Using Music to Calm

August 16, 2017

 

Contributed by Patricia Stockland, Publisher at Cantata Learning

 

The adage “music heals the soul” exists for good reason. Of its many uses and purposes, one of the most powerful things it can do is soothe us.

 

 

In this climate of unrest, especially as children might be hearing or seeing frightening headlines and struggling to make sense of the strife in our world, you can use music to create an atmosphere of calm. You can also turn to music to help teach, explain events, and to build bridges toward peace, humanity, and friendship.

 

 

What if we all saw the world through a lens of friendship? Of self-acceptance? Through live and let-live, love and be loved approaches to life? We are each individuals who need to learn to love ourselves, and we also need to learn how to get along with each other in spite of differences. Differences can—and should—be celebrated. If children can embrace this in their early developmental years, we will surely realize a brighter and better future.

 

 

If you find yourself in a position of trying to find ways to explain or show your students or your own children what words like community, citizenship, friendship, kindness, fairness, et al mean or should look like, we encourage you to turn to children’s literature and picture books. Specifically, we invite you to explore our new series Me, My Friends, My Community: Songs about Friendship.

 

Some might suggest this post is opportunistic, but we disagree. This series was create exactly for times such as these, to work to combat intolerance and encourage acceptance. To teach inclusivity and kindness.

 

This series offers readers, libraries, and classrooms a fun, safe, accessible, and timely set of books that strikes on all of these chords. Titles include: Happy To Be Me!, Making New Friends!, What Hands Can Do!, and We Can Be Friends! We also provide a FREE lesson plan (download coming soon) that can help you teach and engage students in these important discussions.

 

The songs in this series are positive, and the message is clear and simple: We may all look and act differently and come from different places, but We Can Be Friends!

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