During my initial years as an assistant/substitute teacher in NYC, I started singing songs to the students during my break because I felt it was important for them to have live, interactive music during their school day. This effort eventually evolved into a unique music program in NYC that was a combination of The Kodaly Method and Music Therapy with the support of a generous parent who valued music. A few years later, I ended up becoming the “Head of the Music Department'' in two special needs schools after attaining my certification as a Kodaly Music Educator at NYU, while also collaborating with a therapist from the Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy. After deciding to “take a break,” the fall of 2021 marked the first time in 30 years that I did not formally teach music to children with special needs.

In the spring of 2021, after once again being furloughed due to the pandemic, I decided to create a YouTube Channel for parents, children and educators called “Singalong Songs” https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGBgHD4pAw1spWflmpVxlyg

I wanted to provide an online resource for quality renditions of family-friendly songs and activities with an emphasis on music appreciation. Singalong Songs, Folk Songs, Traditional Songs, Fingerplays, Call and Response Songs, Story Songs, Camp Songs and Campfire Songs were all recorded, uploaded and organized into playlists on the channel. It is a free resource for you to learn the songs with your children. Then, after checking out the songs, I encourage you to shut it off, step away from your computer/phone and sing those songs with your kids every chance you get. See what you can remember of the lyrics and if you forget some, help each other out to fill in the blanks. Also, you don't have to sweat trying to sing the “correct” lyrics -  come up with new lyrics and make your own version. A lot of these are traditional songs that have evolved that way over the years anyway. 

Remember, “Music is a right, not a privilege.”