Share some of your experiences with children of this age and level.

[Meredith Pizzi]

[Jessica Bogacik]

My favorite thing about children of this age is their awareness and watching them just absorbing every piece of sensory input that comes their way. They just watch and listen and take it all in, and it’s amazing to see their wheels turning as they start to learn and figure things out on their own!

[Leigh Ann Walberg]

I have not worked professionally with this young of child. I have a daughter of my own, so did go through it with her and really enjoyed this stage, to see that blossoming awareness was fun.

[Melissa Hentges]

Most of my young students are in the 6-12 month range, but sometimes I’ll have a student who is younger than 6 months. It is fun to see how quickly they start to recognize the repeated aspects of our music classes and start to anticipate their role in those activities. It always makes me smile when I enter an infant classroom and my students crawl over to our music spot and start patting their knees! It shows how connected children in this age group are to music and how much joy they get from it. To me it is obvious, when creating music with infants, to see how being human and creating music are a natural pairing. They are simply experiencing the music in whatever way they can!

[Natalie Condon]

I haven’t worked with children of this age professionally and because of this Sprouting Melodies class I have come to realize just how little experience I have with this age group. I have decided to start volunteering as a “play partner” with a nearby daycare for homeless families with children ages 0-6. I thought it would be a great way for me to learn more about children is this age bracket while also contributing some of my time to a good cause. Hopefully, after a few months I will have more knowledge and a better understanding through hands-on experience to support the knowledge I have learnt in this course.

[Michelle Nettle]

I have not professionally worked with children of this age yet, but I had the opportunity to spend several weeks visiting with my sister when my niece was only 3 months old. I was able o experience both how my sister felt (tired, and a bit overwhelmed) and how very dependent my baby niece was for EVERYTHING! These two weeks I spent with them really gave me a good understanding of how important it is to support the parents as they are going through this very difficult time adjusting to being a parent, hardly getting any sleep, and having to care for a child that at this stage is COMPLETELY dependent on their caregiver to meet all their needs. And at the same time, it showed me how important this “bonding” period is for both the infant and their parent/caregiver. I was also able to experience the complete and utter “wonder” that my baby niece demonstrated with her eyes wide open, taking everything in, responding to sounds, sights, cuddles, and all the people and things she was introduced to each day. This age period of 0-6 months is truly a unique, challenging, and wondrous experience for both baby and caregiver!

[Amanda Goff]

As a Music Therapist I do not have a great deal of experience with this age level, but this age level is at a point where they are learning things for the first time. This age group can be very curious and it is important to encourage that and to allow them to explore. As mentioned in previous power points, let them have fun!!!

[Mikhala Majeau]

Natalie, that sounds like a wonderful experience! I think you’ll really enjoy it!
I also do not have music therapy experience with this age level, however, I have a decent amount of experience through child care work. I love this age and level. I love the way you can bond with an infant just by supporting him or her. One of the children I currently care was around 4 months old when I began. I think the most wonderful thing about this time is how much the child grows and changes. I watched her go from an infant who was content to be held or bounced or laid on the ground, to an infant on the go! I agree with Michelle regarding how important bonding is with this age group. It is definitely an important developmental stage for bonding and exploration.

[Kristina Rio]

Natalie, what a great opportunity!

[Steven Clarke]

While in practicum I had the opportunity to observe a music therapist working at Boston Children’s Hospital in the Neonatal intensive care unit. The hospital setting was much different then what we are learning to facilitate through this Sprouting Melodies training program which is community based. There were also some similarities. Music was used as a means to help orient the babies to the environment and the presence of their caregivers, as the machinery and medical equipment was very overwhelming. The music was provided very gently and complemented opportunities for caregivers to give soothing tactile stimulation while bonding with there child. It also facilitated opportunities for transitions between PT, OT and other treatments. The nurses and other caregivers new the music therapist well, and would use some of her songs they learned outside of sessions.

[Robyn Rutland-Coleman]

My primary experiences with children of this age and level are as a mom. My sons are 10 and 6 1/2 now, but in watching this week’s videos I was reminded of how different babies of this (and all!) age can be, within a framework of developmentally typical behaviors. I think this is a combination of temperament, birth order, and the parents’ differing interactions/responses to their children. That’s why I think Sprouting Melodies can be such an important resource for parents, to be exposed to the fact that babies are different and that a variety of responses are “okay”. I wholeheartedly agree with Meredith and Elizabeth’s remarks about the difficulty of getting out of the house with a young baby! It’s a tough, but wonderful time in a parent’s journey, and I was amazed at how much growth of all types takes place during this time frame.

I was a babysitter for many years prior to having kids myself, and after I was already a mom, I taught Music Together classes that included this age grouping.

[Kayla Hamilton]

I have not have clinical experience with children of this age group, but I have always been around young children. I remember when my Godson was in this age range. I loved seeing his reactions to environment. He was so enthralled by environmental stimuli. When children are this age, they are like sponges. They are aware of so many things and have such unique reactions to the environment. Also, seeing their developmental changes is very interesting.

[Jamie Sacca]

In one of my duties at work, I do a group for a daycare room at the integrated preschool site. I work with 2-4 infants between the ages of 2 months up to 1.5 years, in the same room, and I often struggle to engage them all effectively, though they all respond positively to what I do. I find myself basically doing 2 things simultaneously, for the 2 different age groups.

Personally, I have an 8 month old nephew that I adore. I am always singing to him and using my voice playfully with him, and he loves it. We’re best buds. Also, I will be a new mommy myself come this August 🙂 so I am finding this particularly engaging (as is my husband, who listened in and has been reading baby books because he hasn’t been around children all that often!)

[Anonymous]

Congratulations Jamie! I think you will find this training so helpful as you become a parent as well. I was pregnant with my daughter when I took the training and gave birth a few months before offering my first Sprouting Melodies classes. I’ve truly enjoyed watching my daughter and my Sprouting Melodies’ families grow.

[Lauren Servos]

Great to read all of your posts! Congrats on your pregnancy, Jamie! I have had a lot of experience with this age group professionally, both when I taught Kindermusik and through my current work as a MT-BC in a hospital setting. However, all I could think about during this week’s training was my daughter, who is almost 10 months old. I still feel like she’s my little baby, but there’s no way she would sit through a Sprouting Melodies 1 class! She is all over the place and super independent. I remember what it was like to be a mom of a 0-6 month old, though, and I would have really benefited from a class like this. I almost feel like the level 1 classes are more for the parents than the babies. The emotions from new parenthood are overwhelming, and I don’t think any parents feel like they know what they’re doing. Parents need reassurance, guidance, and love. At the hospital I work with infants to decrease pain, increase positive social engagement, decrease agitation, and promote tolerance to stimuli, but when parents are present my main goal is to empower and support them. I can only be there for the patient a brief time, but the parents will always be there!

[Kathy Odenkirk]

I spent several years working with the Early Head Start program. This program is for newborns through age 3. After doing the preschool Head Start program (music therapy) I was asked to expand into the Early Head Start Program. The sessions were just with the children though as they took place during daycare hours. It was a fun way to end my work week!

[Amanda Barnett]

The only experience I have with children of this age is with my beautiful daughter who just turned 1 last week. Observing her grow has been an amazing experience & she never ceases to amaze me. When she was in the younger stages it was amazing watching her learn to be observant, learning to turn her head to sounds & so she could see, finding her voice, her first laugh when tickled. Each & every tiny thing that she figured out was like she had just finished a marathon & we couldn’t be more excited. As a parent I know how amazing it feels to witness your child go through these beginning stages as well as how precious bonding time is, how exhausting & emotional the first few months are and how much support you want-at times it can feel like there is never enough, even if you have an incredible support system of family & friends. I can honestly say that I would have loved to have some type of bonding class, and still would, as it becomes hard to find bonding time when you feel like you have to get everything done around the house after work and don’t leave yourself time to just sit and enjoy your beautiful child.

[Linda Madler]

I do not have a baby class currently so most of my experience with the SM age group is with my own children and a host of nieces and nephews. As a young parent, I sang to my children constantly but remember running out of repertoire while trying to put them down for the night. I made up songs for the changing table, for bath time, riding in the car, and it really seemed to help with transitions. As a professional, I marvel at how responsive babies are to music. It is very useful to know that an infant may startle to sudden changes in music. I will definitely keep this in mind.

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