Reviewing what you heard today, describe a moment in your practice when you saw a child in one of the developmental stages. Post your story to the board.

[Meredith Pizzi]

[Jessica Bogacik]

I haven’t done a great deal of work in early childhood, and don’t recall any specific moments, but from the small amount that I have done I can remember pre-school age kids probably in the control phase of musical development, where they would sing with me, matching my tempo, would begin to initiate the songs independently, move around to the music, and they seemed to enjoy imitating and following me musically. I noticed that music was fun for them, and they truly loved the opportunity to play and have fun within the structure of music that was reliable, familiar, and predictable to them. I also have a young nephew who seems like he might be transitioning from the awareness to the trust stage of development, where he is taking everything in and responding to it. He’s making melodic sounds and exploring his voice, and also exploring the sounds that objects around him make.

[Melissa Hentges]

There is a Laurie Berkner song that I enjoy using with children in the Independence stage called “I Know a Chicken”. In this song we use egg shakers to shake in different ways; high, low, fast, slow, loud, quiet, etc. At the end of each verse we freeze and I sing “Ohhhhh” leading into the next chorus where we begin to play our instruments again. I could really see the enjoyment of musical surprises while holding out this “Ohhh” for various durations – sometimes we’d jump right in and sometimes I’d hold it for as long as I could. The students would laugh and laugh and I could see the excitement building to play their instrument again when I finally sang the familiar melody of the chorus.

[Mikhala Majeau]

One of the children I am taking care of is in the trust stage. She enjoys reaching out to grasp the maraca, she will hold it, move it, put it in her mouth, etc. She loves to explore the instrument. She also LOVES play songs. Any song where she is bouncing or moving or “dancing” makes her giggle and play. She and I will imitate each other’s sounds, and its a great deal of fun. She will also vocalize to self-soothe, and does so melodically before falling asleep.

[Amanda Goff]

I haven’t had as much experience with young children as I would like, but I hope after this training I will have the opportunity to work with young children through Sprouting Melodies. I’ve had the opportunity ti work with a group of five year olds in the past who were in the responsibility level. One story that sticks out involves one of my kinder classes that I taught. All of my students were able to keep a steady as a group by patting their knees while singing “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain” at the same time. My students were able to follow my steady beat and were able to speed up and slow down by mirroring what I was doing. It was a lot of fun working with this age group and observing my students within the responsibility level.

[Leigh Ann Walberg]

I had a neat moment in one of my early-childhood classes two weeks ago right after learning about the different developmental stages. Little Joey just turned 4 and seems to be mostly in the Trust stage. He is significantly delayed with a probably diagnosis of autism. Up until this point there had been minimal reaction to music and me and minimal participation, which is the way he is in class generally also. He rarely chooses an instrument, staff will often help him choose, but that day he picked a castanet with the face on it, so when you shake it the mouth opens. After a couple minutes I heard him making a ahhh noise that got louder and softer. We look over and he is opening and closing the mouth of this castanet with his other hand, and as she opens it his AHHHHHHH gets louder, and as he closes it, it gets softer. We all just watched amazed!

[Kristina Rio]

What great stories! I hope everyone is staying warm today!

[Michelle Nettle]

Thus far in my practice, I have had most experience working with children in the Control and Responsibility stage, in which they LOVE and CRAVE sequential songs that have specific directions and expectations such as call and response. One specific intervention that I use is called “The Train Song.” This song has 5 sequential parts that are added one at a time after each verse, much like “She’ll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain.” The song lyrics are as follows:

(chorus)There’s a Train and it rides through the town and the countryside.
Where it goes, nobody knows, but it always ends up here.

The Conductor Says: “All Aboard!” and it always ends up here. (hand to side of mouth)
(repeat chorus)
The Whistle Blows: “Choo Choo!” and it always ends up here. (one arm up and down)
(repeat chorus)
The Engine Goes: “Chugga Chugga!” and it always ends up here. (both arms going back and forth)
(repeat chorus)
The people say: “Jabber Jabber!” and it always ends up here. (fingers pinch together w/ thumb to open and close)
(repeat chorus)
The brakes go: “Screeeech!” and it always ends up here. (hands closed like holding reins on a horse and pull back)
Yes, where it goes, nobody knows, but it always ends up here.

The children love acting out each part and coordinating their movements and words to imitate the sounds and people on the train. You can tell the children feel proud of themselves in their ability to independently do these actions and love the expectation of what comes next and the reciprocal communication between myself, the therapist, and them.

[Natalie Condon]

As I have mentioned I haven’t worked with children in early childhood, but I could 100% relate to these stages when working with children with developmental disabilities. I very strongly recognized the development being both vertical and horizontal and that some individuals may not always be progressing at a vertical rate, but that their own successes are achieving a broader horizontal growth.

Specifically, I remember a certain group of students I would sing “Here Comes The Blue Bird” with. Most were in the Responsibility stage and would be able to go over to a peer and ask them to dance in the circle with them.

Reflecting back on the class, I could see students in various developmental stages in that group and in many groups I did music with. This was in a school setting for children with developmental special needs where there placement in a class was more to do with their age, and while I reflect further it makes me think about the different children I worked with and their different abilities in and out of the music room. A few students in particular were interesting to me because I saw some drastic characteristics that differed in and out of music and these stages helped me put a name on what I was seeing back then.
Just because a child shows signs that they are Independent outside of music does not automatically make them Independent in music… Or on the opposite side, a child may not of shown the signs of being in the stages of Responsibility outside of music, but in music they are cooperating with peers and following directions.

This prompts me to ask: Can a child reach a limited number of markers for one stage, but not all? Would this mean a child could be Independent in self-care, but in a stage of Trust musically?

I apologize as my inquiry isn’t based on early-childhood music therapy, but on developmental stages of adolescence with special needs. This was assuming I could apply these stages to that population.

[Steven Clarke]

I am looking back to my experiences while in practicum. I was able to spend time working in a medical daycare setting with children who also had special needs. Their ages ranged from 8 months to 5 years old. It is interesting to think how the stages covered in the week 3 material could be applied to their different ages and/or developmental levels. Often the groups involved singing a movement song during which each participant was invited to move a certain way for the group to imitate. Their choices of how to move musically as well as which musical movement to use when presented a choice relates to what I have learned from this material about the Control and Independence stages of development.

[Linda Madler]

Two thoughts came to mind. One is a little girl who seems to be hovering between the trust/independence stage. She has been attending for 12 weeks. Initially she did not respond to the greeting song when she was named, then she would pout. She seemed to engage more before Christmas but when we returned from break–the lower lip was out as soon as we sang her name. Finally last week, she smiled a bit. I am very curious to see what she will do tomorrow, especially since we will be in a different environment. Secondly, today I had two children who were clearly in the responsibility stage. They not only modified the lyrics of the song but also demonstrated how it should be accompanied!

[Robyn Rutland-Coleman]

A client in the control stage was very interested in my guitar during our first session, and he really seemed to enjoy strumming it as we sang, as well as holding it himself. During several subsequent interventions he moved to where I had propped up the guitar and told me its name, touching it lightly with one finger. Each time I asked if he would like to play the guitar, or if he wanted me to play it, he firmly said “no”. Following this, he did not walk away from it right away, but would strum it very lightly for just a second, and then move on. Each time this happened, he was exercising his ability to make choices about where to be, what to play, and how to participate in his own way.

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

Thank you to all for your thoughtful answers and meaningful stories. Natalie had a question that I would like to try and answer and then I’d like to speak for a little bit about ‘independence’ and ‘control’.
Natalie asked – Can a child reach a limited number of markers for one stage, but not all? Would this mean a child could be Independent in self-care, but in a stage of Trust musically?
The Musical Levels of Development were created to give MTs an idea about how music skills are naturally developed. It is meant to be a flexible template, and children will often slide between levels or in and out of levels. So, yes, there are many times when you will see skills from more than one level. If you are looking at older children with developmental disabilities, there are often times when they have learned and practiced functional skills, but are missing a number of skills in other areas ( for example, children who are toilet trained but only speak in one word sentences). We can use the Levels to figure out how their musical responses fit into their overall response and work to fill in those parts that are missing musically. I have noticed that for children with ASD, they sometimes exhibit gaps or one or two skills from higher levels musically. These can be equated with ‘splinter skills’ where a child might be able to decode words, but not know their own name. So think of the Levels as just being a series of guideposts, where individual differences are expected.
When thinking about and looking for the levels of independence and control, we also have to be aware of how a child’s disability impacts their actions. If a child is refusing to play an instrument, it might be a developmental step. Or it might be an indication of the disability. Children with cognitive impairments as well as ASD will often exhibit behavior that looks ‘independent’ because it is ‘independent’ from us as adults. However, it might be that the disability is driving the action and the child is not able to exert true independence or control in a mindful, meaningful way because their disability (for example rigidity, confusion, lack of problem solving skills) is forcing them to respond in certain ways. They then struggle to be ‘independent’ of the disability and in ‘control’ of its symptoms in order to make true and full choices.
Does this make sense? Beth

[Kathy Odenkirk]

I currently work with preschool children so some of the moments I thought of were in the control stage. I also see children functioning in the independence and responsibility stages. One of the musical characteristics for the control stage is “imitates movements to music” Just yesterday I watched 2 little boys (both 4) actively and joyfully participate in the movement activity. This was the first time all year where BOTH of them participated for the entire activity. They creatively moved around the room within the directed movements of the song. For example for “gallop” one of the boys decided to gallop across the room – I galloped along for the ride which ended up involving us “buying” something from the store and galloping back across the room. The 2nd little boy also joined us for the trip. Both boys laughed, moved, and smiled…and asked when it was over to “do it again!”
I have also done a lot of activities this year involving creating songs using colors (matching color crayons to the colors on color glockenspiel, for example). Everyone in the group not only gets the chance to play the creations but to create a song of their own to lead the group in playing.

[Lauren Servos]

Sorry for my late response, everyone! This information was very helpful. Many of my patients are infants in the ICU who have been in the hospital since birth, and are in the awareness or trust stage of musical development. I recently worked with a baby boy in the trust stage who was intubated after a surgery, but awake enough to hold onto a shaker and was able to explore the sounds he could make by tapping it onto his bedrails gently as I sang. He also was able to communicate through eye contact how much music he was able to tolerate, and when he was ready to end the session. The music therapy gave him an opportunity to communicate and interact despite being intubated and confined to bed.

[Kayla Hamilton]

I had an experience with a client who is 4 that has a rare neurological disease. When we began treatment, she was in the awareness stage. She would reach towards us and/or instruments during music. She would also attended by turning towards music, accompanied by a change of affect. After a few months of treatment, we saw a sudden transition into the independence stage; I did not notice a transition into or out of the trust stage. She began to imitate us vocally and rhythmically. She also began to produce glissandos and use crescendos in her babbling. I do not work with her directly at this point, but I see her from time to time. Her progress is amazing! She now has music therapy services four days a week!

[Amanda Barnett]

I apologize for the tardiness. I have yet to experience working with younger kiddos enough to have any stories but my clients with developmental disabilities do demonstrate these stages in our weekly sessions. One young man comes to mind in particular. This young man has cerebral palsy and visual impairments. Nonverbal and will sit and clap as long as you allow him to do so. I see this 22 year old to be in the Trust stage of development as he vocalizes about 2:3 provided opportunities in pitches that are very select few pitches. He pays no mind to the lyrics of songs but prefers songs with a very steady and strong beat to which he can rock or clap at whatever rhythm his body feels (sometimes with the best but generally a little faster when excited). He has improved in his ability to independently reach out for instruments to strike them with his hands but demonstrates difficulty when attempting to hold or grasp. One thing I plan to take from this training is the use of active silence to allow him more response time after taking part in an intervention which really catches his attention. It really is hard to allow for silence when you are used to playing or making music throughout sessions.

[Jamie Sacca]

Oh no! I thought my responses had posted, but it seems my iPad is not working the greatest with the website! May have to go back to the chrome book!

My experiences working in early childhood relate a lot to Beth’s response about being in different musical developmental levels simultaneously and displaying those ‘splinter skills’. That is something I talk a lot about in my work at the preschool, as it relates to the skills they are acquiring in other modalities (speech, OT, PT, and Ed). We also use the STAR model in many of our classes and I was equating the different musical levels with those skills presented and expected in each STAR level, from basic functional skills to more play and social skills. One thing I notice often is that there are many of my students who display an awareness of lack of sound/silence, but cannot sound pair or vocalize independently, often displaying ‘lower’ responses of turning their head toward therapist or picking their head up when the music stops, but who will respond to a sung verbal prompt of “ready, set….” With “go” or an approximation during stop/start interventions because this is a learned splinter skill from their Ed and speech sessions.

[Anonymous]

Jamie could you share with us a bit about the “STAR model”?

[Jamie Sacca]

Sure! STAR (strategies for teaching based on autism research)is an education model that my school uses. It is a research based autism education program. Students work in several areas that promote acquisition of skills,ranging from functional skills, to learning routines, and social skills. They progress on different levels until they have reached their max level as appropriate.

Some aspects are: PRT (pivotal response training)- this is a great area to fit MT in. This can work on responding to musical cues, using music and specifically created songs to work on social responses, etc.

DT (discrete trial)- is a one on one time that teachers use to work on functional skills like labeling, speech and language acquisition, and matching.

Functional routines- this is used to help students learn to sequencing of tasks (unpacking their backpacks, going to the bathroom, etc). This is another great area that MT can be paired with. Social stories and prescriptive songs, etc. I actually just wrote a series of functional songs for different parts of the school day intended to be used as part of our school’s positive behavior support system.

The good thing about STAR is that it is all designed to take data. There is a rating scale for each level, and the functional routines can be customized to test for certain skills. This is a great way to compare students acquisition of skills in different settings as well (generalization!).

I have asked the STAR trainers who have come to our school about how musical stimuli should be rated in data taking due to the fact that musical prompts are processed differently in the brain, especially differently than a verbal prompt. The data that is taken is based on level of prompt required for a successful response, but a musical cue would be like a “super prompt”- I am still not sure of their answer on this haha though I have asked several times.

I hope that’s helpful- please let me knowif you have more questions!

[Kristina Rio]

Thanks for sharing this Jamie!

[Anonymous]

Great information Jamie! It sounds like you have integrated music therapy into this system and are providing a great support to the students!

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