In April and May, I participated in a five week songwriting challenge organized by Rachel Rambach over at www.listenlearnmusic.com. While I write songs almost weekly for my clinical work, it was fun to participate in a community of songwriters. Songwriting is definitely something that […]
Blog Posts
Sentence Segmentation to Improve Communication – Part 2 of 2
Visual and Rhythmic Prompt In part one of this post, you learned how I use echo singing to work on auditory comprehension, turn taking, and keeping a steady beat. I also briefly introduced a strategy for cuing speech using a dry erase board and […]
Sentence Segmentation to Improve Communication – Part 1 of 2
Echo Singing or Chanting One of the skills I almost always include in both one-on-one and group music therapy sessions with young children is an echo song or rhythmic exchange. During this type of intervention, the following areas in the Phonological Awareness […]
Improper Fractions and a FREE Division Song for You
Today’s focus is on math. I started writing math songs before I learned about phonological awareness and the development of literacy skills. Math is still a love of mine, and luckily comes pretty easily to me, due in large part to all my years learning […]
The Book With No Pictures
We have been having a ton of fun with my most recent book discovery. When I say “we,” I am referring to my music therapy clients, my children, and myself. The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak is hilarious. The text consists of the […]
Teamwork Required
This picture of my two little girls reminds me of my childhood with my own little sister. We were blessed to grow up in rural Wisconsin, spending the majority of our time outdoors. We had a massive garden and helped our parents at a young […]
What a Wonderful World — New Book for Your Collection
I’m always on the lookout for picture books that can easily be set to music or ones that illustrate well known songs. I recently came across a new version of “What a Wonderful World” that is my current favorite of all picture books. It is […]
Recipe for Reading Success
I’ve been thinking lately about what it takes to raise a successful reader. My oldest daughter, now 12, was reading Boxcar Children when she entered Kindergarten. The reading specialist who tested her reading level was amazed at her ability to read with expression. My middle […]
I Was Fired from My First Job as a Music Therapist
While this post has a catchy title, it also could have been called “Transforming a Challenge into an Opportunity” — the theme for this year’s Music Therapy Social Media Advocacy Month. After reading posts and listening to stories from other music therapists (posted here), I […]