Post to the board a personal reflection

[Meredith Pizzi]

Post to the board a personal reflection of what you personally will bring to early childhood music therapy based programs and how this information will support your work as a music therapist.

[Kimberly Rodgers-Melnick]

As an early childhood music therapist I bring silliness and a child-like spirit to my groups. I always take my shoes off in my groups, I get on the floor with the kids, I jump up and down, make funny sounds and noises and have a lot of genuine fun and excitement doing it that I like to think shines through. Being able to see a child’s behaviors and actions through the lens of development will help me to better understand their needs and motives and craft music interventions that will meet those needs and enhance their development.

[Anonymous]

Hi Kimberly, what wonderful insights into how you can get on the child’s level and see things from the child’s experience. I think this will be a wonderful thing you can point out to the parents and caregivers. Many times they forget to get on the child’s level and meet them where they are. I found many of my Moms in particular felt so much pressure to be a good mom and provide for their child and forget the important part of having fun with their child. It will also be wonderful to point out what you are seeing from your “developmental lens” in the music. Many parents have great fears of their child not developing typically, especially since the regular pediatrician appointments focus on comparing children to developmental charts. They also have difficult times seeing children’s behavior as a part of developmental milestones and part of the process of growing. I find many of my families responded to being shown how they can support and use the music, at home, just as much as I was doing with them in the group.

[Claudia Eliaza]

For a person like me who is not a parent, understanding these milestones that happen at various stages of development is key. This weeks videos and slides helped me to better understand this. It will also help me create more effective musical interventions for my families and kids. As I watched the videos and learned about the birth-3, 3-6mos, 6-9mos, etc, I instinctively began writing songs and creating sort of mock goals and objectives that I might have for some of my classes along. Another thing that I’m looking forward to is proving more education to parents/caretakers about what is happening to the child in music. I find parents are hungry for this kind of knowledge. I have physically seen some parents shrink in posture and in disposition when their child finally gains the independence to freely roam about the room. It’s almost as though some adults use the child as their own personal prop and when that prop gets up and walks (or crawls) away, they’re left feeling uncomfortable and will sometimes even chase down the child out of their own discomfort. But after reading about 24-36 month year olds, I learned that the emotional/social elements of these children really shift and they yearn for a greater sense of independence. This is a great educational moment for parents/character.

[Elana Dietz-Weinstein]

As a parent of an 11 year old boy and a 15 month-old girl, I feel that I am able to take the perspective of both parent and professional in my work as a music therapist. I am living through the early development of my daughter and am able to really relate to the parents on an emotional level, while being able to look through a professional lens to help facilitate the development of the children I work with. The developmental milestones we covered in week 2 were so helpful and will inform my understanding of both the children I work with as well as my baby.

[Mabel Ortiz]

Personally, a quality that I will bring to early childhood music therapy is the gentleness and tenderness that tends to be a characteristic of mine, and that has helped me to “build trust” and bond with the infants and little ones I have worked with previously. Also, as a music therapist, having the quality and have been trained to be compassionate and empathetic, I will bring the necessary empathetic understanding to learn and support parents with the challenges that come with rearing a child; which I have yet to know and experience myself as I have not yet become a parent.

[Carolyn Keenan]

I don’t mean to echo exactly what Mabel said, but my gentle and patient nature has helped me build rapport with this age group thus far! I know I already spoke during the introductions about my experiences as a new parent related to this training, and that comes into play again as I reflect on my work in early childhood music therapy.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for sharing with us. It is always wonderful to see how each participant sees how much they will bring to the families they work with and what they have to offer. In every training it is shared that you do not have to be a parent to be an effective provider to this population. Your training and skills as a music therapist and interest in working with this population are more than enough to support families. And for those that are parents you have the opportunity to draw from your own experience as a parent to support families as well.</p>
<p>Claudia you may also find parents have difficulty letting their children roam because there is a societal “norm” about having “good children” that sit, listen, and follow directions. I found many of my families were embarrassed by the traditional developmental milestones around independence and are fearful of being judged by others that their child has “bad behavior” and they are a not a good parent. It is a wonderful time to point out to them how their child is right where they need to be and it is fine for them to move and explore.

[Laura Pruett]

When working with families, I bring as much assurance, calm and support as I can. I imagine I will be able to do this with early childhood family groups, but I also imagine there is so much joy in these groups. I love being silly with kids, and seeing young children make connections and flourish in a musical setting. I don’t think it would be difficult to make that joy infectious with the families that are also present. And from that joyful place, it would be easy to provide a sense of calm and assurance when care providers have questions about their child’s development.

The fact that young children have an inability or harder time discerning reality from imagination puts hurt feelings into context. This was my most valuable take away this week. I imagined the many tears I have seen in preschool MT groups, and now I am able to see from the kids’ perspectives a little better. They may not be able to understand there wasn’t any malicious attempt behind an interaction with someone else; if they imagine the ill intent, then it feels real to them. This information will help me have more patience and understanding with the kids. It will hopefully help me plan the groups better, to help set the kids up for successful interactions.

[Alison Barrington]

Thank you for all your comments. Reading them has enabled me to consider what I might bring to sessions. I am not such a calm person as some of you are! However, I am someone who can do ‘silly’ with kids and enjoy the laughter that comes into sessions. As an older mom I have appreciated being more confident in my abilities when dealing with kids and I hope that this is something that I can bring to the groups I lead.

[Jen Hinton]

As a Mom of a 5 and 2 year-old, I listened very intently to where my 2-year old is developmentally. I appreciated the reassurance about the range of timing that each person progresses and I know as a parent that’s an important aspect to me. I think providing this educational component to parents is great…I personally have not done a lot of reading…until now ????…since becoming a Mom. I am really eager to review the musical development!

One of the points I remember hearing in week 1 is that as MT-BCs we are trained to incorporate clients in the midst of behaviors, i.e. developmentally appropriate behaviors like moving around-I think that as a facilitator modeling how to handle this while reassuring parents that this is a developmentally appropriate way to participate. I have personally experienced community library groups that were very well run but where children and parents were ultimately asked to step outside if their little one was too mobile. I think that music gives us the structure to manage these challenges.

[Claudia Eliaza]

As a music teacher for babies through pre-K, I bring a level joy and fun to my groups. I encourage a lot of exploration, imagination and creativity into my groups. Now that I have a better grip on these developmental milestones, I feel much more comfortable sharing this information with my parents, teachers, and caregivers.

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