Songs of Resilience

Songs of Resilience Music Videos

Beautiful Baby Wonderful Child

For Now and Forever

Un Mundo, One World

Tuff Stuff

Music in My Mouth

All of the products developed by the Children, Inc. Devereux Regional Early Childhood Center were designed for the use of teachers and parents and focus on social emotional development. All of our products can be purchased online through our distributors. Read about our products below and find them on our distributor's websites to purchase them online.

Songs of Resilience
Songs of Resilience is a 4 CD set of 27 original songs by David Kisor with an instructio manual for teachers. One CD features songs that  promote attachment; one contains songs about initiative; and one with songs of self-control. There is also a CD with inspirational songs for teachers and caregivers. The songs focus on these protective factors targeted by the DECA program, but it also can be used effectively with any strategy promoting social-emotional development.

Various types of songs take advantage of the different way that children learn. “Self-talk” songs help children internalize positive self-talk as the basis of positive beliefs about themselves, other people and the world in general. For example, the “I can do it” song helps children to internalize the belief that they can master challenges.  Experiential songs allow children to experience and practice the skills we want them to learn.  For example, the “Self Control” song has children practicing effortful control or inhibitory control, a skill that is important to developing attention. Story songs are those that children listen to as a way of developing empathy with other children. For example, “Be Careful” tells the story of a little girl being pushed by other children and how she handles it.

In the manual, for each song there are:

Each song also has a karaoke version so that children can create there own recording of the song.  We know that music is a wonderful teaching tool for young children. David Kisor writes children’s music that is rich in complexity while the important messages remain simple. In Songs of Resilience there are many different musical styles from Caribbean to 60s rock-and-roll to Hip-Hop. He brought to the studio many musical colleagues so that on one song you might hear a beautiful cello and violin and on another, dueling horns. David wants to give us children’s music that adults enjoy too. Songs of Resilience also features two additional vocalists, Spring Starr Pillow, an accomplished adult female vocalist and Molly McMath, a wonderful experienced child vocalist. Over the past year, these songs have been “tested” in Children, Inc. classrooms and we have included songs that emerged as the favorites of our children. 

Songs of Resilience Music Videos

We recently completed filming the Songs of Resilience Music Videos. There are selections from both the Songs of Resilience and Beautiful Baby, Wonderful Child. 

There are 10 videos with widely varied styles. Two videos are fully animated. Look at me switches back and forth from animals at the Cincinnati Zoo to children in playgrounds. “Mariposa/Butterfly” is from the Bi-Lingual Songs of Resilience and was filmed at the Butterfly Exhibit at the Krohn Conservatory. In “Three Rules” David Kisor switches back and forth between his Nutty Professor Character filmed in black-and-white and the leader of a Hip-Hop dance troupe. The videos end with the poignant “Another Day” which celebrates the resilience and dedication of early childhood teachers.

The videos included in the set are:

The videos also contain brief discussions of key concepts in attachment, initiative and self-control. The videos would be a valuable component of the Protective Factor Kits now under production.

Beautiful Baby, Wonderful Child
These songs celebrate the powerful connection between mother/caregiver and infant and the importance of this connection as a secure base from which the toddler begins to explore her world. There are several developmental themes that underline these songs. First is the intensity of the “mutual gaze” and the attachment that begins to establish emotional communication between mother and infant. Research is just beginning to document the importance of these encounters to the developing brain.  We hope that David’s soothing, rich melodies encourage both mother/caregiver and infant to extend and enjoy these moments that so strongly build mutual attachment.

For Now and Forever
For Now and Forever – Songs Celebrating Families is part of a series of original recordings by David Kisor that promote resilience in young children and their parents. Resilience research tells us that if a young child develops the three protective factors of attachment, initiative and self-control, they will do well in school and in life. In each of the Children, Inc. centers each day, teachers use strategies from the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment Program (DECA) to develop these protective factors. These songs and related activities are a part of these strategies. Now with this parent CD, families can enjoy these rich and meaningful songs together. 

For example “I get angry, but I don’t let the anger get me” helps children how to effectively manage their angry feelings and develop self-control. “I keep a kiss in my pocket” helps children who are having difficulty transitioning from home to school. “I’m Gonna Find a Way” promotes attentional control, persistence on task and problem-solving all characteristics of a “mastery” learning orientation important to school success. The CD comes with an interactive poster with suggestions of activities to do with young children to promote attachment, initiative and self control.

Un Mundo, One World
Un Mundo is a collection of David's songs in English and Spanish called Un Mundo ~ One World. These songs are from the group designed to promote attachment, initiative and self-control in young children. The song, Un Mundo One World is a wonderful way to introduce the idea that we all are alike despite cultural, ethnic, and linguistic differences.

Tough Stuff
Songs for Mastery Motivation

These songs are about the subtle nuances of an important developmental concept called mastery motivation. The child with mastery motivation relishes challenges and doesn't run away from them. On the other hand, a child with performance orientation fears failure to the extent that he avoids challenging tasks at all costs. By avoiding tasks that could possibly end in failure, children will miss out on many learning opportunities. The difference between these two orientations lies in how the child perceives effort. A mastery-oriented child equates effort with eventual success. A performance-oriented child associates effort with being stupid. 

It's easy to see how important mastery motivation is to later school success. Our long term goal is to create an evidence-based motivation curriculum that could be implemented nationally to help children enter school motivated for success. 

Music in My Mouth

Music in My Mouth, a collaborative project between Children, Inc. and the Speech Pathology Division at Children’s Hospital.  The songs are the work of Children, Inc.’s Music Specialist, David Kisor. The manual that accompanies the songs was written by Dr. Chalfonte-Evans of Children’s Hospital and Tom Lottman, Deputy Director, Children, Inc. The songs address common problems encountered in speech therapy including: articulation, oral/motor awareness, fluency, food aversion, grammar, language concepts, social-emotional communication and task persistence.

Professionals dedicated to bridging the gap from research to practice have long examined the connection between music and language to explore the potential use of melody and rhythm as therapeutic tools. Music and language form a natural partnership due to the prosody and melody of speech; even preverbal infants show an interest in music.

Music in My Mouth  is designed to be used as an adjunct to speech therapy by giving the child fun ways to practice an otherwise tedious and repetitious task.  It motivates children and parents to extend the therapeutic practice in the home. Competence in communication is critical to a child’s personal, social, academic and vocational life. Music in My Mouth is one more tool to help children gain the communication skills they will need throughout their lives.

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