The Test Drive book and CD, with its appealing songs to support children's self-regulation, is full of practical ideas and suggestions. Whether or not one is familiar with the Alert Program®, Test Drive is the simplest way to introduce the program’s concepts to children in schools, homes, or therapy settings. Listen to a Test Drive song just once and everyone will be humming and tapping their toes to the catchy words and rhymes, perhaps not even knowing they are learning about self-regulation!

All will enjoy the ease with which children learn and remember the Alert Program® concepts through these playful, yet educational song lyrics such as: “I do my best work and it's a great place to be. When my engine's just right, nothing's stopping me!”

The Test Drive book walks you through exactly how to introduce the Alert Program® to a group or individual (in classrooms, therapy clinics, or homes). You can’t go wrong with the straight forward instructions given in the book and the following songs that outline the basic Alert Program® concepts:

• The Just Right Song teaches students the engine analogy and sample ways to change how alert they feel.
• The Best Work song, with its bluesy swing, piques students’ interest in learning how easy it is to focus and pay attention when engines are in a just right level of alertness.
• The Five Ways song expands students’ awareness of how to change their engine levels and how to choose from a larger variety of engine strategies.
• The Engine Song reinforces not only the engine vocabulary and strategies, but adds a self-monitoring, social-emotional dimension. With phrases such as, “make a good decision, yes I can!,” the song reminds children that they can make good self-regulation choices.
• The Alive, Awake, Alert song offers an ideal movement break for children and adults at school, at home, or in therapy settings.
• And the Transition Songs are instrumental recordings of selected Test Drivesongs that can be used to support students in times of transition to better self-regulate. Teachers, parents, or therapists can use the songs to assist students to end one activity and begin another, perhaps explaining, “In two minutes, when the song ends, we’ll finish ____ and then start _____.”

We are confident that Test Drive will soon become one of your favorite ways to teach the Alert Program® to your students, but we have to warn you: you may find yourself singing the songs throughout the day (you won’t be able to get them out of your head). And that’s just what we hope will happen for your students. Your students may find themselves singing (and learning) what they can do to self-regulate, with a unique type of musical self-talk: “Five ways, we’ve got five ways to maximize your days. Mouth, move, touch, look, listen and find your way!”