by Helen Wagner | Jul 16, 2019 | Bluebee News |
Music is a
magical tool while working with children having speech and language difficulties!
Music therapy is a well-established technique for using musical interaction to help individuals with a wide range of cognitive and emotional challenges to improve their ability to function. By interacting with those on the autism spectrum, the use of music can build skills, lower anxiety, and even develop new communication skills.
What is music therapy? According to the American Music Therapy Association: M
usic therapy is an evidence-based, allied health profession that uses music interventions to accomplish individualized goals. Through musical responses, a board-certified music therapist assesses emotional well-being, physical health, social functioning, communication abilities, and cognitive skills. Specifically regarding communication, music therapists are trained to adapt elements of music to promote effective expressive and receptive communication skills.
Music therapy interventions focus on enhancing social, communicative, motor/sensory, emotional, behavior, and academic/cognitive functioning.https://www.bluebeepals.com/autism/ *A speech language pathologist and qualified musical therapist can work alongside each other collaboratively to build individuals’ skills.
Advantages of Music Therapy:
Communication: Music can aid in speech development and production, and is a perfect medium to encourage and aid in non-verbal communication, too.
Multi sensory: Musical interventions engage multiple senses and appeal to sensory strengths and needs.
Whole Brain Processing: Music is processed in both hemispheres of the brain; therefore, when engaged in musical tasks, many regions of the brain are stimulated simultaneously. The use of music supports mental, emotional and cognitive development. Kids with Autism can benefit significantly from this form of therapy.
Socialization: Musical intervention goes hand in hand with social skills. Turn taking, peer interactions, following directions and engagement can be supported by music. Music therapy helps autistic children learn to relate to us and to others.
Improves Behavior: Restlessness, aggression and throwing tantrums can be reduced through the use of music. Music helps remove various mental blocks, as well as stress and anxiety levels. As the same music is played in a repetitive as well as in a prolonged manner, this can bring about significant changes in social behavior and overall cognitive ability.
Music is Fun: Music is fun, safe, appealing, motivational, and enjoyable! This makes it perfect for therapy. It is fun and engaging for kids with autism to listen and learn through music. Because music is motivating and engaging, it may be used as a natural “reinforcer” for desired responses.
Research-based:
- Music therapy interventions are informed by research evidence and incorporate many of the identified ASD-specific evidence-based practices.
- Music therapy services for young children with ASD are very effective for improving communication, interpersonal skills, personal responsibility, and play.
- Music therapy interventions may elicit joint attention; enhance auditory processing, other sensory-motor, perceptual/motor, or gross/fine motor skills and identify and appropriately express emotions.
- Music therapy interventions based on family-centered practice may increase social engagement in the home environment and community.
- Music therapy interventions using musically adapted social stories may modify target behavior and teach new skills.
Bluebee Pals and Music in Speech Therapy: Working in collaboration with a music therapist
, Bluebee Pals are a great tool to use when incorporating music into speech therapy to address communication skills. Use one-on-one or invite a Bluebee Pal into peer groups to practice skills. Paired with musical and rhyming apps and videos, Bluebee Pals offer children a special learning friend who makes communication skills practice fun…and therefore, more meaningful. By “speaking and singing” the audio in connected apps, a Bluebee Pal adds just the right touch of warmth and humanity to motivate children. Just connect your Bluebee Pal and get started!
http://bluebeepals.comSuggested Apps and Resources:
Toddlers Nursery Rhymes Bundle- Kids Songs Collection by PlaneTree Family Productions
ABCmouse Music Videos by Age of Learning, Inc.
Kids Tube: Safe, Fun, Educational Videos & Music for Toddlers & Children by Valiant Rock, Inc.
Kids Song: Educational & Nursery Rhymes by Nguyen Mai
Baby Nursery Rhymes for Kids by IDZ Digital Private Limited
Music Box : Piano, Drum & Xylo by Tiny Tots App Club
by Punam Desormes | Oct 17, 2018 | Bluebee News, Punam |
Advance Learning Academy is a private school in Maitland, Florida that values the uniqueness of all children. They are dedicated to creating a diverse community of learners by providing innovative, effective instruction that promotes academic excellence and social growth. The Bluebee Pal Project has donated Bluebee Pals to this creative school who promotes education through creative forms of technology. Thinking “outside the box” in personalized learning is a must to any early developmental education.
Small Class size—-Innovative, Evidence-Based Curriculum—-Integration of Technology: Advance Learning Academy will provide scientific observations based on implementing Bluebee Pals Learning Tools into their curriculum and measuring students performance. Their mission is to create a diverse community of learners by providing innovative, effective instruction that promotes academic excellence and social growth. The curriculum is flexible and adaptive to allow students to learn where they are and then advance their learning. Children are given the opportunity to acquire knowledge a variety of ways… not just one. It’s not one-size-fits-all and it may happen for a student through critical thinking, communication, collaboration or even creativity.
Message from the Principal: Our school’s focus on active learning allows for more student engagement and improves motivation. We know that part of providing a 21st-century education is not only having the technology but connecting students and learning in innovative ways.
Our expert faculty develops individualized goals for every student to help create a program that is tailored to their specific needs. We provide a variety of special activities – art, music, yoga, physical education, and gaming as well as an engaging After School program.
Programs like positive behavior support help improve behavior, develop classroom families and a positive, healthy school climate.
The social and emotional aspects of learning are important elements of our educational program. We want all of our students to feel safe, respected and loved.
We are a school that treats parents as partners in their child’s education. Learning must occur both at school and at home. Together as a team, we provide the very best education for our students.
Stacy Taylor, MA, B.C.B.A.
President/Clinical Director
Advance Behavior & Learning
140 Advance Point
Maitland, FL 32751
by Laura Jiencke | Oct 8, 2018 | Bluebee News |
NEW 4.0 Bluebee Pal Pro is an interactive plush learning tool with FREE companion life skills and educational app, that connects to all iOS and Android Devices and pairs with all apps with a narrative. Our patented technology allows Bluebee’s “mouth and head” to move while reading stories, teaching through educational games, learning a language and singing songs.
The wonderful thing about Bluebee Pals is that they are a ready and able playmate, confidante, and teacher hidden inside a stuffed animal. They can be paired with any device that is Bluetooth enabled or used as a beloved toy unplugged.
Try using your Bluebee Pals to:
Rehearse upcoming events by acting out what is going to happen and have Bluebee respond with any anticipated concerns. Children can also rehearse independently by playing an app with your Bluebee Pal as a guide – which helps build independence and confidence.
Master language skills, manners, and turn taking. Simply listening to a story read by Bluebee will help increase vocabulary.
We’ve all gone to “tea parties” and I’ve heard that Bluebee loves a bit of cake with his tea. During your party, practice sharing portions. There are many food playsets that have a portion component. Games with definite turns are also a way to teach waiting – although your child can take Bluebee’s turn too! Using the phone component with Bluebee can add to imaginative and pretend play by having Bluebee communicating directly with your child.
by Jo Booth | Aug 13, 2018 | Bluebee News, Jo's App Reviews |
Mindfulness is an essential skill for kids to be successful learners. But what exactly is mindfulness and why is there such a fuss in teaching mindfulness to young children? Mindfulness is simply paying attention to the present moment and allowing all thoughts and feelings to occur without necessarily taking action. This ability to stop helps to reset and reorganize the body’s systems and is tied in with the ability to self-regulate and self-calm. The present overstimulating and rushed pacing of today’s world lends itself to disorganization. Disorganized kids usually have difficulty with attention, managing needed tools, and completing tasks. Calm kids can focus on the task at hand, see their options, and make better choices.
Kids don’t always need to sit or be still to practice mindfulness. Yoga or other rhythmic movements (rocking or swinging) done in coordination with the breath can also be practiced.
Here are a few apps that Bluebee loves for beginning lessons in mindfulness:
One of the best introductions to mindfulness training for young children is Stop Breathe Think with Sesame Street. Although the app does not support Bluetooth technology and cannot be played through a Bluebee Pal, by having a child hold Bluebee while playing they will receive valuable body input in learning to calm. By hugging Bluebee children will not only benefit from emotional support but also receive nice deep pressure hugs that will help a child focus and calm when viewing the app. The app contains 5 vignettes that are stressful to young children and the stories are all told with vocabulary that is familiar to a young child. In the app, children help a little monster apply strategies to cope with everyday struggles. It’s very reinforcing to help the little monster and it facilitates the desire to try the techniques within Stop, Breathe, Think.
Super Stretch Yoga is a classic app for teaching mindfulness of body. Using storytelling and video, kids learn to imitate motor acts that coordinate with the breath to quiet and focus. In the Adventures of Super Stretch, the emphasis is on trying and being in the present moment and not on perfection. This is a subtle but wonderful message for kids to begin to understand. The app contains 12 poses that are modeled through both animation and viewing real kids doing the poses. The app is free and there are tangible additions such as flashcards and books that can be purchased through the website: www.adventuresofsuperstretch.com. Try having your child teach Bluebee the Poses for some extra fun.
For a more traditional app for meditation, check out Mindfulness for Children. It contains 5 guided meditations and 4 meditations that serve as stories in helping kids to relax in order to go to sleep. Most of the meditations include a body scanning component that serves as a ground or central point of focus. This helps kids stay centered so as to increase awareness of both body and mind. In addition, With this app, Bluebee can act as a facilitator for mindfulness and the screen can be put aside. With Bluebee whispering in your child’s ear, what better way to let go of the day’s struggles and challenges.
by Laura Jiencke | Aug 1, 2018 | Bluebee News |
The Naples Village School (Naples, FL)began as The Caring Place Preschool in 1985 as an outreach at North Naples United Methodist Church and remained that as a wonderful place for young children until 2000. That is the year the church relocated to the present campus and added The Village School. It began with K-2 and 37 students.
In 2006, the school was accredited by the Florida Council of Independent Schools and the Florida Kindergarten Council. The school continued to grow with a focus on Christ Skills, Gardner’s philosophy of multiple intelligences and teachers committed to the mission. After three years, parents asked for a middle school to be added and soon after added the middle school one grade a year to complete the eighth grade. During that period in its history, the school began to study STEAM education practices and in 2014 certified the entire staff in that philosophy of curriculum development.
BLUEBEE PALS A EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY TOOL AT THE VILLAGE SCHOOL
The school has enjoyed a reputation as a STEAM school, being recognized internationally in that capacity with visitors coming to see how STEAM is taught at the school. Also, other programs developed including a strong performing arts department. Both of these aspects of the school are recognized in the community and indeed respected for leadership.
In 2013, the Board of Directors voted to add an upper school division in the fall of 2017. A capital campaign followed, and the new division opened in August 2017 with 17 students. A new classroom building and gymnasium completed the campus building program. New sports fields were added to include areas necessary for an expanded athletic program.
The school has maintained the original mission and enjoys a unique position in the Naples community. There are students from many different faiths in the student population and all are welcomed and included. The teaching staff has remained strong and committed and the school looks forward to continued health and growth in the independent world in Naples.
by Jo Booth | Jul 17, 2018 | Bluebee News, Jo's App Reviews |
Bee – 123 Kids Fun by RosMedia is a delightful eco-friendly app that takes a look at the life of bees and other pollinators. With the onset of Spring, it’s perfect for displaying the interconnection of all living things. Also, carefully placed within the narrative are typical pre-school activities to help develop the following direction, spatial relations, and visual-motor coordination activities. The pace is slightly slowed to allow time for processing the content and success in completing tasks. By providing the “just right challenge,” kids will continue to be motivated and confident, and thereby reinforce learning
Bluebee loves teaching children about the natural world, and there is much to discover with Bluebee as your guide. 
The Bee – 123 Kids Fun App is comprised of 4 units:
- The life and function of bees in the production of honey and in growing food
- Other pollinators and the importance of using safe products in gardens to protect pollinators
- What it means to be an organic food
- Actions that support the life of pollinators and the ecosystem
On opening the app, children first create a hive and a honeycomb frame to house their bees. To make the hive and honeycomb, kids must match shapes in a puzzle form. Each new task in-turn develops not only early learning skills, but also informs kids about the lifespan and function of all the bees within a hive – queen bee, drones, hive guards, nectar collectors, and forager bees. Games include shape puzzles, visual-
motor coordination, sorting and matching games, and mazes to name a few. I do wish, however, that the game for the hive guards was not a boxing match with bee predators. Perhaps a game where kids must deflect moving predators by blocking access to the hive may be less aggressive. In other units, the importance of pollinators in the production of food is stressed and how to differentiate between organic and non-organic foods. There is a brief message encouraging kids to become more aware of the responsibilities we all share in supporting our ecosystem. It is commendable that RosMedia wishes to instill the notion of responsibility and awareness at a young age so that children can form habits of mindfulness in their everyday actions and how it affects other living beings.
Bee – 123 Kids Fun would be a fun app for introducing environmental responsibility or modules about how foods are grown or insect helpers. The artwork is bright with a sense of humor, and content is always delivered on point to a pre-schoolers developmental level.
The NEW release of the 4.0 Bluebee Pals was the top choice for (#FAVOFTHE MONTH) in Creative Play Retailer Magazine this July. In addition, these huggable tech companions were featured on the cover of Creative Play this April and won “two awards”: 2018 Plush Toy of the Year and Product of the Year.
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