What was your most valuable takeaway from this weeks’ content?

[Meredith Pizzi]

Please reflect on your takeaway from this week’s material.

[Victoria Fansler]

This week I enjoyed observing the ways that certain “problem behaviors” are often developmental building blocks for future skills we want children to have. For example, the “mine” stage could appear like selfishness, but the child has to understand things from their own perspective before they can start to understand other people’s perspectives and develop empathy. Similarly, it is natural for children to push boundaries before they truly develop an internalized sense of morality. In working with children who have spotty development due to trauma or neglect, I wonder if we sometimes do a disservice to older children by expecting them to “skip” certain developmental stages based on their chronological age. It seems to be a delicate balance between meeting children where they’re at and pushing them to new experiences and higher expectations.

[Anonymous]

Great insights Victoria. Thank you for highlighting this information.

[Debrah Evans]

My most valuable take away from this week was really digging in to the different markers of development for each age. I am not a parent, so understanding the specific markers for each age was helpful, and will help parents and others to know if a child is not typically developing when they are hitting some of the “red flags” that were mentioned. It also helps to really get in the “childlike” mindset to know what I can expect from children of different ages in a group that is developmentally appropriate. Additionally, I can already start to see some of the ways that music and various experiences could be used to help further a child’s development.

[Janet Buchanan]

I really found it valuable to learn about the developmental stages and some of the milestones that children should be hitting–I don’t have any experience with children under 3 so this is very important to know! It is so helpful for anyone who works with kids to know what types of behaviors to expect, especially to reassure concerned parents that yes, your child behaving in a totally normal way. Also, looking specifically at the motor development will help in planning music activities, since some types of actions may be way beyond the children’s developmental levels.

[Courtney Kjaldgaard]

I think my most valuable takeaway from this week was the amount of information that was provided to us on the development that occurs for each age group. I remember learning about this during my child development psychology class back in my undergraduate degree but I feel the information provided in this course is a lot more detailed and gives me a way better understanding of the type of behaviors and responses to expect when working with each of these age groups. I am not a parent and I currently don’t have any family members that are in this age range so the only way I’ve been able to interact with children has been through my work experiences, so this kind of information is extremely valuable to me.
Another takeaway I wanted to add in was the emphasis on how we can be a great resource to parents on the markers of child development, especially for those who may have concerns. I know that the focus of this course is to learn how to develop child music therapy programming, but I think it’s just as important to be prepared to work with parents and to be someone they can rely on to help ease their concerns and/or provide them information on development that they need.

[Tori Clark]

My most valuable takeaway was seeing how rapidly children develop across the scope of domains. From my own experience as a mother, I have been amazed with both of my girls when they hit significant milestones. It happens so quickly. Yet, so many of the parents I work with don’t witness these amazingly fast developments. It must be difficult in childhood music classes when same-age peers are hitting milestones more quickly than children with special-needs. I think it will be important to point out that development across domains is often staggered and uneven with many children, and to be sensitive when mentioning to parents what they might expect to witness in terms of development.

[Anonymous]

I am so glad you each found this week’s materials informative and relevant to your work and the work we do in early childhood.

[Joanne Van Eycke]

My most valuable take away was how to support parents as children develop and hit their milestones at different rates. I think we can provide important reassurance that a child’s progress is normal and also as a resource if we notice “red flags.” As noted when children become school age we often interact less with the parents. I find the opportunity to work with the whole family in early childhood very exciting.

[Megan Neil]

As I begin my new job parents are looking to me asking “my child started doing this, is this okay? is it typical to see this at this age?” It is VERY important for me to understand what happens at these various developmental levels in all domains including the musical domain. I am very excited to begin learning about musical development and comparing it side by side with other things that may be happening for the child in other areas.

One thing that stuck out to me as a quick takeaway was the concept of “sharing” not being developmentally appropriate at 12-18 months. Instead of saying “share” Beth suggests saying “trade”. At this point she explains that kids are not interested in sharing yet.

[Peggy Grace]

The most valuable take away for me was how to reassure parents/caregivers about the various developmental stages children experience and helping them understand those developmental markers. It was also very helpful to re-learn these concepts, and to be aware of any delays in development. Another important take away for me was understanding, not just the physical development, but also the emotional and cognitive development. This is crucial when working with children in a group setting.

Peggy Grace

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