Sing and learn some of the songs presented in the video. Share with the board your experiences using these songs.

[Meredith Pizzi]

[Lauren Klimek]

I’m lucky enough to have already learned some of these songs from my fieldwork training with Beth and the songs are so engaging and fun. I’ve used “all of this is me” while standing the children in front of a mirror so they can be fully aware of themselves while going through the movements of touching each part of their body that is sung in the song. For a child who is learning who “me” is this song is great as it points out some of the parts that make up a person. Each time I sing the song with the children, I build anticipation by telling them to “get your hand ready (raising my hand above my head),” holding a long pause and then increasing tempo slightly each time until we are going at a fast speed. This keeps them engaged while working on their listening, attention, cognitive and motor skills. By the end of the song after we went really fast, the children are laughing as they may have missed some of the motions and that’s okay because sometimes it’s okay to be silly in music and they are relating that silly experience to one another. Plus, I think it’s important to be silly when it fits in the music and the moment as it’s an invaluable lesson to “not take ourselves too seriously,” something that kids nowadays don’t often have the chance to experience between education, extracurricular activities and sometimes parents who put expectations on their child and forget to live in the moment. These songs are just as much about experience and enjoyment as they are about learning and development.

Another song I use in my groups and with my own child is the “wiggly jiggly car.” For my group, the children LOVE this song and it gets them to engage and of course bond with their caregiver. I also take turns with the children in riding in “Lauren’s car.” The anticipation and resolve of this song is satisfying and educational. For my 5 month old, I use it when I’m getting her in her care seat as a transitional song as she sometimes fusses and squirms and as we call it in my house, “banana backs” as she doesn’t always like getting buckled in the car seat. With this song, I find it much easier to get her in the car seat and before she knows it, she’s buckled in and we’re in the car ready to go (and she’s hopefully off to sleep as we drive!).

[Dina Breaux]

Though I have not had the opportunity to use these songs in a group setting, I did sing “All of this is Me” with my 14 month old granddaughter on Sunday. The first time I sang it, she watched quietly, her eyes wide with a look of curiosity, watching my movements. I think this is the first time she had heard a song in a minor key! The next time I sang it, she sat in front of me in my daughter’s lap, and attempted to match my movements, swaying to the beat at times. When the song was over, she signed and attempted to vocalize the word “more” so we sang it two more times! It was a wonderful bonding moment for us all and I look forward to sharing it at her daycare soon!

[Gina Greeson]

the songs are a lot of fun. I tried the bonding song with my son and he laughed and smiled. I am going to try what Lauren does with her child with getting in the car as my son does the same thing. I can’t wait to sing them more!

[Joanna Calahan]

I have the book “You and Me Makes WE,” and have used in all sorts of sessions. I frequently find myself using “Good Morning” with the clients I see first thing in the morning to assist with waking up and orienting to the environment/day. I’ll usually start singing slowly and quietly, and gradually become louder and a little faster to encourage my clients to “wake up,” open their droopy eyes, make eye contact with peers and myself.

I use “Wiggly Jiggly Car” in a session with a client in which we are working on safety skills. I have her sit next to me on the floor, put our (imaginary) seat belts on, and use frame drums as steering wheels as I sang the song for her. I’ll often have her hit the drum at the end of the song to pretend “honk” on the horn. She got a kick out of it! At the end of the song I asked her questions such as “when do we put our seat belts on?” and “Why do we wear seat belts?” This helped generate a simple but important conversation about car safety.

[Megan Calabro]

Hi, again! I tried a couple of the songs with the little one I mentioned in the first post for this week. The song itself was great, and a lot of fun, but I think what this child keyed into most was just doing a rhythmic rendition of the song as opposed to a tonal rendition. But, this particular child also really needed the input. As a visual, this little one was reclining in the crib, on an incline (probably at a 45 degree angle), and I had one hand taping the macro-beat on the child’s chest, and my other arm tapping the macro-beat across their legs (over the blanket). Just having that “pressure” and input present was very calming and grounding for this little one. But the rhythmic vocal play also greatly helped to transition this little one from an irritable state into a calm, content state.

[Anonymous]

I truly enjoyed reading how you each were able to try some of these songs or area already using them in your sessions. Lauren and Gina- I also used the Wiggly Jiggly Car with my daughter and getting her into her car seat. It was a life saver and I frequently share that with the families, I work with, and they have also found it to help with getting in the car seat.

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