It’s Listen & Learn’s birthday, but YOU’RE getting the presents.
My baby is hitting double digits! It’s hard to believe that this little website I started as a brand-new music therapist is still going strong 10 years later. Recording the songs, creating the materials, and writing the blog posts that fill up these pages brings me SO much joy, but what fills me up even more is knowing that they are benefiting YOU.
YOU are the reason that Listen & Learn Music is still alive and well today, and YOU are the reason I’ll be celebrating another 10 years in 2028. Every email and comment I receive detailing how a song was brought to life in a classroom or music therapy session, and how it helped a child to learn a new skill, provides the motivation to make this an even more valuable resource for you.
To properly thank you for your support, I want to give you a gift for every year of Listen & Learn Music. Starting September 1, I’ll be sharing one of my favorite resources with you from the L&L collection each day in yearly chronological order, all the way through September 10.
Our Biggest Giveaway Ever
And last, but not least, I hope you’ll participate in the GIVEAWAY I’m doing on September 10! One extremely lucky winner will receive a LIFETIME VIP MEMBERSHIP to Listen & Learn Plus, including all current and future CMTE courses.
All you have to do is help me celebrate by:
1) following Listen & Learn Music on Instagram
2) Creating a post about how you’ve used a L&L resource, or just simply sending a birthday wish
3) Tagging @listenlearnmusic on your post
4) Using the hashtag #listenlearnmusicturns10
Feel free to save and post this image and use the caption:
Wishing @listenlearnmusic a very happy 10th birthday! I’m joining in the celebration and hoping to win a lifetime VIP membership to Listen & Learn Plus! #listenlearnmusicturns10
Follow the steps above to enter as many times as you’d like between September 1 – 10.
Start from the beginning.
Each day, I’m writing a blog post recapping each year of Listen & Learn Music and announcing the resource gift for that day.
If you’ve entered your name and email address above, you’ll receive these directly to your inbox, and you’ll also have access to them (along with other cool stuff) inside the private Facebook group.
No Results Found
The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.
More from Listen & Learn Music
I Want You To Have It All
It’s been a whirlwind of birthdays in my family over the last few weeks. My daughter turned 3 at the end of May, followed by my own birthday at the beginning of June, and culminating with my son’s 5th birthday just a few days later.
Every birthday feels like a milestone while my children are this young, but 5 was an especially big one. At 5, Parker is no longer a little kid, a preschooler…he is officially school-aged and heading to kindergarten in a couple months. Admittedly, 5 brought on a whole lot of emotions for this mama.
Using the Ocean Drum in Music Therapy
Hi everyone! My name is Cacia King, and I’m going to be writing to you every week about all the goal-based songs available to you through Listen & Learn Music. I’ve been a member of Listen & Learn Plus for over 2 years, and now as a part of the Listen & Learn team, I’m so excited that I’ll get to share how I use these awesome resources regularly in my therapy sessions.
Here’s all you need to know about me: I’ve been a board-certified music therapist for three years, I am from New Hampshire, and I love to sing, tap dance, and drink iced coffee.
I work with children who have special needs, and love being silly and making music every day with all my kiddos. I hope that I can inspire you to try new songs and adapt them to meet the unique needs of the children with whom you work!
Ok, so now onto the good stuff. What song am I really into this week? Well, summer is here to stay, which means it’s time for beach days and splashing in the pool. And what better way to get into the summer spirit than by playing the ocean drum?
It’s Baaaack: A New Season of the Guitars & Granola Bars Podcast!
When I came up with the idea for the Guitars & Granola Bars podcast (in the shower, where all my good ideas manifest) back in December 2014, I couldn’t wait to make it happen. No matter that I was 5 months pregnant and already running 2 businesses — I had a goal.
The podcast launched just a few weeks later in January 2015, and I was off to the races. For that first year, I faithfully released a new episode every single Friday…including the week my daughter was born. I kept up this pace until I couldn’t anymore, and started making changes in my life for my own mental and emotional health.
Unfortunately, it was Guitars & Granola Bars that took a backseat to my other work priorities, though I always intended to come back to the podcast when I was ready. There were a couple times when I tried to make another go of it, but it wasn’t meant to be. Until now.
Mia Belle at 3
It’s official: we no longer have a toddler in our house. This big girl turned 3 years old, which ends an era for the Rambachs. And while I will miss the toddler years, I already know how much fun this next stage is thanks to her big brother.
As a fresh 3-year-old, Mia Belle’s personality is bigger and brighter than ever. She’s still a total mama’s girl, but she’s getting more and more independent by the day. I took her to a fairytale princess party over Memorial Day weekend, and she happily sat with all the other little girls in the center of the room, not minding one bit that I wasn’t in view. A little bittersweet for this mama, but I’m so proud of her for coming out of her shell.
Unboxing Your Life
Yesterday I listened to a podcast episode about the benefits of living an adventurous life. The entire episode was really interesting, but what stayed with me was this idea, which I’m paraphrasing:
When you spend time indoors, your thoughts, issues and problems are confined to the four walls of the room you’re in. But when you go outside, those things are no longer confined. You can let them go and give yourself the space needed to find clarity.
Those words hit me like a ton of bricks.
Pass the Rainstick Round and Round
The rainstick is one of those instruments I don’t bring out often, but when I do, it’s always a hit. We’ve been playing them in our Listen & Learn classes this past month, which means my “Rainstick Round” song has been put to good use.
The Big K
Wasn’t I telling you about Parker starting part-time daycare just yesterday?
At least, it seems like just yesterday we were taking that big leap. But that was actually almost 4 years ago, when he was turning 18 months old. Now he’s approaching his 5th birthday, and kindergarten is on the horizon.
Filtering Out the Noise
About a month ago, I did something a little crazy: I deleted the Facebook app from my phone. Not only that, but I also installed a Chrome extension on my computer that prevents my newsfeed from showing up when I visit the Facebook website.
So what inspired this Facebook fast? The truth is, my brain was tired. And overloaded with information. And sick of negativity. Despite having experienced those feelings for months (years?), I still found myself scrolling endlessly far too often, and I knew it had to stop.
“Banana, Ooh Na Na” {Kid-Friendly Adaptation of “Havana” by Camila Cabello}
Last month when I was brainstorming new songs to write for my early childhood music classes, I had the idea to adapt the song “Havana” to use with fruit shakers. I couldn’t stop singing the original version, so I figured it would make a catchy and effective song for my students…and so far, that has been the case! I introduced “Banana, Ooh Na Na” a few weeks ago in our early childhood and preschool classes, and have also been using it in some of my music therapy sessions. It gets plenty of play at home, too, since my own children request it nearly every day. read more…
Directionally Challenged
Directionally challenged: that pretty much sums up how I’ve been feeling when it comes to this space lately.
I’m coming up on 10 years (!?!?) of writing here, and in that time span, a LOT has happened. I’ve grown from being a brand new professional to a relatively experienced music therapist, worked for 4 years as an employee and then left to expand my business, had two children, expanded my business some more, completely overhauled my workload…and those are just the BIG ones.
In the beginning, I didn’t overthink things. I just wrote about whatever I felt like, from my work, to my personal life, to the songs I was writing. But as my audience has grown, I’ve felt myself being tugged in many different directions…yet I’m afraid that going too far down one or more of those paths will alienate the people who are here for other reasons.
Getting Intentional About Self-Care + Off the Path to Burnout
I left you hanging in my last blog post, which told the story of what happens when an introvert (me) stops practicing self-care. To summarize: I buried myself in my work, and while I was going through the motions of self-care activities, I wasn’t truly caring for my mind, body and soul. The outcome: I found myself headed down a scary path towards burnout.
Thankfully, I realized where I was headed before I actually got there, and I took action to correct course. Turning around at that point was no easy feat, but I knew that if I didn’t, all areas of my life would suffer even more than they already had.
I took a holistic approach to self-care, and I took it seriously. Here are the things I did to get back to a healthy place mentally, physically, and emotionally.
What Happens When an Introvert Stops Practicing Self-Care
To tell this story, I need to take you back in time to last summer. I had just taken a HUGE step in my self-care journey by deciding to no longer teach lessons, so it seemed like I was on the right track. Add to that the mornings I dedicated to biking (my preferred choice of exercise) plus the personal development podcasts I listened to regularly, and I felt like a master of self-care.
I also felt like there was no better time to tackle one of my big goals: creating a course about how introverts can thrive in an extroverted career like music therapy. I sat down and created an editorial calendar — one that I thought was extremely reasonable and also allowed time for other pursuits.
As I dove into course creation mode, I realized just how big of an undertaking it really was. Since I was so passionate about the subject matter, I wanted to put 100% into every aspect of the course. Creating the outlines and writing the chapters were the most stressful tasks, though I loved every minute.
What I didn’t realize was the extent to which creating this course was taking priority over everything else in my life. I’ve let this happen in the past, so you’d think I would have noticed the signs…but I didn’t. I was going through the motions of riding my bike, taking care of my children, and attending to other work responsibilities, but my heart wasn’t in it. I wasn’t letting all of those things do what they should have done for me, which was to nourish my body and soul.
{Song Video} Polar Bear
Tap-tap-clap, tap-tap-clap…that’s the body rhythm pattern that accompanies the verses of this catchy winter song. We change things up during the chorus, rubbing our hands together to create that swishy swimming sound as the polar bear glides through the sea.
New Habits for the New Year
This year, instead of setting huge goals for myself, I came up with some habits I wanted to instill that are in line with my word for 2018 — JOY. None of these action items are brand new to my life, but the difference is that now I’m holding myself accountable.
12 Goal-Based Winter Songs for Children
Nonetheless, winter is a very real thing here in the Midwest, and for some reason, seems to last longer than any other season. So all of my winter songs get LOTS of use in my classes, groups, and music therapy sessions.
I know I’m not the only one in this boat, which is exactly why I decided to bundle up my favorites into one nice little package. Although all of the songs are based around the theme of winter, they also address a variety of goals, objectives, and skills.
Just a few include simple sign language, counting, speech goals, instrument play, academic concepts, body part identification, sequencing, and gross motor movement.
I dubbed this Winter Song Week, because all week long, I’ve shared a video featuring one of the songs from the pack. You can learn more about them as well as listen in the videos below!
While winter definitely is not my favorite topic, singing about it is much better than complaining ;) Oh, and if you live in a place where ice and snow isn’t an issue, consider me a tad bit jealous!
Namaste on New Year’s Day
Happy New Year! I wanted to start 2018 with a little zen, so I snuck off to yoga class first thing this morning. Little did I know that my kids would be eagerly waiting for me to get home so that we could have our own living room yoga session.
My Word for 2018
Truth be told, I wasn’t sure if my word for 2018 would reveal itself to me before the New Year began. As I shared in my previous post, I didn’t want to overthink or force it — rather, I decided to trust that it would come naturally.
And it did! Last night while my husband and I were watching a movie, it popped into my brain as clear as could be. JOY. There it was! The funny thing is that it was SO obvious, and has come up multiple times this month in different ways.
Reflecting on 2017
I hope you had a very merry Christmas! This holiday season has been intense and busy, but also filled with joy and celebration. There’s nothing like experiencing the magic of the holidays with my children, especially at their current ages of 2 and 4.
I’m so thankful to have this week before the New Year to spend at home with my kids before we all get back into the swing of school and work. Although they have definitely kept me on my toes (and busy cleaning up endless messes), I’ve had some time to reflect on the past year.
A Grateful December
November was a really good month. Even alongside some professional challenges, the stress of traveling, and a very full calendar, I felt more grounded and happier than usual. I can only attribute that to writing my 23 Days of Gratitude series, which forced me to focus on the wonderful things in my life every day leading up to Thanksgiving.
{23 Days of Gratitude} Day 23 – Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving! Today is the culmination of 22 daily expressions of gratitude, and it is only fitting that my final post focuses on my inspiration for this series.
There will be plenty of turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie today, but most importantly, I’ll be surrounded by family. I’m grateful that Thanksgiving gives me the opportunity to celebrate the very best part of my life.
My Book + Course
This is the book + course that will help you shape your music therapy career in order to make more money and live your ideal lifestyle. Details here.
Access the Collection
