Music Therapy Brings Multi-Sensory Learning to BECC

For students at Brooklyn Early Childhood Center (BECC), learning occurs through a variety of methods, including music therapy. On Wednesdays, Miss Abbey from Groovey Garfoose Music Therapy Services engages students with a series of fun, multi-sensory learning activities. Each class session normally begins with a welcome song played by Miss Abbey on the guitar followed by an interactive story where students repeat or echo the words from the book in a song-like manner while also tapping their chests to each word. BECC students also enjoy the ability to move around and dance. During one activity, students and their teachers follow Miss Abbey in making choreographed motions while holding different colored scarves. For each weekly session featuring the colored scarves, Miss Abbey also encourages students to identify the name of a specific letter from the alphabet and use words that feature the selected letter, as well as practice using other skills such as identifying colors, counting, and sorting. Miss Abbey also makes sure to differentiate every classroom session to meet the unique learning needs of students. Each thirty-minute session then ends with a special good-bye song sung and played on guitar by Miss Abbey with students and their teachers enthusiastically joining in with their voices.

In addition to reinforcing the school curriculum through musical play and positive reinforcement and support, the music therapy program also encourages taking turns and cooperative learning. The music therapy program at BECC is made possible through a Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) Grant and is cited by students as one of their favorite parts about preschool in end of year family surveys. A special thank you to Miss Abbey from Groovy Garfoose Music Therapy Services for engaging our students with creative, multi-sensory ways of learning!