Test Drive: Introducing the Alert Program® Through Song

The Test Drive book offers engaging digital songs designed to help children develop self-regulation skills with ease. Whether you’re new to the Alert Program® or experienced, this resource is the easiest way to introduce its principles in schools, homes, or therapy environments. Just one listen to a Test Drive song and kids will be singing along while absorbing key concepts naturally. Enjoy simple, clear guidance on how to present the Alert Program® through fun, memorable lyrics like: “I do my best work and it’s a great place to be. When my engine’s just right, nothing’s stopping me!” With straightforward instructions and supportive songs, this book makes learning self-regulation accessible and enjoyable for everyone.

• 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 Drive songs 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 _____.”