Introductions

[Meredith Pizzi]

Introduce yourself to the group. Tell us about your professional experiences and what motivated you to take this course. Be sure to include where you live, if you are already doing work in early childhood and how you would like to make this information part of your practice.

[Kristina Rio]

Hello everyone! My name is Kristina Barbo. I live in Melrose MA. I graduated from Anna Maria College, and I currently work at Roman Music Therapy Services(RMTS) with Meredith Pizzi as a music therapist, Sprouting Melodies Provider, and practicum student supervisor. I have been a Sprouting Melodies Provider for just under two years. I participated in the live training in NY with Beth and Meredith in June of 2012, and completed the online training in November of 2012 after I became a board certified music therapist. My online training experience was unique as I had already started to lead SM groups of my own, which was very helpful as a refresher, and gave me the opportunity to absorb the information in a more applicable way. I will be present during this entire online training course as a moderator like Erika Svolos to be another resource for you throughout your experience. I am here to respond to any questions you may have and offer my support as best I can, so please feel free to contact me here on the forum! You can also contact me by email with any specific questions you may have at kristina@romanmusictherapy.com. I look forward to getting to know all of you over the next several weeks!

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

Welcome! We are so excited to begin this journey into early childhood music and early childhood music therapy with you. My name is Elizabeth Schwartz, but most people call me Beth. For the past 25 years I have worked with very young children through Alternatives for Children on Long Island, New York. AFC provides comprehensive services for children with special needs, children at risk, families, early intervention and typical children. I also teach music therapy at Molloy College which is here on Long Island. Meredith and I founded Raising Harmony early in 2012 because we were so passionate about sharing our work with young children and families. I am lucky enough to have been able to put many of my ideas and music down on paper and in cyberspace. Please take a look at the blogs I write for the Raising Harmony and Sprouting Melodies web pages when you get a moment.

I am also the mother of three grown children, and so have lots of personal knowledge of the ups and downs, joys and challenges of young kids.

I look forward to getting to know all of you. Please feel free to email me, or any of us here at Raising Harmony, with questions or suggestions.

Beth

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone. My name is Erika Svolos. I am the online moderator for this training. I live in New Jersey with my husband, my 6- month old daughter, and four cats. It is a joy to be apart of this fantastic program and to join in your Sprouting Melodies journey. I am a graduate of Marywood University and have been a music therapist in New Jersey for the past 14 years. Over that time I have worked in a variety of settings including in-patient child/adolescent psychiatry, a private clinic for autism, a large urban public school, private practice, and a private special education high school for individual’s with emotional and behavioral disorders. I recently started my own business/private practice; Music Therapy Services of New Jersey, LLC. I completed the April 2013 Sprouting Melodies training and I am very excited to add Sprouting Melodies to my practice. I just started offering my first Sprouting Melodies classes this past January and I am truly enjoying working with my SM families.

I will be assisting with any questions and/or technical difficulties and can be reached via email at erika.svolos@gmail.com or by phone (973) 590-8609.

[Sarah Gagnon]

Hi,
My name is Sarah Gagnon and I’ve been MT-BC since fall 2004. I’m a graduate of Loyola University, New Orleans and BIMC, NYC internship. I plan on attending Radford University this fall as a full time graduate student. My clinical supervisor, Dr. Kathy Murphy suggested I buy your book Beth! I’m super busy trying to get ready and transition my life and clients. Currently took a pt position with South Shore ARC as a music therapist. I love it and want to learn everything I can about EI. Am working to advocate about MT and want to do so with the very best information available.

Had some technical difficulties last night but I’m here today!

I have worked closely with MCS and PVS clients for the last 5 years.

My number is: 508-369-1730

Looking forward to talking to you all!
Warmly,
Sarah G.

[Kasey Sollenberger]

Hello! My name is Kasey Sollenberger and I am ALSO a graduate of Loyola University, New Orleans (small MT world!). I finished my internship (Harris County Dept. of Education in Houston, TX) and graduated in 2011 and started my private practice in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Currently I have contracts with a few public school districts, a sensory play center, and private in-home clients. I was motivated to take this course for a few reasons. I have always worked with school age children but am interested in gaining more knowledge about MT and development with babies and toddlers. I am also greatly motivated by the community aspect of the program. As you can imagine, Dallas/Fort Worth is gigantic and I find the concept of having such a large community overwhelming! We also have a large population of MT’s here. I am moving to a smaller city nearby and am so eager to be a part of the community there and really have the opportunity to create a community of young families through music therapy. And of course some new material will be nice! 🙂 So happy to be here and look forward to learning with and from you all!

[Lauren Roberts]

Hello! My name is Lauren Roberts and I live in Atlanta, Ga. I have both a bachelor and master of music education, and just finished my master of music therapy in October at Georgia College. I have been teaching private piano lessons for over 10 years, and am just now starting to get my feet wet with music therapy clients. Right now I have only one contract with a small private school in the area for children on the autism spectrum, and provide services for their lower school (ages 7-12). They’re all really quite high functioning, and so even that has turned into a music education class half the time! I’m really just now getting my business established and would love to offer early childhood services for at least two reasons: 1)I just simply and absolutely love early childhood, and 2)I want to be able to maximize my time by being able to offer group sessions in addition to individual private lessons or therapy sessions.

I first became interested in the early childhood population during my undergraduate music education work. My on-campus job as a freshman was working in the Kindermusik program offered through the music department. Since I wasn’t a trained Kindermusik provider I was really just working the CD player and passing out/collecting instruments, but I absolutely fell in love with it. And then, ever since I began my music therapy studies, I knew that I wanted to offer early childhood services as part of my future private practice. I only recently heard about Sprouting Melodies, however, through another amazing CMTE opportunity on Kat Fulton’s site, MusicTherapyEd.com, in the new course moderated by Darcy Lipscomb, Zero to Full Time: Clinic Spaces, for which they visited Roman Music Therapy Services and interviewed Meredith! (Whew, that was a mouthful!) Then as I got deeper into the course and figured out Connecticut Music Therapy Services also offers Sprouting Melodies, I went, “wait a minute!” Did my research, found out that it’s an early childhood music program through Raising Harmony, but even better than others already out there because it’s by music therapists and for music therapists, and I can be a provider! I think I found out about it around the 18th or so, only to see this training was starting in a few days, signed up immediately, and here I am!

[Meredith Pizzi]

I’m thrilled to be on this online course with all of you! I am Meredith Pizzi, proud to be a Board Certified Music Therapist and excited to see all of you joining us for this online Sprouting Melodies Training. Here we are about to embark on a 10 week journey together and I am sure we are all going to learn a lot together.

I am a graduate of Duquesne University’s Music Therapy Program and I had the joy and honor of working with Beth Schwartz as my internship supervisor. I learned so much from her in my internship and really developed a love for working in early childhood. After my internship, I had a very successful private practice on Long Island, NY before moving to Boston in 2006. Once settled into Boston, I founded Roman Music Therapy Services, and in 2009 Sprouting Melodies was born! Since 2009, we have seen our revenues at Roman Music Therapy Services skyrocket, and a lot of that has to do with the growth of Sprouting Melodies and how well it has been received in our community. In fact this summer we will throw a 5th Birthday Party for Sprouting Melodies

What brings me here is the desire to share with others what I have learned about early childhood and music making. And with all of the effort that has gone into growing Sprouting Melodies, I want to give other music therapists the opportunity to now make it part of their practices. I’ve learned so much, and the branding and program development is done! I just want to get it out there to music therapists and families all around the country! I have to say it is so thrilling to see the number of programs around the country growing and one of my biggest goals was met! My younger sister just gave birth to a little baby boy last week in Mesa, AZ and she will be able bring her little boy to Sprouting Melodies. That for me is a dream come true! So what brings you here??

[Bernadette Skodack]

Hi everyone! My name is Bernadette Skodack. I have a bachelors in music from Furman University, a bachelors in music therapy from Eastern Michigan, and I will be starting my masters in music therapy this fall at Western Michigan! I completed my internship in the Lincoln Park Public Schools outside of Detroit and have been board certified since December 2010. I currently live in Ann Arbor, Michigan and work at a facility for people who have suffered a traumatic brain injury. Only adults over 18 reside at the facility, so I haven’t gotten to do too much work with children since my internship.

I learned about Sprouting Melodies at the 2013 AMTA conference and wanted to find out more. I do miss working with kids and definitely want to get back working with them. This is the perfect time for me to get involved I feel: going part time at work for grad school would allow me to start a Sprouting Melodies group, and there are ways that I could incorporate Sprouting Melodies within my current workplace. We are starting to see some returning Vets at my facility, plus we are paring with the DNR to start a camp for returning Veterans and their families. What better way to re-integrate and form family bonds than with music!

[Brandy Jenkins]

Hi. I am fairly new to the profession, having been certified since August 2013. I interned at Children’s Medical Center Dallas and am finishing graduate work from TWU (only have a professional paper left to do!). I plan on seeking a second masters in speech pathology. I was working in the ISD’s until recently when I relocated to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. I am surprised to find so much interest here and feel this program will benefit me in my private practice as well as with a non profit school for special needs where I will be providing music therapy to those aged up to 6 in groups. I heard about this program through facebook and am extremely excited and thankful for the resources.

[Katherine Sestrick]

Hi, my name is Kate Sestrick. I have my Bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy and Music Education from Nazareth College of Rochester and a Master’s in Early Childhood Education from SUNY Geneseo. I recently moved to Downingtown, PA (near Philly) after having lived in Hanover, PA for 9 1/2 years. I have been providing Special Instruction through PA’s early intervention system for the past 9 years and before that I taught music and practiced music therapy at a public elementary school in the Finger Lakes region of New York State for 5 years. I am hoping to get materials and information to use with families in my early intervention work and would also appreciate more tools for advocating for music therapy in early intervention. I am also open to the idea of starting my own Sprouting Melodies program, now that I live in a more metropolitan area. Looking forward to working with all of you!

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

What an exciting and diverse group of music therapists! It is great to hear about all the different paths that have led you to early childhood music therapy and this course. I encourage you to share with each other on this forum. Post each week. Check back often for other postings and always let us know if you have further questions or comments. See you soon! Beth

[Kristen Crouch]

Hi everyone! So excited about this training! I am currently living in West Palm Beach, FL but my journey started in MA. Before being a music therapist I was a music educator (general music ed in Pembroke, MA) and completed a Master of Education from Endicott College. I pursued a Masters in Music Therapy at Florida State after seeing how children with Autism responded to music. I started practicing as a MT in 2007 and in 2009 formed my private practice, Rhythms For Living, LLC. My focus has been on early childhood and autism/special needs. We provide services in Palm Beach and Broward County and I have 4 independent contractors serving families in our communities.

My reason for being here is three fold. 1) As a music therapist and educator I’m always looking to continue my education especially in my niche. 2) I’m looking for ways to offer more services to more clients and think that Sprouting Melodies is such a great program – I want to offer this to our community. Plus, family/child groups has been an important part of the services we offer. 3) I have a new baby (my first) and so I’m watching him grow and develop and am using music in his everyday life. I think this curriculum has come along at the perfect time.

Thanks!

[Meredith Pizzi]

I am really looking forward to all of the stimulating conversations we are going to have on this forum. Thank you to each of you for being a part of this course!

[Kristina Rio]

So great to hear from everyone! @Kristen- Congratulations, what an exciting time to be taking this course. You will learn so much about making music with your little one! I think one of the things that scared me when I did this training was that I was not a mom. After the training, and the experience I have gained as a Sprouting Melodies Provider, I can say that the confidence really falls into place and you CAN be the expert in early childhood development even if you are not a parent yourself. I’m so excited for the discussions that are to come!

[Amy Dunlap]

Hello all. I am Amy Dunlap and am looking forward to getting to know all of you a little better as we take this training together! I got my music therapy degree from Ohio University in Athens, OH and completed my internship at MusicWorx Inc. in San Diego, CA. I have been board certified since November 2013 and will be returning to Athens in the fall to start my master’s in music therapy. I currently live in Columbus, OH and work for Central Ohio Music Therapy, LLC (COMT) with four other MT-BC’s from Ohio U. As a contractual employee, I travel throughout the greater Columbus area and work with older adults, hospice, adults with developmental disabilities, and few children with developmental disabilities.

I heard about Sprouting Melodies training because my boss, Erin Spring, and another COMT employee, Elyse Suhay, are both Sprouting Melodies providers and Elyse is about to start her first YMCA group in rural southeast Ohio! We were recently contracted by Nationwide Children’s Hospital here in Columbus to co-treat with SLP’s in providing an outpatient program for infants awaiting cochlear implants. Since I don’t have a lot of experience with early childhood, Erin thought it would be a good idea for me to complete the training, as she also has plans for COMT to offer Sprouting Melodies classes in Columbus. I’m looking forward to what lies ahead in this training!

[Lauren Caso]

Hello! My name is Lauren, and I am a board certified music therapist from the North Shore of Boston. I graduated from Berklee College of music in 2002, and currently work at Roman Music Therapy Services as a Music Therapist. I also teach music both privately and in public schools. I am working with several early childhood classes this year, and want to learn more about the Sprouting Melodies framework. I previously ran therapeutic music groups for ages 0 to 3 at the Children’s Museum in Boston, and would love to learn more techniques with this population! 🙂

[Ann Dardis]

Hey, my gravatar worked! How wonderful. Now to tell you a bit about myself…

My name is Ann Dardis and I live in rural Minnesota, about one hour SE of Fargo, ND in a small town (about 2000 people) called Perham. I have a BA in Music – Vocal Performance and and M.Ed. in Music Therapy from the University of Minnesota. I received my MT-BC about 9 years ago, but have been working in the field of music therapy/activities with elderly adults for nearly 20 years.

My interest in early childhood music really began with the birth of my daughter 4 years ago. When she was born I gave up my music therapy position at the local nursing home and began to work for my church as the music coordinator. It allowed me to bring my daughter to work with me rather than needing to place her in daycare. Last fall, I began offering Making Music Praying Twice Early Childhood Music Education classes at the parish. I attended at Making Music Praying Twice training course last summer that was comparable to trying to take a drink from a fire hydrant for me. I was totally overwhelmed with the amount of information and my total lack of experience in working with young children.

I am eager to learn more about early childhood music development in general and to pick up some tips for keeping the children’s interest during sessions. Also, I’d love to know how to get the parents more involved in making music. Many of my mom’s don’t consider themselves musical and so rarely sing along.

Enough for now. I’m looking forward to getting to know all of you over the next couple months.

[Caitlin Kauffman]

Hi everyone! I am a little behind on posting my introduction, but I am here!! My name is Caitlin Kauffman, and I am currently living in the Dayton, Ohio area. I completed my undergraduate studies at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, and have a masters degree in clinical mental health counseling from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. I am also a Licensed Professional Counselor. I moved to Dayton a little over 3 years ago to work at Hospice of Dayton, and was there until this past January when I lost my job due to budget cuts. My husband recently accepted a teaching position for next year in North Carolina, and we are looking forward to returning closer to my hometown!

I learned about this course through a friend and colleague of mine who has previously completed the training to become a Sprouting Melodies Provider. She owns a private practice in central Ohio and is now planning to expand her business endeavors to include North Carolina! Lucky for me, she encouraged me to take this course so that I will be able to provide services once I relocate. I have always, always, always LOVED being with, and working with, children of all ages. I always joke that I am great with the “really little ones” and the “really old ones.” (ha!) With 3 years of hospice experience, I am very interested in expanding my skill set and learning new music that will make me a better provider (and more marketable) with additional tools in my back pocket. This program sounds amazing and I am so excited for what is to come!

[Barb Blackburn]

Hello Everyone! I just joined this training a few days ago (a little late, but I’m here!) I currently live in Castle Rock, Colorado with my husband and our cat and dog. I got my bachelors degree in music therapy from Eastern Michigan University, and I then completed my internship at The Maryland School for the Blind in 2010. I became board-certified just a few weeks later in 2010. I also received my Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) Certification in 2012. I started my masters degree at Colorado State University in 2012 but had to put it on hold for a little while, 2013 was an extremely busy year! I am currently getting the ball rolling to jump back into CSU’s masters program in January.
My first music therapy job was in Valparaiso, IN at Behavior Specialists of Indiana. I worked there for a year before moving to Colorado. I met my husband in Valparaiso, and we moved out here for a schooling opportunity for him. Once we moved out here I started my own private practice, Front Range Music Therapy. Owning a private practice made me realize that I am not a business woman! But, the company that I was contracting with before closing my practice to pursue other opportunities got in contact with me almost two years later to offer me a full time music therapy position!
The company that I currently work for (and contracted with) is a small private practice, NeuroRhythm Music Therapy Services. My supervisor took this online training the last time it was offered and told me that it was absolutely amazing and she wanted our company to offer these services. So, now here I am! I am very excited to learn more about early childhood, I have worked mostly with adults (and children now) with development disabilities. Although I don’t have children myself, yet, I was a nanny for almost two years. I got to experience birth through three years of age as the two children grew up. I would often bring my guitar, keyboard, and drums to their house for special treats. It was so fun, I am greatly looking forward to this training!

[Anonymous]

Welcome Barb! Great to have you here!

[Author]

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