A preschool teacher is helping a lot of parents by creating shows online that educate children with development delays.
Rachel Griffin Accurso, also known as Ms. Rachel, is now a popular digital creator with over a billion of views on YouTube.
A lot of children who watch her online see her as a rock star as she teaches them things in a fun and cheerful way.
Her passion for teaching has always been there but she found the purpose of her videos when she was looking for developmentally-appropriate shows for her son.
Rachel’s son has development delays so she wanted him to watch videos that match his abilities.
“His first word was at 2 years and 8 months and that was ‘mama’,” she said. “I have waited for that for so long and as a parent, you want to do anything to help them.”
Rachel kept looking for shows that cater to children with developmental delays but she had no luck.
Sad and disappointed, she decided to create the shows herself and make good use of her teaching skills.
With the help of her husband Aron who is a Broadway composer, they started to create videos that are both fun and educational for kids who have developmental delays.
On her YouTube channel called “Songs for Littles,” Rachel posts videos that are fun and interesting for babies and toddlers.
Through music and sign language, she gets their attention and teaches them certain things in each video.
A lot of her videos are focused on helping the children learn how to talk, sing and recognize different objects and animals.
They also encourage motor skills such as clapping, jumping, hopping, and running.
Rachel’s videos are jam-packed with nursery rhymes and fun songs for little children. Apparently, it was easier for them to create such beautiful music shows as they are both musically inclined.
“Ms. Rachel” herself is an award-winning song writer, singer, and music teacher. While Rachel hosts the shows, Aron writes and arrange the music and skits and also appears in the videos, being silly and performing with puppets.
They are joined with other team members who are also great singers and educators.
Rachel does not only make sure her videos are fun and interesting but also purposeful. She wanted to help as many children and parents as possible.
She does this by doing close-ups of her face when introducing new words so the children will clearly see how she says the words with her mouth.
She also pauses to wait for her viewers’ response after she asks a question. These little things will help children with speech delay learn new words without any pressure.
She explains that a lot of things she teaches on her videos are things she wishes she had known for her son.
“What always comes back to that for me is that it’s good for children and I am helping because that’s my calling and passion,” said Rachel.
If children see Rachel as a rock star, she is definitely a hero for their parents. A lot of them share their experiences on social media and how Rachel has helped their children surpassed different developmental hurdles.
They said that they saw a lot of developmental changes on their children after watching a series of Rachel’s YouTube videos.
“I noticed a huge boost in my toddlers’ vocabulary after making the signing and language episodes part of our weekly routine. She also started signing a lot more to communicate her wants and needs with us,” one of the parents wrote.
Despite the wealth and fame that Ms. Rachel gains from her videos, she remains grounded and intentional.
For her, the most important thing is that she is able to help many children and touch their lives in her own, amazing ways.
Watch this video and see how Ms. Rachel turned from a preschool teacher to a YouTube star: