If you want to put it all in simple terms, our work at Rock Out Loud revolves around one thing – sharing music, as an art form, with the rest of the world. And, for quite some time, we’ve focused on changing the process of teaching music; we want to take it away from those boring classes and bringing an actual rock star twist to it. Instead of relying on outdated and, in this day and age, inefficient methods, we swapped the old children’s rhymes with what students want to learn about. This approach proved to be really effective. As it turns out, starting out with the music that you love to listen to will motivate you to learn more.
However, as we grew, we also started focusing on other aspects of music education. One of our new goals was to start forming a special program for children with learning differences. According to some estimates, 1 in 5 children in the US has a learning difference. Although most of the children from this group have average or above-average intelligence, they just process things differently and require additional assistance. This is especially when expectations increase and students are presented with more academic work as their education progresses. It’s also not uncommon to have students diagnosed with learning disabilities in high school or even in college; this makes it pretty difficult for them to progress, even if they’re putting extra hours into their work.
Knowing that there’s a big demand for taking necessary steps in the field, Rock Out Loud started their own unique program called Rockstars Rising. The main focus here is on children with learning differences.
What Is the RockStars Rising Program?
As we already stated, Rock Out Loud brings a different kind of music education that starts with what kids want to learn. In some way, this is customized education, and that’s exactly the concept that we’ve taken to a whole new level with the Rockstars Rising program. With this approach, we give young students with learning differences new ways of expressing themselves with ease.
The RockStars Rising program was developed with the purpose to help young individuals who have different learning styles to get into the wonderful world of music. This comes with a staff of trained and certified music teachers who will professionally and effectively teach your kids how to play an instrument using a special and well-designed custom program. And the name says it all – we’re here to bring out their inner rockstar. During the past years, our professional team has developed their own special techniques to help students with learning differences become great musicians.
Music Lessons and Benefits for Children With Learning Differences
Before you get into it, you should know that music lessons are not as same as music therapy sessions. However, there are certain therapeutic benefits that one gets from learning how to play an instrument and getting into music theory. This is especially the case with a specialized and customized program, just like the ones we do at RockStars Rising.
And there are certain aspects that can improve significantly with the right approach in music education. These include motor skills, communicational skills, social interactions, attention, emotional skills, and regulation skills among others.
Additionally, there’s also a great sense of accomplishment that our students experience with every lesson. In fact, the whole program revolves around the principle that a student should feel a sense of accomplishment every time they finish the lesson. This motivates the students not only to keep coming back to the lessons but also to practice at home and learn new things about music.
Of course, building a sense of confidence is also one of our main goals. Once again, this can be a rather effective motivator for young students. Just imagine how they’ll feel after playing a chorus, or even an entire song, by some of their favorite artists. Learning even a simple melody, a chord progression; or even a rhythmic pattern that they love can do wonders to their sense of confidence.
Learning Music Helps the Brain
By now, it’s already well-known that learning music helps children improve multiple mental areas, no matter the type of learning difficulty that we’re talking about. Feeling good about themselves and feeling relaxed are some of the main things that children with learning differences experience.
Attention span is also one of the aspects where we can see significant improvements, especially when there’s vocalization included. What’s more, learning more or less complex musical pieces; or music theory principles can greatly improve a sense of logic and organization. And just imagine how great things become when you actually apply music theory into practice.
After all these aspects see significant improvements, young music students can even start making their own music. This approach can be beneficial in so many ways, covering all of the aspects that we mentioned above.
What Makes RockStars Rising the Right Choice?
With so many different music schools focusing on this particular issue; you may ask yourself what makes Rock Out Loud and the RockStars Rising program the right choice. First of all, the school’s teachers hold the IBCESS certification that makes them qualified for teaching children with special needs. Another important requirement for our teachers is to know how to play at least three instruments.
At the same time, we also encourage all of our students to play three instruments as well; it can help them develop different skills and experience music from different angles. The customized lessons program also allows them to take up different instruments for each lesson; this helps them keep motivated and interested in music. This makes every individual session unique; ultimately it helps them achieve a greater goal of reaching their full potential and working on their talents. RockStars Rising program is all about students.
More info on the RockStars Rising program is available here.
