Programs

Critical Timing:

Our Critical Timing program is extremely effective with older elementary grade students and teens. It is especially helpful with kids who are engaging in risky behavior, who might be in trouble at school, at home, with the police, or who are otherwise disenfranchised from their peers and school community as a result of personal lifestyle choices.  

Bongos, Bells, Butterflies and Sunshine All Day Long:

Our curriculum for pre-school through lower elementary grades, Bongos, Bells, Butterflies and Sunshine All Day Long, offers exciting age appropriate challenges to groups of very young children from pre-school through the elementary grades.  This curriculum offers a very strong multi-cultural/musical experience, and it is an excellent vehicle for reinforcing self-esteem, individual awareness, cooperative behavior and self-regulation.

Drumming on the Rainbow:

Rhythm of Life offers a range of ensemble programs for people with disabilities, including physical and cognitive limitations and mental illness. Rhythm of Life has had great success in this arena. Our goals are to engage people with disabilities in a physically active, cognitively challenging social activity, enhance self esteem, and provide opportunities for self expression, a participatory social environment, opportunities for growth as musicians, a sense of belonging, and activity which is therapeutic physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

We have designed a clamping device that allows a variety of drums to be attached directly to a wheel chair and positioned on any plane appropriate for the drummer. This allows many people to play who might otherwise have difficulty reaching the instruments. It also allows those who require the support of their chairs to stay in them as they participate in the program.

Substance Abuse Prevention/Anger Management:

Rhythm of Life provides programs to address the issues of substance abuse, anger management, and violence prevention. We often work through collaboration with local counseling centers, probation offices, and correctional facilities to provide services to inmates or people on probation.

Our therapeutic goals include enhancing social interaction, listening skills, cooperation, teamwork, impulse control, discipline, and self- regulation.

Sessions are oriented towards providing participants with a sense of accomplishment.  

Rhythms to Routes - Drumming for the Elderly:

Numerous recent studies strongly indicate that participation in activities such as ensemble drumming diminish the effects of senile dementia, and may even prevent the onset of such disorders. Actual physical development of nerve pathways around the plaques and tangles found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients have been clinically observed in seniors who actively learn new skills.

Rhythm of Life provides a range of programs for senior citizens. The physical exercise is extremely beneficial, especially to the upper body. The ensemble also provides an opportunity for social interaction. Most importantly, however, is our strong belief that by challenging participants to learn and play new, exciting, unfamiliar music, we are helping to create new pathways for neuro-muscular function. Participants report improvement in general coordination, walking, speaking, sleeping, and thought process, and experience a boost in self-esteem and overall confidence and fulfillment as a result of working together to meet a fun and invigorating musical challenge.