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Public Schools, Elementary Curriculum – Making a Difference with ABC Music & Me

ABC Music & Me Special Education Curriculum - Sycamore Creek Elementary

Teachers at Sycamore Creek Elementary in the Wake County Schools, North Carolina share their experience with ABC Music & Me, and the difference this elementary school curriculum from Kindermusik International has made with their students.

ABC Music & Me Special Education Curriculum - Sycamore Creek Elementary“I began using ABC Music & Me with my developmentally delayed preschool classroom in the fall of 2011 when it was brought into our school system. The program was ready to use out of the box with a few simple modifications for my students with visual impairments. From the first day of use my students fell in love with the songs, instruments and activities from the unit called Laugh & Learn. I really like the way the program has a wide mix of listening, movement, and instrument activities scattered throughout the lessons. This setup keeps the students actively engaged and prevents their attention from wondering.
ABC Music & Me Preschool Curriculum - Sycamore Creek ElementaryIn late 2011 I was moved into a classroom for kindergarten to second grade students with Autism at the same school. The school PTA was looking at purchasing a different music program for the class with the previous teacher. After hearing this I instantly contacted Ms. Kerri, my trainer, from ABC Music & Me and began discussing with her what would be the most appropriate level for my new students. Ms. Kerri and I gathered the needed information and I took the proposal for the unit called Move & Groove back to the PTA. After seeing the proposal and hearing my success with the preschool students the PTA agreed to purchase Move & Groove for our Autism programs. We began using our Move & Groove program in August of this year.
ABC Music & Me Elementary School Curriculum - Sycamore Creek ElementarySchoolThe transition of programs has been a little bit of adjustment for me as I need to become familiar with the content change. I do make some modifications to meet my students’ developmental needs such as shortening the lessons and taking out areas that may be frustrating for them. Overall we have all enjoyed our new program. Through the use of ABC Music & Me all of my students have started to sing, hum or make vocalizations to the music even my students who are non-verbal. We have also discovered that many of our friends have great rhythm. I am so glad that I was introduced to ABC Music & Me and was able to bring the program to my students.”

Trisha Dillon, NBCT ’04
Autism 1 Special Education Teacher
Sycamore Creek Elementary
Wake County Schools, North Carolina

ABC Music & Me Elementary Curriculum - Sycamore Creek Elementary
“Being a new teacher it has been wonderful using ABC Music & Me. The children look forward to it and it is a great outlet for some of our kids who love dance and music.  We have a best practice curriculum in our classroom, so it is always nice to have a program to follow for a certain subject area. The program is easy to use and to follow and that is nice as a new teacher because there are so many other things that I need to take care of. It is nice to have a program that is so easy to use and the kids love so much.”

Cindy Winter
Developmentally Delayed Preschool Classroom Teacher
Sycamore Creek Elementary
Wake County Schools, North Carolina

For more information about ABC Music & Me, email us at: info@abcmusicandme.com

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At-risk students more likely to experience language development delays

Any teacher at a Title I school can confirm that children do not start school on a level playing field. Some children walk into Kindergarten already reading on a third-grade level; whereas, other students walk into that same classroom without any knowledge of a single Pre-Primer sight word. While language and speech delays can occur in any socio-economic environment for various reasons, not surprisingly, a new three-year study from Great Britain shows that at-risk students from lower socio-economic backgrounds are twice as likely to experience speech and language development delays.

Some at-risk students more “at risk” than others

The research

further reveals that not all at-risk students experience the same level of language development delays. Children from ethnic minority backgrounds show a greater likelihood for delays compared to non-minority peers, and boys more so than girls.

The research findings “have huge implications for practice, and suggest children’s needs are being missed,” said lead researcher Professor Geoff Lindsay in a press release. “There is a higher likelihood of children in some schools in socially deprived areas having problems learning language or developing speech,” he added. “This reflects the lack of opportunity within these communities. Early intervention can help to overcome that. Putting resources into those schools is important.”

Elementary curriculum uses music to reach at-risk students

Created by Kindermusik International, ABC Music & Me uses the proven cognitive benefits of music to boost the school readiness skills, including language and early literacy development, of at-risk students. When used as an elementary curriculum, at-risk students experience gains in phonological and phonemic awareness and vocabulary acquisition. For at-risk students, we understand that the learning must extend to the home environment to achieve maximum results. So, we include materials—in English and Spanish—to increase parent involvement in education.

To learn more about using ABC Music & Me as an elementary curriculum with at-risk students, including English Language Learners, email us at info@abcmusicandme.com. We can also show you how ABC Music & Me aligns with Title I Funding.