Takeaways from the Course

[Julie Palmieri]

What are your key takeaways from this course?

How has this learning changed your perspective on development, your approach to the work, or the way you use music in your sessions?

How will you share this information with colleagues, administrators and families?

[Elmira Abasova]

My takeaways are:

The course gave me new theoretical knowledge. I learned in depth about early child development: the stages, types of development, and working strategies.

I expanded my repertoire to new song categories – lap ride, gathering, and embedded songs. Also, I got ideas of how to makeover my old songs to make them more functional for children.

From the videos and the group chat, I got ideas of how to explain our goals and developmental milestones to parents.

Finally, this course gave me some confidence that is very needed now.

I will continue my advocacy for music therapy in general and music therapy for early development. I plan to share the knowledge I acquired during the course with others, including families, university students, and everyone interested in music therapy. My first advocacy project will be presented at an international conference for education services providers next week.

[Amy Calderon]

Congratulations on presenting at an international conference! I hope it went well!

[Kate Jihye Choi]

First, I was able to share musical development pieces with my director and others at the Early Intervention fundraiser event. A lot of people came with various experiences, and I was able to share about musical development alongside child development. Many people were fascinated by how Music therapists use music differently according to their developmental stage. Likewise, this course gave the foundation for musical development in early childhood. Now, I think about their chronological age, physical and cognitive age, and musical developmental stage before I meet any kids. Every clinical choice I make is more intentional now because kids always respond to music even though it is not how we expected.

The most important takeaway for me is how to design a music therapy consultant with the client. I receive the referrals from the service coordinators, and then I offer the consultant to see if they need music therapy services. Most of the time, music works gratefully, and I decide to provide music therapy services. However, it is still difficult to measure the outcome of music therapy. We all know music works well, but no one can explain how it works. However, now, I use the level of musical development and let the parents know where their child is now at the initial consultant. After a certain amount of time, I assess them again and discuss where they are and how they develop in terms of musical development. It gives us a clearer picture of music therapy and helps us to be on the same page, like using the same language.

I really appreciate this course, which gave me such wonderful opportunities to think deeply about music and music therapy. I’ll continue to work on expanding my repertoire, advocating for music therapy, and building my business.

[Courtney McDonald]

My take aways:
I deepened my knowledge of early childhood development in a general context and a musical context.

I expanded my repertoire of new songs for each developmental stage specifically lap ride and embedded songs.

My prospective shifted back to a refreshed look at the responses of my students. I was getting complacent and forgetting to look for the small victories in every day music making.

I will share this knowledge with the teachers and staff within the classrooms that I serve. Little tid bits about developmental stages in music will be sprinkled within my session.

[Lydia Westle]

My Take Aways – Expanded my knowledge regarding early childhood development, enhanced my skills in assessment with this age group and gained a better understanding of musical assessment for this age group!

This course has helped me to expand my repertoire, to gain new ideas in regards to the ways I structure groups and also has helped me to feel more confident with advocating for the benefits and research behind age-specific groups!

I’ve already told the MTs I work with about this training and i look forward to sharing the tools I learned from this with the patients / families I work with!

[Olivia Todd]

This course has expanded my knowledge of early childhood development significantly. I have learned a lot more repertoire, and new formats for session plans. Similar to Lydia, it has also enhanced my skills in assessment in this age group. It is important to be constantly assessing during a session and pivoting as needed and I have been able to do so with more confidence. One of my key take aways is our ability as music therapists to provide a bonding experience for the child and their parent or caregiver, and the education we can provide to parents.

I will continue to share this information with teachers and parents and look forward to sharing it with other music therapists.

[Daniel DeLucia]

My key takeaways from this course would be that it really helped solidify and deepen my knowledge of music, music therapy and development, and music and development. In particular, how much development happens within the span of 3 – 5 years for a young child as well as how they respond to music and how we approach each child in developmentally appropriate ways. This course helped me further my understanding of and better identify the musical responses I notice when working with young children, as well as other individuals who are chronologically older however may be developmentally delayed.

When considering my perspective on development and the approach with my work, I would say that this course really solidified the idea that musical development is development and that engaging in musical activities is just as equally important for young children (or anyone for that matter) as is other typically developing activities. One idea that I can think of upon completion of this course is that idea of really trusting in the music and utilizing the basic musical elements as a way to connect and continually engage with young children.

I will continue to share the information about the training as well as what I learned in the course through discussions with other music therapist’s, educators as well as parents within various settings and contexts.

[MacKenzie Lyons]

The biggest thing that I took away from this course is learning how to adapt and create musical experiences in order to target children in various developmental stages. I feel like I have deepened my knowledge of children’s development and what to look for and how to promote growth. I have also loved the opportunity to expand my repertoire and continue to gain resources for my toolbox!

This course has taught me the importance of pointing out and celebrating even the smallest victories. Being able to point out developmental milestones and progress to parents and caregivers is something that makes us different from music educators. By doing this it also helps put parents and caregivers at ease about how their child is developing and growing.

I will continue to share what I have learned from this course with colleagues and families. I have already begun to share some of the knowledge that I have learned with fellow interns from my cohort!

[Camryn Gallagher]

My biggest takeaway from this course is just how necessary early childhood music programming is in just about every community. I feel much more confident than I used to about the value of this work. I appreciate having more concrete language to share with administrators and parents about how early childhood music programs deeply enrich family dynamics and our communities as a whole. Throughout all of my music therapy education and my now 2 years of professional practice, not once did I ever picture myself actually establishing my own programs – now it’s my biggest goal for 2024 and I have concrete steps to follow in order to get there. I am going to be holding these resources closely for the rest of my career!

Just like MacKenzie said above, I also have already been sharing the information I’ve learned with families and my colleagues from other disciplines like SLPs, developmental specialists, and OTs and I will continue to do so. I remember in my undergrad, we were given an assignment to choose a facility in our community and create a brochure/pamphlet defining music therapy, describing a few examples of interventions, and information about how music therapy suits that specific population to practice advocacy. I feel compelled to create something like this specifically to share with libraries, community centers, early childhood resource centers, etc. about music and development. I also hadn’t previously considered inviting local government/politicians to observe or going to them myself with this information but I definitely will consider that!

[Erika (TeamRH)]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences and how this course has supported your work. It was a pleasure to read each of your responses over this course and wish you all the best in your next venture.

[Maura Nicholson]

Overall, I gained a huge sense of motivation and inspiration over the duration of this course. After being out of the field for a few years, I desperately needed some additional guidance to get myself back in the swing of things and especially to get comfortable with the vocabulary around child development and music. The new repertoire and how to structure sessions is especially helpful.

This course has changed my perspective on development, especially since becoming a mom and being able to consider my daughter’s growth and development. It has been useful to experience her responses to the songs presented in the course as well! I have also realized the importance of setting clear expectations in a group setting both for children and caregivers…this will still take some practice for me, but it is such a crucial part of the success of the group.

I am very appreciative of the number of tools added to my music therapy toolbox after this course and I know it will take work to advocate in my community, but I am feeling very prepared to do so!

[Amy Calderon]

What are your key takeaways from this course?
It was a good reminder that building a business takes time and that if you want to make it work you have to put the time into it and you have to involve yourself in the community to get the word out. I also really liked learning about Awareness, Trsut, Control, Independance, and Resposibility. I had never learned about development in that way.

How has this learning changed your perspective on development, your approach to the work, or the way you use music in your sessions?
It has increase my repertoire and has made me more aware of where the children I work are depending on the circumstances in their lives. It is true that when we are not well we can shift back to another stage and it is important to help rebuild awareness or trust, before we can get them back to where they were.

How will you share this information with colleagues, administrators and families?
I will encourage colleagues that are interested in development to take this course. With families I will hopefully be sharing all I learned in a session.

[Jessica Solimini]

Having the opportunity to take this course as a non-MT really gave me a deeper understanding of the work that you all do and how much work and thought has been put into the Sprouting Melodies course. Learning about the different choices you make while in the sessions based on the children’s needs and your observations of what’s happening in the room was eye-opening. I really respect all the effort that goes into the classes! It also gave me the opportunity to reflect on the stages of development in babies and small children. I am hopeful that I can share this knowledge with other parents who have young children and give them the tools to recognize that each stage is normal and valuable and unfolds at each child’s own pace.

[Billie Junget]

I have learned so much in this course that I can not only take back to Sprouting Melodies, but to all my work. I feel energized with new knowledge, songs, and ideas for my upcoming sessions. I have a better understanding of childhood development, and can speak to caregivers about it with more confidence. This has been a good reminder to just have fun in the music and with the kiddos! As an MT, you also have to enjoy the ride! Connecting with others and creating a safe space for families to play and grow are very exciting things.

I love talking about Sprouting Melodies with colleagues, especially my coworkers who have also taken this course. I feel like I have new knowledge that can also help my colleagues working in preschools too! This course has also inspired me to have more conversations with caregivers before and after class, and to also encourage them to mingle with other caregivers to deepen their connection with their community and to the music.

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