Is it just me, or is there a pretty limited repertoire for kids? I mean even though I NEVER want to sing Old MacDonald again, it does have its place in that making animal sounds is a fabulous way to target articulation and speech sounds. But what can I do with songs like "Mommy finger" and "frere Jaques"? How can I meet my kids clinical goals with these songs, and furthermore, what happens one my kids get a little older? Some 9 and 10 year old kids with delays don't mind songs that are not quite "age appropriate" but how do I keep engaged the ones that do? Well, I write a song of course.
When I write a song I pick a goal or area I'd like to address, choose a key and away I go. This allows me not only to target a client or groups specific needs, but also allows me to make it structured and repetitive as I need to be....and since it's my song, I can change it as my clients' needs change or to make to work for another group. AND if you make it catchy, then all ages like it. (I totally caught my husband singing my parachute song "popcorn" last time he was making us popcorn!).
In case you didn't know, I post excerpts of many of my new songs on twitter, so head on over to @jmllovesmusic to check it out!