What’s Rufus & Bea?
Rufus & Bea is a universe of songs and stories designed to promote children’s mental health. It started as a simple passion project for our family, and now we’re excited to share it with you. Parenting is hard and we’re all doing the best we can. So we hope these tools may help you support your child(ren) to build the confidence, resilience, empathy and self-love necessary to navigate this fast-moving world.
“It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men (and women).”
- Frederick Douglass
What we believe…
We believe in a world where everyone can experience healthy connection. And this begins with children. It’s essential to provide them with the tools necessary to building a solid foundation for mental health that will shape the trajectory of their lives. There’s a quote that inspires us, commonly attributed to Frederick Douglass…“it’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men (and women).”
What’s all this about mental health?
In recent years mental health has transitioned from a stigmatized topic to a recognized epidemic. However, what has not been as widely discussed is an overwhelming body of research revealing that long term mental health outcomes can be significantly impacted by supporting a child during their first 5-7 years of brain development. During this period of a child’s life, when the brain is most neuroplastic, approximately 85 - 90% of all neuronal connections will be formed, which can help to establish either a steady or fragile foundation for cognitive, emotional and social capacities throughout a person’s life.
In other words, the quality of early caregiving experiences links directly to a child’s later social and emotional development, academic success, and mental health outcomes. Understanding this, a clear goal should be to maximize the likelihood that those early steps of development place all children on trajectories to live their best lives. This is where parents and caregivers have the single greatest impact.
Why songs and stories?
Since the very first bonfires, songs and stories have been some of the most effective tools for sharing information and processing emotions. These timeless mediums have an enchanting way of bypassing barriers and resonating deeply, making them the perfect vessels for conveying complex feelings that children often struggle to express. Music allows children to process and understand feeling and to remember and cement lessons. Similarly, stories provide a captivating approach for introducing characters who navigate challenges in order to learn and grow. Using characters to explore emotions also creates a sense of distance from personal experiences and can make it easier for children to process challenging feelings. When shared by parents and caregivers, these tools have the power to foster deep and healthy connection (for everyone involved).
What about Tiny Prime?
Founded by a folk musician mother (Lisa) and an impact-driven entrepreneur father (Ryan), Tiny Prime is an idea that became a musical duo that is now becoming a purpose-driven team, all dedicated to the mission of fostering positive mental health in children (0-7) and inner children (of all ages) through uplifting and engaging media and tools. We’re starting simple with the launch of our first album and the first book in the series, Rufus & Bea.
You keep mentioning stories. Where are they?
We’re excited to share that the first book of our Rufus & Bea series will be published this Spring. Yay!
Anything Else?
It’s no secret that today we’re living in a period of rapid change, where the fabric of society is being tested and with it the long term health outcomes of children. For us, Rufus and Bea represents just one of many efforts to help tilt the scales back in the direction of healthy connection for all. We are far from perfect parents (let alone people) and this isn’t something we ever planned on doing. But we believe deeply in the higher purpose, so we’re ready to learn, see where this goes, and even more importantly to hear from you about where we might all take it together.
We’d love to hear what if anything resonates, where we might be able to improve things, or anything else that may be relevant to share. And if you like how this all feels, consider joining the adventure, following Rufus & Bea on social, and/or sharing with your family and friends.
What’s Rufus & Bea?
Rufus & Bea is a universe of songs and stories designed to promote children’s mental health. It started as a simple passion project for our family, and now we’re excited to share it with you. Parenting is hard and we’re all doing the best we can. So we hope these tools may help you support your child(ren) to build the confidence, resilience, empathy and self-love necessary to navigate this fast-moving world.
“It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men (and women).”
-Frederick Douglass
What we believe…
We believe in a world where everyone can experience healthy connection. And this begins with children. It’s essential to provide them with the tools necessary to build a solid foundation for mental health that will shape the trajectory of their lives. There’s a quote that inspires us, commonly attributed to Frederick Douglass…“it’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men (and women).”
What’s all this about mental health?
In recent years mental health has transitioned from a stigmatized topic to a recognized epidemic. However, what has not been as widely discussed is an overwhelming body of research revealing that long term mental health outcomes can be significantly impacted by supporting a child during their first 5-7 years of brain development. During this period of a child’s life, when the brain is most neuroplastic, approximately 85 - 90% of all neuronal connections will be formed, which can help to establish either a steady or fragile foundation for cognitive, emotional and social capacities throughout a person’s life.
In other words, the quality of early caregiving experiences links directly to a child’s later social and emotional development, academic success, and mental health outcomes. Understanding this, a clear goal should be to maximize the likelihood that those early steps of development place all children on trajectories to live their best lives. This is where parents and caregivers have the single greatest impact.
Why songs and stories?
Since the very first bonfires, songs and stories have been some of the most effective tools for sharing information and processing emotions. These timeless mediums have an enchanting way of bypassing barriers and resonating deeply, making them the perfect vessels for conveying complex feelings that children often struggle to express. Music allows children to process and understand feeling and to remember and cement lessons. Similarly, stories provide a captivating approach for introducing characters who navigate challenges in order to learn and grow. Using characters to explore emotions also creates a sense of distance from personal experiences and can make it easier for children to process challenging feelings. When shared by parents and caregivers, these tools have the power to foster deep and healthy connection (for everyone involved).
What about Tiny Prime?
Founded by a folk musician mother (Lisa) and an impact-driven entrepreneur father (Ryan), Tiny Prime is an idea that became a musical duo that is now becoming a purpose-driven team, all dedicated to the mission of fostering positive mental health in children (0-7) and inner children (of all ages) through uplifting and engaging media and tools. We’re starting simple with the launch of our first album and the first book in the series, Rufus & Bea.
You keep mentioning stories. Where are they?
We’re excited to share that the first book of our Rufus & Bea series will be published this Spring. Yay!
Anything Else?
It’s no secret that today we’re living in a period of rapid change, where the fabric of society is being tested and with it the long term health outcomes of children. For us, Rufus and Bea represents just one of many efforts to help tilt the scales in the direction of healthy connection for all. We are far from perfect parents (let alone people) and this isn’t something we ever planned on doing. But we believe deeply in the higher purpose, so we’re ready to learn, see where this goes, and even more importantly to hear from you about where we might all take it together.
We’d love to hear what if anything resonates, where we might be able to improve things, or anything else that may be relevant to share. And if you like how this all feels, consider joining the adventure, following Rufus & Bea on social, and/or sharing with your family and friends.
