Share Your Thoughts

[Meredith Pizzi]

Share some thoughts about the challenges of providing multi-age groupings.

[Kerry Cornelius]

The private practice I’m currently working for has rolled out some fall social groups that I’ve been leading. Originally, we hoped to have two groups (ages 3-5 and 6-10), but due to low enrollment, we had to combine all 4 kids into one group. Their ages range from 4-8, which has certainly been a challenge for planning age and developmentally appropriate activities. From this point on, I plan to structure my groups based on the Family Sprouts suggested model this week. It can be really difficult to develop and balance activities in a way that is appealing and engages children of all ages. I have give the older children “leader” roles in the group, and they often help pass out/collect instruments or spend the group as a “buddy” with a younger child. I noticed this was suggested in the module, and I really do find having older children model instrument playing/movements can be a really effective way to work in a multi-age group. I think that it’s important to allow space for children to respond to the music in the way most appropriate for them, and use a lot of improvisation and more unstructured songs like “I Like This Song” in order to provide opportunities for individual responses.

[Katie Bagley]

I have not yet encountered the situation of leading a group with a wide age range, though now understand how difficult it can be to bring developmentally appropriate activities. I have been leading a community music therapy group for children with developmental disabilities, which due to low enrollment, was combined with verbal and nonverbal participants. I believe this is a similar challenge, being presented with varying ability levels and trying to make goals equally challenging yet attainable for all involved. The Family Sprouts model was helpful to see methods in which to do this. I have found that it is possible to use most of the verbal interventions with my group, and modifying them on an individual basis to promote successful experiences for everyone. Those with increased ability levels can also act as models and helpers.

[Stephanie Tassos Wohlsifer]

• Encouraging family members to join in the singing. My experience is that the more familiar and repetitive the song, the more likely “shy” singers will take that first leap into vocalizing. When faced with these situations, I pull out the Old Chestnuts like “You Are My Sunshine,” “This Little Light of Mine,” “My Girl,” “Amazing Grace,” etc … as warm-ups to other music.
• Finding songs that younger kids can engage in but that older kids will not think are too babyish. Actually whether or not this occurs really depends on the individual family’s dynamic. If a family is close and nurturing and spends a lot of recreational time together, older siblings will gladly “dummy down” to engage their younger siblings. It’s seems to be the tweens and teens that are most concerned about maintaining their “coolness” when partaking in an activity they might perceive as being too childish. In my experience with older kids (preteens and teens), what they want to hear and play changes pretty rapidly and it is sometimes a challenge to keep up with their preferred repertoire. My iPod and Blue Tooth boom-box have bailed me out on more than one occasion.

[Katherine Sestrick]

The challenges of multi-age groups involve keeping everyone engaged at the same time, which comes down to selecting the right music. The music has to be stimulating enough for the older children, but simple enough for the younger children. As demonstrated by Beth on the video, it is okay to do a quick more sophisticated version of a song to address the needs of the older children. Since we put out a wider variety of instruments at this level, it is also important to make sure that the children are playing instruments appropriate for their developmental levels. This involves educating the parents on the instruments appropriate for each level. M

[Christina Wensveen]

I agree that keeping children of different ages engaged comes down to music selections. I think for these groups adding in more chords, or accompaniments can assist in making the music more exciting. Keeping the lyrics simple is important for both the kids and parents so they can sing at home. I have also found instrument activities work well with groups who have various ages. Also perhaps letting the older children choose a song and a friend to sing it to, and creating leadership activities for them.

[Kasey Sollenberger]

The way my current groups work out, I feel like we always have multiple ages! Typically, I struggle with finding the happy medium of age appropriate songs but the given examples are great to sing with many different ages. I think the therapist would have to bring a wider range of instruments for some of the instrument exploration songs. Encouraging the older children to help/model for younger children has always been helpful for me to manage these mixed age groups. I think considering the musical choices may be a challenge.

[Kathryn Costanza]

Multi-age groupings pose many challenges, including music preferences, abilities, what counts as active participation, and appropriate social interaction in a structured environment. For Sprouting Melodies, the distinct developmental abilities and difference in abilities for each individual child appear to be the greatest challenge. I’ve worked with many adult DD groups where ability level varies significantly and have found that pockets of individual interaction interspersed throughout the session can help make sure that lower functioning (or in the case of Sprouting Melodies, younger) participants aren’t left out without losing the attention and engagement level of the higher functioning (older) participants. Keeping everyone’s attention focused and engaged in the structure you are trying to maintain can be a unique challenge with children anyway, so I’ve found that minimizing transition times, having more capable peers act as “helpers” during parts of the session, and using the tools of our medium (music) to capture attention before we lose it using sudden silences, ritardando, glissando, sudden changes in timbre, are all helpful ways to maintain attention over longer periods of time.

[Nicole Sanabria]

Keeping the children engaged when working with multi-age groupings. Developmentally some may be on the same page, while others may not be. What I keep in mind are the experiences that I can provide as a music therapist. Three children may be engaged by playing musical instruments, while some others need to move around. By using a variety of tempos, dynamics, and rhythmic structures, it may help focus attention and level of engagement. At any rate, supporting the fact that everyone in the group, works as a group, and no one is left out. So by providing roles as a helper to pass instruments out, or collect instruments, I have found engages the children since they all want to do an important job. Perhaps giving the children a choice of what the group should do next (clap hands, make an animal noise, play soft/loud) in a structured and predictable manner also assists with engagement.

[Jonni Fogerty]

One challenge with multiple ages in one group is of course that children are at different developmental stages. Because of this, the music needs to be selected carefully in order to engage older kids but not overwhelm younger ones. Additionally, the environment in which the class takes place needs to be safe for younger children. This includes making sure that the experiences planned do not promote instances where older children may knock younger children down as well as making sure that instruments in the room are safe for younger children.

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