Schools & afterschool
Montessori School
Participant-led creative writing that serves all three pillars, boosting engagement and attendance through strengthening SEL and school climate, hands-on STEAM, producing a music video usable for recruitment and funder reports, and giving students learning experiences with celebrity producers.
We support attendance and chronic-absenteeism improvement, PBIS, MTSS Tier 1 SEL, positive school climate, and arts/STEAM access with the SEL books, keynotes, and the STEAM recording program.
FAQs
Straight answers.
Program enrichment that is hands-on: the Psychological Effects of Music Supplemental Instructional Books and recording Programs. Students learn how music effects their behavior and emotions.
Guides looking for enrichment programs ideas or asking what are interactive activities that fit a prepared environment will find these work as a chosen work option rather than a teacher-paced lesson.
Yes. Recording is hands on STEAM in the most literal sense — children work real equipment through a real process and produce something concrete.
Guides looking for STEAM activities for elementary or STEAM project ideas for elementary students will find this fits a prepared environment better than a teacher-paced lesson, because children work at their own pace toward a result they chose.
It does not replace prepared materials. Guides typically use it during group time or as a work option for children who have chosen it, rather than as a whole-class lesson. Each child works at their own pace in their own copy, which suits the model better than a teacher-paced program.
Kindergarten level is the earliest edition. Schools searching for SEL books for kindergarten or songs about emotions and feelings usually start there. We do not publish for toddler or infant communities.
Yes. The Psychological Effects of Music Supplemental Instructional Books start at kindergarten and run through 4th grade, and they were written so children see themselves in the material.
Guides looking for culturally responsive books for kindergarten or culturally relevant books for elementary will find these are consumable workbooks rather than picture-book read-alouds — worth knowing before you order.
No. No instrument reading or musical background is needed to lead it.
The material is consumable workbook format rather than picture-book read-aloud. Schools specifically looking for SEL read alouds for kindergarten in a story format are looking for a different product type — worth knowing before you order.
Yes. Recording and production programming is hands-on and self-directed, which suits a Montessori environment better than a teacher-paced lesson. Children work through a real process with real equipment and produce something concrete. It also makes the science audible — sound waves, frequency, and vibration become observable rather than described.
No. We send our own staff to run the programming. We do not train your staff to run it. Recording and production is a skill set, not a procedure. Trying to hand it off in a few hours would be like teaching a doctor to perform surgery in an afternoon — you would get a session that technically happened and a result nobody wants to hear. Guides observe and participate. The recording work itself is run by our staff.
No. We are supplemental. We do not replace your SEL curriculum, your trauma-informed practice, or any program you already have in place. If you run a core SEL program, keep it — ours adds a music-based component alongside it. If you have trauma-informed protocols, training, and referral pathways, those stay in force exactly as they are. Nothing in our material substitutes for them, and our facilitators are not a substitute for your clinical, counseling, or behavioral staff. Prepared materials and your existing approach stay in place. This is one more work option.
Yes. Assembly ideas for kindergarten and early elementary use a shorter, more participatory format than the standard assembly, which suits a Montessori community gathering better than a stage program. The Psychological Effects of Music interactive School Assembly is the basis, adapted to the age group and the size of your community.
45 minutes to 2 hours. Most schools book a class period or 90 minutes. The 90-minute format is the one we recommend when you have the room. 45 minutes works for a single class period or a tight bell schedule, and 2 hours suits a half-day event, a grade-level rally, or a Black History Month or Red Ribbon Week program. Tell us your bell schedule and we will fit the session to it rather than asking you to build around us.
Yes. The Psychological Effects of Music interactive SEL School Assembly is built for exactly this — a family engagement event where parents and children participate together rather than sitting through a presentation. Participants learn how music can be used as a tool to manage behavior, emotions and scress management.
That is the difference that matters for attendance. Families come to an event where something happens; they skip an information night. The session is music-driven and participatory, so a parent who speaks little English and a fourth grader are in it on the same terms.Parent education and community gatherings are already central to a Montessori school. This works as a family evening rather than a lecture.Partly, and we would rather be precise than lose you later. Our earliest edition is kindergarten level, which works with the five-year-olds in a primary community. We do not publish for ages three and four.
Guides searching for musical activities for 3 5 year olds across a full primary classroom will need something else for the younger children. For the older end of primary and all of lower elementary, the Psychological Effects of Music Supplemental Instructional Books fit.
Independent schools purchase directly without the vendor registration and purchase order process public districts use. Card payment closes same day. Quote and W-9 available on request.
How this program runs
Same SIWM work. Built for Montessori School.
Start with the social emotional learning books. Add a keynote. Bring a recording program when you want participants writing and performing — we produce the song and video.
Aligned with Montessori principles and applicable standards through hands-on, student-centered learning. The program supports CASEL’s five SEL competencies; ELA writing, speaking and listening; Music and Media Arts; science through sound waves, frequency and acoustics; digital media literacy; and STEM/STEAM. Students strengthen independence, collaboration, creativity, self-management and real-world problem-solving while producing an original song and media project.
Send a request and tell us this is a Montessori School site.
The Psychological Effects of Music
SEL books & curriculum
SEL books by Ava Johnson plus keynotes for the same rooms.
Ava the Aviator
Keynotes & assemblies
Interactive talks on the science of sound and the psychology of music.
The studio
Recording & music video program
Participants write and perform. We record, produce, and film.