven years of age, learning to play a musical instrument helps develop the neural connections in the left and right brain hemispheres. Older children also benefit cognitively from learning musical instruments. Added to that, older children also develop interpersonal and intrapersonal communication skills when receiving lessons and spending quality time with others, especially a parent or other loved one.
All in all, the benefits your child will receive from learning to play an acoustic guitar or one of many other musical instruments will make it worth doing. And you as a parent will receive as much from the quality time you spend learning with and teaching your child.
Look for Part 2 of this series on Monday, December 19.
About the Author: Aaron Schulman is a husband, father, teacher, and experienced guitarist. He enjoys sharing what he has learned through Psychology education and his research into music, especially acoustic guitars, with his readers on his guitar review site, StrumViews.com. You can read more reviews like one on the Taylor 110e, or several other including Aaron’s “best acoustic guitar for under $1,000” series of reviews.
I am pleased to welcome another special guest to the “Sunday Singalong” series: Michelle Erfurt! Michelle contacted me early Saturday morning, asking if she could share one of her favorite Christmas tunes here at Listen & Learn. And since I’m battling a particularly nasty cold and laryngitis, I was more than happy to oblige.
And what a fun song! I’d never heard it before, so now thanks to Michelle, I have another one to add to my ever-growing list. I’m looking forward to sharing some holiday songs myself in the coming weeks. Now if only my voice would return…then I’ll be all set to crank out a few videos before Christmas day (which, FYI, is exactly 3 weeks from now).
Welcome! I’m Rachel Rambach, board-certified music therapist and creator of Listen & Learn Music — educational songs and musical materials for children. I love sharing my work with you, along with my behind-the-scenes creative process, adventures in business ownership, and life as a mom of two.
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