Share how you can explain to parents the difference between music for development and music for skill building.

[Meredith Pizzi]

[Emily Seymour]

Music for development is music that supports the process of natural growth.  When using music for development it is important to give our little ones exposure to a range of experiences.  For example, we may sing a song about body parts during a session.  We do not sing this song because we expect an infant to have the cognitive skill set of identifying body parts; but rather to give them an awareness of their body.  When using music for skill building, the music therapist must target which skill they would like to work on.  The music therapist then uses music as a tool to target and work on that specific skill.  

[Kristen Macleod]

Emily I really liked your response. I agree. I was also going to say that music for development is more about supporting the child in their developmental process but I think you worded it better. Although using music for development provides skills it is more about supporting the child ,building awareness of themselves and others and allowing them to explore and express these discoveries rather than focusing on one or two specific skill goals. I think your example Emily of identifying body parts is a good one and one that parents would understand. Thanks 🙂

[Anonymous]

Emily and Kristen both put this so well! I also really liked Emily’s body part description. What I would say to parents is pretty much the same as Emily and Kristen: Music to support development focuses on supporting overall growth of the child in all areas of their development. Skill building, however solely looks at targeting (a) specific area(s) that need(s) to be developed.

[Meredith Pizzi]

Just to add to the comments here, with the example of songs about body parts, it is also good to point out how many areas of development we are addressing through the music.  I always like to try to give parents a few ways that we are addressing overall development by addressing how what we are doing impacts overall development and development in specific areas like communication, awareness of self and others, emotional bonding,  etc. so that we can all think broadly about how the music experiences support overall development.  Kristin, I liked your wording here -“music for development is more about supporting the child in their developmental process.” and Emily, I liked your way of including “All areas of Development.”  Great conversation, ladies!

[Lauren Bevilacqua]

I would tell parents that music for development is for the whole child- it’s for happy and healthy development across all levels- not just music. I liked the examples given by Emily. The body parts song is a great example. But I also appreciate Kristin’s description of giving the child the opportunity to express their own discoveries.  We meet the child where they are in their own process and highlight and celebrate what they can do while also empowering the child to discover his/her own potentials. I love that. Music for development is more far reaching than targeting a specific skill through music.
I also think that music for skill building can fit nicely within music for development. They can go hand in hand. Music for development, to me, is the bigger picture and music for skill building can help support that.

[Michelle Muth]

Music for skill building is about teaching someone a specific skill using music as the tool.  This could be learning to sing, play an instrument or something more academic such as learning a language, how to count or the alphabet.  It is about something very specific, a part of the child.

Music for development is more about the whole child and not a specific as a skill.  For instance, a child in the awareness and trust development stage is beginning to learn about the world, learning about the sounds their mouths make.  They babble, they make cooing sounds going up and down, they practice on their own, they listen.  Music can support and help these development stages through singing and music making.  Babies cannot speak immediately they need all of this sound development before any actual language skill can be learned.

 

[Lisa Klostermann]

Music for skill building makes me think of teaching music instrument lessons. I’m teaching you how to play the flute, or the specific skill of singing on pitch perhaps(?).  As you all said before, music for development is about supporting the whole child and giving them opportunities to be exposed to music, explore and learn.  They will likely, in turn, end up learning the skills of keeping a beat and singing in tune (and eventually learning the flute).

[Megan Goddu]

I agree with all that has been said before. I just want to add that music for development has not set timeline. The music for development is supporting the whole child on that child’s own timeline. The music is adapting to best support and enhance that child’s world. Music for skill building focuses just on that…skill building. The goal of the music is to help the child learn that particular skill in a timely fashion that varies with the child.

[Courtney Fanello]

Yes, I completely agree with Michelle and Lauren. Music for development is for the whole child, emotionally, cognitively, socially, etc. Whereas skill building may be something like tying your shoe, or reading a book, or playing the piano:). These are great things and are some of the stepping stones in development, but they are very specific and action oriented.

[Vanessa Talbott]

Music for development as mentioned by others above is about the whole child and the development of each child at their own pace. I love using music in skill development contingently and talking to parents about how much music can be used to reinforce developmental skills like crawling, pulling up, etc. The cause and effect relationship for learning especially with infants and toddlers works so well with music.

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