Sing and learn some of the songs presented in the video. Share with the board your experiences using these songs.

[Meredith Pizzi]

[Caroline Gillott]

I have used some of these songs in my sessions for several years and most. The one that I most recently used was wiggly jiggle car, but I adapted it for use with street safety with 2 yr old triplets. Basically, it addressed the need to hold hands, to stop and look left and right and left again. I incorporated pauses and tempo changes which the kids found very fun. With triplets however, the organization of it all tended to fall apart. It was just me, the triplets and one parent (AHHH!)When on a walk outside, we’d sing it when coming close to an intersection and when one of the kids broke the “hand train”. It was challenging because there was a lot of external stimulation that distracted the kids while being outside. I introduced the song first in the home. We did the motions to my novel lyrics while walking around the house. Then, we took it outside, but like I said, the distractions (oh!!! look at the fire truck) were too a little much for the kids at the time. I did not treat with this family for very long (maybe like 4 sessions). I believe that if I had more time with them the song would have been more effective and useful.

I most consistently use a song that hasn’t been given to us and I hope it’s okay that I mention it–it’s “Can You Follow”. My kids LOVE LOVE LOVE this song. Again I adapted it, but in a very minor way. They love the heigh-ho part and the love the fact that they get a chance to be a leader. I found this song to be exceptionally valuable for children when building confidence in front of peers. They loved to see their peers do something that they created.

[Elyse Suhay]

I think I knew this a while ago and just forgot about it, but I have been using All of Me for a few months now. I use it with the preschoolers and young elementary students I see. They were having a hard time keeping up with it at first, but they were able to perform it perfectly the third week!

During my internship I worked mainly with intermediate-aged students, so I have found it challenging to work with an individual client I see who is 5 and was recently diagnosed with autism. This may sound odd because I said I LOVE working with the pre-schoolers, but they are half typically developing and the students with special needs primarily have speech delays. I have actually been thinking of this child during this training so far. It has helped remind me of what I should actually be focusing on with him. Developmentally, he is anywhere from awareness to branching into independence. He has a hard time focusing, so getting his attention on the music can be challenging sometimes. He’ll be right in front of me, and I’ll take a breath in to start singing, and he’s across the room before my lungs are full 🙂 However, he loves exploring the resonator bells and can even take turns with me (We each play for a line of a song). I’ve only been working with him for a couple of months, so I have a hard time telling if he’s not interested in the music experiences I’m providing him or if he’s just having trouble focusing and attending. We just moved to a new facility, and that threw him off a bit, so I will definitely try some transition songs and see if that helps him start trusting the new space more quickly.

My “home” is all over Southern Ohio. The traditional music in this area is country, but I have never liked more than a handful of songs from that genre. A couple of weeks ago, I used “Compass” by Lady Antebellum for listening and comprehension, and my students responded better to that than any other song I’ve used in the four months I’ve been working with them. Most of them had heard it before, and all but one said they liked it. A few even sang along, and almost the whole class kept a beat which they haven’t been able to do in the past. I think I’ll use some more country songs with them 🙂

[Meredith Pizzi]

Thanks for sharing your great insights on the songs here! Caroline, I too love “Can You Follow!” That would be a good reason to throw in a conference call so we can teach that song! I believe it will come up later when we go through the age groups, but make sure we don’t forget about that one, because it is such a great song to use!

[Katie Maurer]

I’m not currently working with anyone in early childhood (or any children at all!), but as I was singing through the songs provided this week, I was truly struck by the simple, functional language that is used in them all. I know that is a real focus and could understand it better as I went through the songs.

I was also struck by the repetition. I’m always afraid when writing my own songs that I’m repeating too much, so it was great to see all these songs with lots of repetition. It encourages me that I’m on the right track with my own songwriting and reminds me that repetition really is a way to support the child’s development.

The use of modes and minor keys also stood out. That’s definitely an area in which I have very little experience – writing and singing early childhood songs in anything but major keys. I can see how these songs would be very effective when used as part of a session to avoid everything starting to sound too similar and to keep children engaged and listening.

[Kristina Rio]

Thanks everyone for sharing! @ Katie Maurer, I’m so glad that you found confidence in repetition when writing and singing songs. It’s so important to stress this to parents and caregivers in your sessions as well. Just a simple comment like, “As adults we get bored of songs so much quicker than young children. When you are singing with your child and you start to feel as though you’ve repeated the song enough, do it 3 or 4 more times!” If a child does something new during those 3 or 4 more repetitions, do it one more time!

[Kate St. John]

I enjoyed reading the sheet music and singing along during the video. I love the structure of the songs, with concrete words that the kids can really relate to, and all the wonderful uses of the elements of music such as form, meter, tempo, rhythm, dynamics, melodic contour, etc. A lot of the time with the little ones I sing a capella, usually because I need both my hands to help them with movement or playing an instrument, etc., or to write the data. I don’t usually have the luxury of two therapists in the room where one can play guitar or piano while the other assists the client. I was pleasantly surprised by the dramatic difference in the music in the video when I sang it a capella compared to when the piano accompaniment was present. It was like a whole new song! The chord structure, style and accompaniment completely changed it! I have not yet had an opportunity to incorporate any of these songs with my 1 client who they may be appropriate for.

[Nancy Bair]

Well, I had two perfect little ones to try these songs out on. My twins loved the music! Their favorite was Hold On Tight! I would put each on in my lap at a time (hard at times..!) and we would mimic the motions. I did change the word from “bike” to “horse” since they were on my knee and I thought it would make more sense to them. They LOVED to go around and up and down. Will definitely do that one many times again.

My daughter loved the la-la-la song (I like this song). Again, I changed the ‘la-la’ to ‘da-da’ since she can’t say her “L” sound yet. In no time at all, she was running around the room saying all sorts of musical babble with her “da-da-da.” I tried this one with just my voice and with my voice/guitar. The guitar was a hit because I could vary the speed as well as introduce other accompaniment chords. The first time I introduced it, I only sang with my voice, holding her hands and moving with her.

I could see in a group setting that it could get difficult to recognize and respond/compliment each child on how well they are doing ___. With my two, I was noticing all sorts of things but didn’t want to stop singing to say, ‘good job, etc.’ That would be something I would have to work on and build into my sessions.

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

It is difficult to send that “I know you are doing great!” message to each child in a large group. I try to give each of them the equivalent of a ‘thumbs up’ by changing the timbre of my voice to make it warmer or more celebratory as I look directly at the child. Most kids seem to get this non-verbal code.

[Sarah jane Mason]

I took a CMTE session with Beth at national conference in Illinois 2 years ago, and we learned a few of these songs as well. Wiggly Jiggly Car has been a useful one for me with my 2.5 year old. We live in snowy conditions and it’s often uncomfortable to be confined in his snow suit, jacket, etc AND be strapped in his car seat. I can’t imagine what that must feel like for a child with sensory issues! We have been singing it since he was about 9 months old and now he sings along too. It helped him to understand why we were needing to put the belt on rather than “because I said so!”. Of the songs I just learned, I really enjoyed the percussive feel of I Can Move Around. I tried it with different styles and tempos and liked the flexibility due to the simplicity of the melody. Thank you for categorizing the songs! This will be a wonderful resource for implementing into sessions!

[Cassandra Mulcahy]

My biggest reaction to the songs was the formatting of the categories. I usually include at least one movement, instrument, and fine motor song during my early childhood groups. The categories definitely helped me to place some of my miscellaneous tunes, and will most certainly help inform my session structure in the future. I am excited to use these new tunes in my sessions in the coming weeks!
Also- I have had a difficult time in the past composing songs for this age range. I think that the advise of utilizing ‘functional and meaningful language’ is great advice! It is such a simple concept that I have overlooked in my songwriting with this age range.

[Dany Orozco]

I live in Mexico so I haven’t used these songs, but like Cassandra said, I try to adapt songs in Spanish to make them fit it each category. I don’t have groups yet but I try to have sessions with my nephews to apply what we were learning in this course.

[Jennifer DeBedout]

I am just finishing up a weekly group with 6 3 yr old boys and they loved the Wiggly Jiggly Car (of course!). The parents loved the message about the seat belt. I/We live in Vermont and it’s been a very icy winter so we even substituted “Wiggly Jiggly” with “Slippery Sliding” which got the parents laughing. I feel like I took the idea of integrating a definite “stop” from this song and used that in other songs throughout my practice.
I’m not sure if it is from this week or not but I loved “All of this is Me” and I have used this, again, with many kids in my practice and with my little music group. I like the end where “me me me” repeats several times. So good for kids (ASD) to identify and understand “self” and this song supports that so nicely. I also like that this is in minor and realized in doing the song that I don’t do a lot of songs in minor and should consider doing more.

[Sarah jane Mason]

Nice adaptation, Jennifer! I love that this program provides a base and songs for our consideration, but we aren’t held to them. I also enjoy adapting and changing songs in the moment or for the group and am happy Sprouting Melodies allows for those changes. I know a huge turn off for me with KinderMusik was having to sing all their songs when I liked my songs better!

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