Sunday, August 15, 2010

Back to School Freebies!

It's back to school time and everything and everyone is starting to get busy again.

A reader emailed this week about several of the songs I had posted before I started using the current music player I have here on my blog. So, I recorded the songs again and have them up and ready to share...hold on...wait for it...for FREE!

Why are the songs free?
The songs are free because they were created to go along with a few chidren's books. I didn't write the books, but I love to "sing" simple children's books because it makes them so fun and it seriously helps to keep the attention of each child. So I use common children's songs or make up some of my own and sing the books.

Here are the new additions. To check them out (and download them for free), just click on the story title.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear
The Bear Came Over to My House
I went Walking
Five Little Ladybugs

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

12 Months in a Year

Summer is almost over and it's back to school time!

The calendar is an important teaching topic of many classrooms throughout the year. The calendar tells us the months of the year, important holidays and birthdays, and the beginnings and endings of each of the four seasons. At school, teachers also use calendars to note student's birthdays, school breaks and closings and special events in the classroom/school. At home, parents often note family birthdays, special trips, doctor's appointments,etc. on calendars as well.

Well, the song I want to share today is a introductory song about calendars. It's short and was written to teach that there are 12 months in each year, to introduce the names of each month, and to help students visualize that the calendar represents one year.

So, without further delay, here it is!

<a href="http://morewithmusic.bandcamp.com/track/twelve-months-in-a-year">Twelve Months in a Year by More with Music</a>

Lyrics:

Round and round the calendar we go.
Round and round the year.
Round and round the calendar we go,
and we know there's 12 months in a year.

January, February, March, April, May,
Then there's June and July.
August, September, October and November,
Then December and the New Year rolls by.

Round and round the calendar we go.
Round and round the year.
Round and round the calendar we go,
and we know there's 12 months in a year.
Yes we know, there's 12 months in a year.



I'd love to hear what you think. Please send an email to morewithmusic@gmail.com with any comments. Also, if you have a friend/family member that you think would enjoy this song, look down below and click on email and this post can be emailed to a friend/family member's email! Technology is just too cool!
Have a great day!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Everybody, Everybody Play Along

Hello! Shocking but true-a new blog post on More with Music!

Sorry for the longs breaks in between posts this summer.

I have been staying busy with work and other summer activities and taking a little break from recording songs each night. I have a bunch of songs I've been working on here and there. Hopefully I will get them recorded and share them soon as the school year quickly approaches.

Today's post was inspired by another blog writer, Rachel Rambach, who is a fellow music therapist I correspond with online. You can learn more about her, her amazing songs, and music therapy activities here.

So, the inspiration for this song began when I heard Rachel performing "Everybody" by Ingrid Michaelson on her ukelele. It is such a nice song by itself and Rachel did a great job with it as well. As I listened to her sing the song, I kept thinking it would be a great song to use in group music therapy sessions. The phrase, "Everybody, everybody..." instantly became my focus and I worked for the next day or so writing lyrics to fit a play along type song. I'm still tweaking it here and there, but I wanted to share the draft version.

This song first encourages everyone to play along together, and then it focuses on individual rhythm instruments children chose to play that day. It's a great song to work on group participation, turn taking, etc.

I'd love to hear what you think!

<a href="http://morewithmusic.bandcamp.com/track/everybody-everybody-play-along">Everybody, Everybody Play Along by More with Music</a>


Until next time, have a great week!