Thrive Music Studio

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 100 people is on the autism spectrum. Because it's a spectrum, someone with autism may have almost undetectable symptoms or they may have difficulty performing daily tasks that most of us take for granted. Both the individual with autism and the family of that individual need community and institutional support.

Strength comes from community, diversity and inclusiveness.

Magic happens when worlds collide at Thrive. 🌍 🌈 🦄

Eid Mubarak! May your Eid be filled with love, laughter and light. Wishing you and yours a year filled with the magic of Eid.

Play is something that is written into our DNA. Play is how we explore ideas to see what works. It's how we explore alternate realities which helps our critical thinking and problem-solving skills. It's also through play that we develop empathy as we act out different roles through make-believe.

Play isn't just for children. It's what makes us come alive.

We owe it to ourselves and to one another to embrace the diversity that is humanity. The right to human dignity is a universal one and it should not depend on the colour of our skin.

Yet everyday, we receive countless messages that tell us that we're better than or inferior to someone on the basis of how we look. Some messages are very subtle while others are overt.

To perceive someone as ""other"" is to enter into the realm of ""us"" vs ""them"" which dehumanises all of us. It's time for us to find a better way.

The answer lies in discovering what we have in common with people who look different from us. So here are some questions to ponder:

✅ Do you love your child?

✅ Do you want to see your child happy and healthy, living a productive, meaningful life?

✅ Do you wish to be treated with respect and civility?

✅ Do you long to be seen, heard and understood?

If you answered yes, you'll find that the other person likely gave the same answers too. The things that really matter in life are really the same for all of us.

There is only one race. And that is the human race.

We really are social species. Our brains actually release hormones that neutralise stress when we're engaged in positive social interactions. And learning to understand another person's emotional world is so important to us that our brains are designed to look for and understand countless non-verbal cues.

Thrive chooses to specialise in collaborative learning because learning is social. Everything we learn is because of what someone showed us or told us.

The interactions that take place in a typical class at Thrive are highly interactive and occur between children, between parent and child and between children and caring grown-ups in our studio community.

Children learn that the world is a safe place for them to explore because of the many positive interactions they have that give them the confidence they need to be curious. It also encourages them to be generous and compassionate with others just as they themselves get to be the beneficiaries of all that love and goodwill extended to them.

Ramadan Mubarak to our Muslim friends!

While women have made many gains in education, business, government and access to healthcare, there are still many inequities that women encounter every single day.

It wasn't until I hit 40 that I became a feminist. Until then, I'd been conditioned by societal norms that pressure girls and women to think small, to live small, to speak small. Girls are often expected to preserve social harmony at their own expense. Then we grow up believing that we're the ones who are responsible for all of the caregiving needs of our immediate and extended family, while also holding down a full-time job.

On top of this, we're told that we can have it all. That we should be ambitious and work hard to rise to the top of the corporate ladder. Is it any wonder that women are burning out?

In many countries around the world, women and girls are still seen as the property of men, giving rise to things like so-called ""honour killings"", female ge***al mutilation and being treated as second-class citizens by their own governments. And throughout history, women and girls have always been seen as part of the spoils of war.

𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦. 𝗡𝗘𝗘𝗗𝗦. 𝗧𝗢. 𝗘𝗡𝗗.

When women and girls are encouraged, educated and empowered, they contribute to the well-being of their family and their community.

It's time for us as women who have a voice to ask for more help from our partners, from our communities, from our institutions. We need to say that we cannot and should not be expected to do it all. And we need to stop pretending that we can.

I am woman. Hear me roar.

Learning music is full of challenges to be overcome - locating keys on the piano, finger control and independence, varying pressure to control how loud or soft the music is, etc. 🎹

By confronting challenges that come our way, we learn what we're really made of. This is the way we teach at Thrive.

We believe in the potential for each of our students to bring a truer version of themselves into the world. Knowing who they are and what they're capable of doing is what gives them strength. And it's what gives them resilience. 💪

If you've ever come across the work of Jane Goodall or David Attenborough, it's impossible not to be completely in awe of the sheer variety of living beings with whom we share Planet Earth.

Knowing that our actions can have an enormous impact on the habitats and diet of other species, we need to find ways to minimise our own environmental footprint. We're each part of an ecosystem where all of us are dependent upon one another.

Here's to all the wildlife - feathered, scaly and leggy alike. Happy World Wildlife Day! 🐝 🦍 🐬 🦅 🐿 🐯 🐾

You and your child may have been delighted by the quirky illustrations and wonderful words in many of Dr Seuss's stories.

Whether your favourite is 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝘁, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘅, 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗘𝗴𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗮𝗺 or 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀, each story also had an important life lesson to teach us. At a time when it was an unpopular thing to do so, Dr Seuss spoke out against racism, anti-semitism and isolationism. He was also way ahead of his time speaking out on issues related to environmental awareness.

The real Dr Seuss can be seen in his sensitivity to social causes and his legacy endures through his many books. Today is Dr Seuss Day. For a fascinating read on the man he was, check out this article from the BBC:

The surprisingly radical politics of Dr Seuss On the 115th anniversary of Dr Seuss’ birth, Fiona Macdonald looks at how creating wartime propaganda honed his unique vision.

Encouragement is such an important thing when we're learning to do new things. The best way you can encourage your child is to simply notice what they're doing and tell them what you see .

Leave out all value judgements (e.g. good/bad/perfect...) so that your child doesn't become a praise addict.

If you want to help your child grow up to be self-motivated and self-reliant, then help them to see how their own efforts make a difference. By helping your child to be more self-aware, they will feel more competent and confident about in themselves. Another benefit is that they feel more connected to you because they feel seen by you. And that's a beautiful way to nurture a closer and warmer relationship with your child.