Tag: Books

Books You Can Sing!

Posted on by Favor Chujor

As clinicians, adding novelty to our repertoire is key to promoting a healthy and engaging therapeutic relationship with our clients. One way to do this, that may not always be thought of, is through using books! For clinicians, caregivers, and teachers alike, books that can be sung are a great way to practice reading, reinforce learning, and embed other goal areas into one story.

Singable Books

Head to Toe by Eric Carle

This book doesn’t have a specific melody, but this is the perfect opportunity to flex your songwriting skills! “Head to Toe” is fantastic for animal identification, body awareness, and so easy to incorporate movement into. Did someone say it’s time to stomp like an elephant? Or slither like alligator?

 

 

 

It’s Okay To Be Different by Todd Parr

Parr’s books are classics in the world of early childhood literature. The bright color scheme and childlike illustrations are just some of the benefits of opening up a Todd Parr book. This is another book without a fixed melody, but again, gives you the opportunity to create a memorable melody with your client, child, or student! Within each page, you can embed different objectives or experiences. Let’s count how many teeth are in his mouth! What animal do you see on the page? What planet is this? Parr’s books are visually stimulating and inclusive to everyone.

 

 

The Animal Boogie by Debbie Harter

“The Animal Boogie” is a book with a pre-established melody (yay!). What’s cool about this book is that you can incorporate the movements of each animal into a little dance party on each page! With a pre-established melody, you can spend more time on reading fluency, since the structure is already created for you. Plus, it’s a blast to sing boogie oogie oogie during each chorus!

 

 

Here are a few more books based off popular songs!

Good Vibrations: A Children’s Picture Book – The Beach Boys

Octopus’s Garden – Ringo Starr of The Beatles

Respect: A Children’s Picture Book – Otis Redding (Did you know he wrote the original song?)

Happy! – Pharrell Williams

Every Little Thing – Bob Marley

Sweet Child o’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses

Happy singing and reading!

“No Momma. No Dadda. No Sing.”

Posted on by Roman Music Therapy

By: Meredith Pizzi, MT-BC

Does this sound familiar?

“Don’t sing, Momma, me sing.” Or maybe it’s not quite so verbal. Maybe your child stares you down until you stop singing. Or maybe they walk over and hold their hand over your mouth. Or maybe they scream and cover their ears until you stop singing.

So what is this behavior about, anyway?

First of all, it’s not you having a terrible singing voice. And, it has nothing to do with your child disliking your voice. There are many other important developmental issues at play here. As a child goes through the stages of development, they are grappling with many different skills and concepts.

In Music, Therapy, and Early Childhood: A Developmental Approach, author Beth Schwartz (Board Certified Music Therapist in NY) writes about the musical development of young children and how that can be applied to help young children and older children who are moving through the developmental levels of Awareness, Trust, Independence, Control, and Responsibility. This book has led me reflect further on a lot of the behaviors that I observe in children of all ages and the developmental reasons behind the behaviors.

As a child develops new skills, they like to practice them and demonstrate independence. For instance, a young child learning to dress him or herself wants only to dress independently. Any efforts to help will quickly be refused. A child’s musical skills are also developing. As a child begins to recall music and songs, they understand the lyrics, melody, and rhythm and then they begin to reproduce them.

When they don’t want to hear you singing, it may be a sign that they want and need to practice the music themselves to better understand and master this new skill.

But don’t quit singing yet!

After this stage of development will come a new area for growth in which the child will learn how to engage in music making with others and will be ready to participate in group music making.

Here are some ideas for engaging your child in music making at this developmental stage. Many of these ideas come from Music, Therapy, and Early Childhood: A Developmental Approach.

    • Encourage developing motor skills through music by doing a lot of songs with repeating patterns of body movements. Clapping hands, patting knees, and stamping feet are engaging and fun, and give the child a chance to demonstrate her skills.
    • Use instruments that the child can play independently including maracas, eggs, drums, and tambourines. Also include two handed instruments, like a triangle, finger cymbals, or a wood block.
    • Give children many opportunities to make choices in the music. Choices can include what instrument to play, singing loud or soft, fast or slow, or what movement to do to the music.
    • Allow for developing language skills in songs by leaving out the last word of a phrase and waiting for the child to fill it in.
    • Sing or make up songs with very simple language that is repeated. Children learn the words to songs before they remember the rhythm and melody. As Beth Schwartz says in her book, “Less talk is more.”

I hope this provides for some fun music making opportunities for you and your child. And next time your child covers his or her ears when you start to sing, remind yourself, “It’s developmental, not the quality of your voice.”

Keep making music!

If you have questions or would like to find out more about how music therapy can help address your child’s developmental needs, please explore our Sprouting Melodies® program or contact us.