My students come from diverse backgrounds. We have a large population of special education students who do not live in the neighborhood that the school is located in. They are diagnosed with various disorders such as autism,learning disabled, and ADHD. In fact, we have the NEST program in place in our school. This program provides social, emotional, and academic support for children on the autism spectrum.
Our NEST students are high functioning autistic students and are placed in an ICT classroom which focuses on supporting their social skills and pragmatic language.
Many of our students are detail oriented, show an aptitude for the arts, and are very enthusiastic about music and all that it has to offer them. They especially like and NEED hands-on materials such as musical instruments. They have shown their teachers that they learn best when they are engaged and having fun.
My Project
The ukelele is one of the most popular instruments around today. Many pop-stars and amateurs are posting thousands of videos on youtube. Children can learn their favorite pop songs as well as multicultural songs and songs their parents grew up with.
It is well known that students with ASD (autism spectrum disorders) benefit from visual, tactile and kinesthetic learning; playing instruments covers all of those domains.
Our students often excel in music and the arts for that reason. The literature on people with ASD indicates that most respond positively to music and show an increased interest and response to music. Playing instruments provide them with immediate sensory-motor feedback while being relaxing at the same time. Playing instruments also builds on physical strengths that they usually receive various therapies for, such as finger strength that they would usually go to an occupational therapist to develop, or arm strength, weak muscle tone and coordination they would address with a physical therapist.
Additionally, playing instruments can help our students reduce self-stimulatory responses to their environments while increasing their participation and socially appropriate behaviors. The soothing sound of a ukulele offers an increased advantage in that it doesn’t produce a sound that can negatively impact our students who often need headphones to mute the sound of much louder, higher pitched instruments. When our students are able to succeed in music, it builds their self-esteem and in turn, helps them improve their peer relations.
We purchased the exciting Quaver music curriculum for next year that teaches the children music fundamentals. This program utilizes found sounds, classroom instruments, and ukeleles to appeal to the young musician.
More than a third of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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