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Lotus Music Institute Blog

Creating a Social Story for your Recital

It’s officially spring time, and for many music teachers, that also means that recital season is here. Performing in a recital is exciting for many students, but for others it may be anxiety inducing. Special events like recitals also disrupt routines and predictable schedules. Students have to adapt to a new building, sometimes a new instrument, and new faces watching them as they make music. In order to help prepare students for a recital, I often create a social story so they can “preview” the event before it happens. A social story can help set up social expectations of a new event and questions that students may have, such as when do I clap or what happens if I make a mistake? Social stories can also help to reduce anxiety among students who may feel dysregulated by a disruption in routine.

A Beginner's Guide to Adaptive Instruments

There are so many new adaptive instruments thanks to technology and the growing fields of occupational therapy and adaptive music education. Today’s blog post covers some instruments that are not always thought of as adaptive instruments, but function well in adaptive music settings and are readily accessible at a local music store at an affordable price.

Stories

Creative Ways to Teach with Barefoot Books

It’s no secret how much we love Barefoot Books! These musical storybooks are a favourite activity that closes nearly every music circle and community music class we do with children. While Barefoot Books is a publisher that encompasses many types of children’s books and resources, at Lotus we are particularly fond of their singalong collection. Each book in their singalong collection is paired with a song track, an instrumental backing track, a singalong YouTube video with pictures, and nearly all of them have a lead sheet at the back of the book so you can teach the refrain to your students.

Start Your Own Adaptive Rock Band!

‘’Rock Band’’ gives your child the opportunity to play music in a group setting, with all the adaptive tools that they might need to foster their musical abilities and develop meaningful relationships with other members through a shared love of music. While playing music individually has many benefits, playing in a group setting can help your child further improve their musical ear, sense of timing, social skills and confidence. This particular setting can also help students who benefit from body doubling (a productivity strategy where the presence of someone else increases motivation and focus; especially common with ADHD). However, a traditional rock band setting often doesn’t accommodate for diverse learning needs, which is why Lotus’s Rock Band was created.

Who we are

Lotus Music is a registered Canadian charity with a mission to provide adaptive music experiences to people with diverse learning needs.

Contact us

1002 Beaverbrook Road, Suite 13
Kanata, ON K2K 1L1
jeff@lotusmusic.ca
(613) 801-0031

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