Share What Most Excites You

I am most excited about providing families with the knowledge about what is developmentally appropriate for their children and sharing ways for them to engage with their children. New parents have little to no training in how to teach new children, and I want to give them ideas and music they can use at home to help the children grow up in a supportive environment. I want to help the children enjoy just being children and feel like they have the space to do so.

I am excited about this programing because it brings families together and shines a new light on the parent, child relationship. Parents now a days are so busy and may not necessarily have the time to embrace their children’s development and rejoice in their accomplishments. Through these groups, families are provided extraordinary way to enhance their relationship. I also think of all the young mothers and teenaged mother who need support and encouragement themselves to understand their children, engage their children and not be afraid. These groups have the potential to provide a fun supportive, non-threatening medium for both the parent and child to make connections, to grow, and grow to together.

It is wonderful to hear all that you have gained from this training and how you plan to use as you move beyond the course.

For me, the most exciting thing is that I learned is a new way of communicating and bonding with my clients and their parents. I am a new music therapist. I haven’t had alot of experience as a professional, and one of the things I felt like I needed to improve upon is recognizing stages of a child’s development, along with communicating that to the parent. Not only that, I feel like I have gained a new way of bonding with my clients.

I think the most exciting thing for me is thinking through all of these wonderful techniques and songs and fitting them to my community’s needs. I expressed in the conference call but community is something so many individuals and families are wanting in the midst of a pandemic. Having the opportunity to provide a warm and safe environment tailored to different individuals, age groups, and abilities is such an honor.

I think the most exciting takeaway from sprouting melodies for me is the strategies and techniques of inclusion of family and caregiver in the process. Having them not just bystanders of the process, but learning skills that they can use for years to come that are practical for them in their home is so wonderful. Like others have stated, being able to provide a safe and engaging music environment that supports the bonding process, especially during the pandemic, is so crucial for development.

The thing I am most excited about as I complete this training is how music therapists can facilitate how to use music through a parent coaching model. It is great that children will have a music group to attend once a week. But what is really fantastic is that they will be able to hear these songs and benefit from music all week through generalization and carryover into the home! I love this model of group work because it emphasizes how we can educate parents on the beneficial effects of the music. I am excited and looking forward to providing parents with this knowledge.