Ms Rachel Cameo's son experienced speech and language delays as a toddler, so she set out to find resources to help him. Reportedly, nothing quite right was out there. Ultimately, it gave her the motivation to take matters literally into her own hands, as Songs for Littles extensively uses music and hand motions to model and teach language skills. Rachel Griffin Accurso describes herself as “a passionate educator and award-winning songwriter.”  She has a Masters degree in Music Education from New York University and  is currently pursuing a second Masters degree in Early Childhood Education. Ms. Rachel is a preschool teacher as well. Ms. Rachel has conducted many trainings and courses in areas such as speech development, early childhood development, and early intervention. Finally, she believes “all children are capable, brilliant and important” and I couldn’t agree more–but another adjective I would add is‘unique’. Image in the public domain from You Tube.

Rachel’s husband, Aron, described as her ‘creative partner’, is hands-on in terms of writing music, arranging skits, editing, and puppeteering. The cast includes several others who have music and dance experience. In addition, Rachel consults with Frida Matute, a speech pathologist. Frida is the Founder and Preschool Program Director of The Indy Lab, a preschool in NY, as well as the Executive Director of Indy Speech Services. Frida is a native bilingual language and literacy specialist who has training in Orton-Gillingham. That said, Frida believes that an explicit phonics approach needs to be at the center of teaching literacy and that prevention plays a critical role in intervention through early screenings, parent and teacher education, and public policy. Personally, I appreciate Ms. Rachel’s consulting with Ms. Matute, whose credentials indicate she is well versed in literacy development starting at birth, as well as in the Science of Reading, which has gotten a good deal of press lately.