How have you used these four music experiences in your practice?

[Meredith Pizzi]

How have you used these four music experiences in your practice? Have you made any changes in these areas since beginning this course? Post your remarks to the board.

[Ericha Rupp]

In a one-on-one I have incorporated all four sequences equally. In a group setting, I have definitely been playing instruments and using movements. However after really looking at what I do I haven’t been using a lot of singing and listening. I’ll have to admit, until taking this course, I was underestimating the developmental level of the 6-10 months kiddos that I get to work with on a weekly basis. Not only do they have so many things going on in that little noggin of theirs but they are also learning SO MUCH!! It’s so great to be a part of their learning process. After listening to and reading the power point I feel confident enough to be able to incorporate these two sequences in my group sessions. A few changes that I have made is the timbre of my voice. I tend to stay on the dramatic/animated side and realized once I “toned it down” a bit what a different reaction I got. Some kiddos were more interested and engaged in what I had to say. Others became tired and appeared to not have any interest what so ever and literally would get up and remove themselves from the music group and go grab a book off their little book shelf and thumb through some pages. 🙂 Some other changes I have done is added a few more Fast/slow and Loud/quiet songs, adjust them accordingly, to all of my group sessions. After finding out that all of my kiddos (no matter what age) could benefit from these songs at their own rate, I decided to not hold anything back. Musical developmental sequence: singing has been a difficult one for me to adjust. I only get 15 minutes with each group of kiddos and for my younger groups (6-10 mos.) I wish I had more time with them to really allow them to process what I am doing and for them to react. Looking forward to reading all of your responses!
Fyi love Liz’s saying, “Everybody stays and everybody plays”.

[Laura Myers]

I have not been able to use these sequences in my practice yet. I will be doing my best to use them in making music experiences with my little one, until I can begin my own program. Right now I am taking the time to learn the sequences and how they correspond with the developmental milestones of children. I hope that over time I am able to put this new knowledge to use with actual early music programs.

[Lysa Wright]

It’s fun to think of all the experiences I have from my work since I primarily work with children 0-5, all of this really pertains to me! It also makes it hard to pinpoint examples. I use all of these elements on a daily basis, but it has been interesting for me this week to notice more and think about what is happening during me sessions, particularly in the infant rooms. Thinking about playing instruments, I had previously thought that children would only play for short periods of time due to lack of interest in the instruments/what I was doing, but this new info is helping me realize they are still learning and are probably just at a different level with a shorter tolerance for playing with one instrument for a period of time. It has also Been interesting to notice more sounds the babies are making and movement imitations(or their variations of) in response to music!

[Shonda Malik]

I am going to base my response on the work I do with children with special needs including autism, down syndrome and sensory processing disorder. I use singing to develop language. I begin with vocalizing to keyboard improvisations, work towards forming words, then sequencing of words, and then practice answering questions. I use playing instruments to develop motor skills, increase time spent attending to a task, develop impulse control, and work on following of directions. I use moving to provide needed vestibular and proprioceptive input which often helps the child expend energy while developing their sense of self in space and refocus their attention for the rest of the session. I use listening to work on impulse control with stop and start songs and with singable storybooks to work on comprehension skills.

[Ian Crawford]

To be honest, I can’t pinpoint many ways that I’ve incorporated this material into my practice yet. Except that I’ve used more starting/stopping and have attempted to use silence more effectively (I’m not sure if I’ve succeeded with that one). I am feeling significantly more comfortable with some of the younger classrooms I see, though. The 0-2 age group used to terrify me, due to my having basically no experience with little ones, either in my personal or professional life- I’m a youngest child, I have no friends with kids, and had no younger cousins around as a kid 🙁
But after digging more deeply into this material, I feel so much more aware and more perceptive of what is going on developmentally at that age, which makes me feel more confident, which makes me more relaxed, which allows me to have more fun, which leads to better music therapy!

I’m excited to continue applying all of this material to my work!

[Adrienne Salmon]

I definitely do use these four stages in my practice. I do a lot of activities requiring the Responsibility phase of listening, which I learned that I am doing by participating in this course! I also have realized that it’s really hard to pinpoint exact instances when I have used these stages in my practice, but while developing my list, it occurred to me that I go through these stages in my practice literally every session. Now that it is more apparent to me what I have been doing and how, I will definitely be developing my sessions to foster the most amount of growth possible for my clients 🙂

[BJ Waelz]

I am trying to relate more information to my parents, helping them note these little developmental steps. I continue to encourage them to be aware of their child and not be forceful in expect the child to do everything like their peer. Again, I have older children (12 mos – 36 mos) in one class. My goal is to use what I am learning to rebuild my program when we start in January. Also, I do use a lot of starting and stopping in the music, we often get very dramatic about stopping to help the child transition from playing to stopping (holding our sticks up high etc). We do a lot of activities focusing on listening and direction and for my parents of the younger ones I encourage them to allow their child to watch or follow as they are able.

[Anonymous]

It is wonderful to see how you are all able to see how you are using these experiences in your current work and how you can already begin to incorporate the training materials.

[Kristina Rio]

What great clinical awareness and recognition of why you do what you do. That is something we need to remember to share with those who may not know why we do what we do such as staff members, parents, and teachers.

[Author]

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