Heartsong Family Enrichment Center
Donation protected
Dear Friends,There is a dream that I have carried and nurtured for years in the womb of my heart - a dream that also penetrates the hearts of many who desire to champion the bright souls of those whose genius, ability and creativity are reaching out to be acknowledged and developed. This dream is to see individuals with exceptional needs nurtured in an environment that fosters their "whole person" development, connects them intricately and critically with the world around them, and builds a confidence within them to activate a quality of life for themselves that every human being desires.
Throughout my years of raising children with the special call of overcoming challenges associated with Autism, I have witnessed accomplishments, milestones, and miracles, previously deemed impossible. I had a relentless belief that if we embraced the challenges ahead of us with active faith, Love, and the knowledge that every opportunity for frustration and defeat was really a resource that offered itself as a stepping stone to the character that was being built inside of each of us, we could do anything. Our journey propelled us into the vivid reality that what we were living out was a blessing and a testimony to the beauty of the struggle itself. Our challenges became the empowering keys that opened the doors to miracle after miracle in my children's lives.
The journey sometimes looked bleak, but with faith and the support of amazing family and friends, we have been able to see our children develop into joyful, active, and sociable young men with a love of learning. They are presently sophomore members of one of the top marching bands in the state, are pursuing interests such as competitive athletics, computer game design, architecture, map design, and research analysis. Music enrichment has played a fundamental role in their resilience and confidence, their development of processing and social skills, and their propensity toward learning. We were also blessed to be able to have a team of teachers and therapists who taught me how to set up an environment at home which inspired my children to learn and explore with freedom, but also offered the structure and reinforcement they needed for confidence and the development of critical skills. We were given the gifts of music, ABA therapy, and the wonderful tool of the structured learning environment (complete with picture schedules for my nearly nonverbal little boys) during the early years. Later, we learned to advocate for the fostering of the brilliance inside of their minds, and in EVERY mind, because, though it may be hiding in untapped pockets, it is absolutely there. I long to bridge the gap between individuals with eceptional needs and the rest of the world, to go beyond sympathy into embracing empathy toward all beings, and to encourage limitless thinking within those who have experienced extreme limitations in their lives.
I presently work with children and adults individually and in groups through music instruction and personal coaching. For younger children and caretakers, I provide Kindermusik, the delightful music and movement program which has impacted the lives of families for over thirty years in the US. Kindermusik is a program that works with parents to foster the growth of the infant to the young child in every developmental domain: social, cognitive, physical, emotional, verbal, and musical. I am dedicated to and sincerely invested in my role in the advocacy for a quality enrichment experience for all with whom I am connected during this endeavor.
My goal is to ultimately build this organization for enrichment on the premises of a Central Texas ranch, which will be a source of therapy and arts enrichment for people of all abilities, and to call it Heartsong Family Ranch and Enrichment Center. My desire is for the Heartsong Family Enrichment Center to be a safe haven in which individuals can develop the skills to make music with the instruments of the voice and/or piano along with others having the same goals. Heartsong's therapeutic goal will be to provide an enriching and holistic environment, graced by some of nature's most therapeutic gifts to humankind: horses, land, and open air. Staffed with hippotherapists, horseback-riding instructors, music teachers, music therapists, and counseling specialists, Heartsong will be a place of rejuvenation and bonding for the family and the individual, no matter the neurological or physical ability. During the last phase of this journey, my desire is to make Heartsong Ranch the premise of a children's and family show which features the activities at the ranch, the accomplishments of the students, and adventures into the lives of amazing individuals around the world who have overcome tremendous obstacles of developmental disability: Individuals such as Temple Grandin, Nicholas James Vujicic, and countless others. The show will also feature a book series (written by "yours truly") called "What Bunnies and Bears Do". The characters of the book series are Anistar and Andis, a set of boy/girl young twins, who often find themselves in need of assistance in resolving a moral conflict or to gain courage to overcome a difficult circumstance. An outline of the children's program will follow this letter, just in case you're curious!
I have recently graduated with a master's degree in music, with an emphasis on pedagogy (the science of teaching) and therapy. During my time as a student I had a brief opportunity to work with stroke patients, offering them tools for learning to phonate again, teaching them to sing and articulate, and really, just helping to rebuild their confidence. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life, and it revealed within me, a desire to be among those who offer therapy to those in need. Even after having taught music privately and in the classroom for over fifteen years, I had never had quite such a fulfilling teaching experience in music as that.
After such a feat of faith and journey of discovery, I have come to a juncture at which I find myself recovering financially and in many other ways from the very enlightening experience of grad school (including a very characteristic illness with a story of its own). Although the need for support and funding toward my dream is great, I hope that my illustration (in painful and exhaustive detail for your reading pleasure) has given you an idea of why I am so passionate in pursuing this dream, and will deposit a little seed of my passion inside of your heart.
Please help me to fund this dream!
Warmest regards, and God bless you always!
Anitra
P.S. - I promised you the following.. :)
Details about the show and the book:
(and some of the ways that the principles within could inspire the families and children of our communities)
And so - My zeal and enthusiasm for family enrichment has extended further into a dream of fulfilling a great need for quality children's programming in the high-speed, fast food, unrelentingly overstimulating culture in which our children now find themselves.
Pemberly House: A place where the imagination is used to overcome and conquer real life chaos. In the book series, several toys are owned by a boy/girl set of young twins, Anistar and Andis. The toys are always alive in "Imagine Meadow" but come to life in the children's imaginations when they need assistance resolving a moral conflict or to gain courage to overcome something difficult. Pemberly House is a cottage in a town called Pepper Acres, and all of the people there are neighbors to the lady who inhabits Pemberly House, Mrs. Potter (after the author of all of the Peter Rabbit stories). She goes about her day in Pepper Acres and always finds curious things to show her young viewers, and then she takes them to the "Petite Reading Suite" to read a book about what bunnies and bears do in certain tedious and challenging situations. Other books will be featured as well. She reads the stories herself, from a big chair at the Reading Suite, to all of the neighborhood children. And there are songs during the show and the book. The colors of the storybook are completely different from the colors of the town, and it creates a different world for the viewers. Then Mrs. Potter asks children who are viewing what THEY would do in a particular situation, or how THEY do things in their house.
There will be a mystery throughout the show that will unfold as we draw closer to the end of each episode. There will also be segments during which the children are interviewed concerning their personal experiences with specified challenges. Interviews with people with exceptional needs, and interviews with people in specific professions will set the tone for the interviews with the children. The fun won't end there! Field trips through the woods, to art museums, factories, bakeries, music schools, and other countries will be the height of adventure for the program. These will be some of the curious things Mrs. Potter explores with the viewers. One of the premises of the show will be that things aren't always what they appear to be. In general, we will teach children humility, service to others (especially when no one's looking), discernment of right and wrong, compassion, the art of being positive, self-education, how to direct one's own imagination, how to think outside the box (how to avoid the traps of limited thinking), and the joy of giving, learning and growing. Songs supporting these themes will be interpolated within.
I hope this peek into Pepper Acres has piqued your interest!
Warmest Regards,
Anitra
Throughout my years of raising children with the special call of overcoming challenges associated with Autism, I have witnessed accomplishments, milestones, and miracles, previously deemed impossible. I had a relentless belief that if we embraced the challenges ahead of us with active faith, Love, and the knowledge that every opportunity for frustration and defeat was really a resource that offered itself as a stepping stone to the character that was being built inside of each of us, we could do anything. Our journey propelled us into the vivid reality that what we were living out was a blessing and a testimony to the beauty of the struggle itself. Our challenges became the empowering keys that opened the doors to miracle after miracle in my children's lives.
The journey sometimes looked bleak, but with faith and the support of amazing family and friends, we have been able to see our children develop into joyful, active, and sociable young men with a love of learning. They are presently sophomore members of one of the top marching bands in the state, are pursuing interests such as competitive athletics, computer game design, architecture, map design, and research analysis. Music enrichment has played a fundamental role in their resilience and confidence, their development of processing and social skills, and their propensity toward learning. We were also blessed to be able to have a team of teachers and therapists who taught me how to set up an environment at home which inspired my children to learn and explore with freedom, but also offered the structure and reinforcement they needed for confidence and the development of critical skills. We were given the gifts of music, ABA therapy, and the wonderful tool of the structured learning environment (complete with picture schedules for my nearly nonverbal little boys) during the early years. Later, we learned to advocate for the fostering of the brilliance inside of their minds, and in EVERY mind, because, though it may be hiding in untapped pockets, it is absolutely there. I long to bridge the gap between individuals with eceptional needs and the rest of the world, to go beyond sympathy into embracing empathy toward all beings, and to encourage limitless thinking within those who have experienced extreme limitations in their lives.
I presently work with children and adults individually and in groups through music instruction and personal coaching. For younger children and caretakers, I provide Kindermusik, the delightful music and movement program which has impacted the lives of families for over thirty years in the US. Kindermusik is a program that works with parents to foster the growth of the infant to the young child in every developmental domain: social, cognitive, physical, emotional, verbal, and musical. I am dedicated to and sincerely invested in my role in the advocacy for a quality enrichment experience for all with whom I am connected during this endeavor.
My goal is to ultimately build this organization for enrichment on the premises of a Central Texas ranch, which will be a source of therapy and arts enrichment for people of all abilities, and to call it Heartsong Family Ranch and Enrichment Center. My desire is for the Heartsong Family Enrichment Center to be a safe haven in which individuals can develop the skills to make music with the instruments of the voice and/or piano along with others having the same goals. Heartsong's therapeutic goal will be to provide an enriching and holistic environment, graced by some of nature's most therapeutic gifts to humankind: horses, land, and open air. Staffed with hippotherapists, horseback-riding instructors, music teachers, music therapists, and counseling specialists, Heartsong will be a place of rejuvenation and bonding for the family and the individual, no matter the neurological or physical ability. During the last phase of this journey, my desire is to make Heartsong Ranch the premise of a children's and family show which features the activities at the ranch, the accomplishments of the students, and adventures into the lives of amazing individuals around the world who have overcome tremendous obstacles of developmental disability: Individuals such as Temple Grandin, Nicholas James Vujicic, and countless others. The show will also feature a book series (written by "yours truly") called "What Bunnies and Bears Do". The characters of the book series are Anistar and Andis, a set of boy/girl young twins, who often find themselves in need of assistance in resolving a moral conflict or to gain courage to overcome a difficult circumstance. An outline of the children's program will follow this letter, just in case you're curious!
I have recently graduated with a master's degree in music, with an emphasis on pedagogy (the science of teaching) and therapy. During my time as a student I had a brief opportunity to work with stroke patients, offering them tools for learning to phonate again, teaching them to sing and articulate, and really, just helping to rebuild their confidence. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life, and it revealed within me, a desire to be among those who offer therapy to those in need. Even after having taught music privately and in the classroom for over fifteen years, I had never had quite such a fulfilling teaching experience in music as that.
After such a feat of faith and journey of discovery, I have come to a juncture at which I find myself recovering financially and in many other ways from the very enlightening experience of grad school (including a very characteristic illness with a story of its own). Although the need for support and funding toward my dream is great, I hope that my illustration (in painful and exhaustive detail for your reading pleasure) has given you an idea of why I am so passionate in pursuing this dream, and will deposit a little seed of my passion inside of your heart.
Please help me to fund this dream!
Warmest regards, and God bless you always!
Anitra
P.S. - I promised you the following.. :)
Details about the show and the book:
(and some of the ways that the principles within could inspire the families and children of our communities)
And so - My zeal and enthusiasm for family enrichment has extended further into a dream of fulfilling a great need for quality children's programming in the high-speed, fast food, unrelentingly overstimulating culture in which our children now find themselves.
Pemberly House: A place where the imagination is used to overcome and conquer real life chaos. In the book series, several toys are owned by a boy/girl set of young twins, Anistar and Andis. The toys are always alive in "Imagine Meadow" but come to life in the children's imaginations when they need assistance resolving a moral conflict or to gain courage to overcome something difficult. Pemberly House is a cottage in a town called Pepper Acres, and all of the people there are neighbors to the lady who inhabits Pemberly House, Mrs. Potter (after the author of all of the Peter Rabbit stories). She goes about her day in Pepper Acres and always finds curious things to show her young viewers, and then she takes them to the "Petite Reading Suite" to read a book about what bunnies and bears do in certain tedious and challenging situations. Other books will be featured as well. She reads the stories herself, from a big chair at the Reading Suite, to all of the neighborhood children. And there are songs during the show and the book. The colors of the storybook are completely different from the colors of the town, and it creates a different world for the viewers. Then Mrs. Potter asks children who are viewing what THEY would do in a particular situation, or how THEY do things in their house.
There will be a mystery throughout the show that will unfold as we draw closer to the end of each episode. There will also be segments during which the children are interviewed concerning their personal experiences with specified challenges. Interviews with people with exceptional needs, and interviews with people in specific professions will set the tone for the interviews with the children. The fun won't end there! Field trips through the woods, to art museums, factories, bakeries, music schools, and other countries will be the height of adventure for the program. These will be some of the curious things Mrs. Potter explores with the viewers. One of the premises of the show will be that things aren't always what they appear to be. In general, we will teach children humility, service to others (especially when no one's looking), discernment of right and wrong, compassion, the art of being positive, self-education, how to direct one's own imagination, how to think outside the box (how to avoid the traps of limited thinking), and the joy of giving, learning and growing. Songs supporting these themes will be interpolated within.
I hope this peek into Pepper Acres has piqued your interest!
Warmest Regards,
Anitra
Organizer
Anitra Coulter Blunt
Organizer
Cedar Park, TX
