Sprouting Melodies 1

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

• Use 5 words to describe the music experiences in Sprouting Melodies 1.
• Write 5 sentences you can use when speaking with parents about musical responses of children in Sprouting Melodies 1.
• Create a plan for songs and music experiences to use in a Sprouting Melodies 1 session.
• Share some of your experiences with children of this age and level.

[Laura Montesano]

5 words to describe SM 1: calm, gentle, joy, cuddling, and slow-paced.

5 sentences: In this SM 1 group we are really focusing on developing awareness and trust, so you may notice a change in your baby when he experiences playful songs versus calming/soothing songs. You may see your baby turn toward the music. He may move his body in response to the music. He may even start vocalizing in response to the music. Your baby might reach for an instrument, even if he is mouthing the instrument, this is his way of exploring the instrument, and as you watch him you might see him stop mouthing the instrument when the music stops.

A plan for SM 1 session, I would probably start with the examples given in the video here, as it’s very concrete and clear in how introduce the music and what to do with the baby, I’m sure as I get more comfortable I would switch out some of the songs and try a few others from the “You and me make we” book. So I’d begin with the “hello hello” song (which I’m very familiar with), then move to the “Row your boat” song, as I liked the idea of doing some familiar songs in a new and playful way, especially adding the “Go go go” part. I would then likely do the ” Just like me ” song, and perhaps a scarf song. Then the instrument song using maracas, shaking round and round, and then end with the Good-Bye song.

As far as working with kids at this young age, it’s been a while, I’ve been around them as some of the children I work with have younger siblings, but I haven’t worked directly with them, only as a bit of play as I’m working with baby’s sibling.

[Cindy Humphreys]

Five words to describe Sprouting Melodies 1: caring, gentle, soothing, accommodating, welcoming.

Five sentences:
1. In Sprouting Melodies 1 we are focusing on the child’s awareness of music and the bond between you and your baby.
2. Notice how your child is tracking the rhythm instrument as you play with the music.
3. Keeping a visual distance between parent and child about 18 inches is optimal for the baby’s visual acuity
at this stage, so we will maintain this proximity for our lap ride.
4. Your child may respond differently to gentle music and our play songs. We will look for changes in
physical movements, vocalizations and affect.
5. Babies explore their world with their mouth as well as eyes, so it is okay if they mouth the instruments.

Sprouting Melodies 1 Plan:

I feel strongly in using the same format week after week. I think it helps parents as well as the children know what to expect and decrease any apprehension.
1. I like the ideas of instrument exploration and play as they come into the room until everyone has arrived.
2. A hello song that greets each child individually.
3. A bonding song/body percussion song that I like to use is Wake Up Toes. I don’t remember where it came from, but the
parent wiggles different parts of the body as we sing.
4. I would like to try Wiggly Jiggly as a lap ride.
5. An instruments song that I might try would be Shake and Stop, where the parent shakes the maraca and stops with the music.
6. I would include a scarf song; I like Lynn Kleiner’s song about the colors dancing then falling to the ground. It is
very gentle and visually stimulating.
7. I loved the goodbye song that Meredith sang on the video! I need to watch it again so I can use it too!

My experience with this age has been limited. When I have free time in my schedule I may pop in to the baby playgroup that we have, but it doesn’t happen very often. When I do, I provide only 10 minutes of music, generally consisting of a hello song, a bonding song and either a movement or instrument song.

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

As you work through the assignments for this week and the next two weeks, I am going to recommend that you save a copy of all the plans and the sentences for each group. Past participants have found these very helpful as they really began to put Sprouting Melodies into practice.

[Robin Jacobs]

5 Words to Describe SM 1
Inclusive, supporting, fun, peaceful, musical

[Angie Carter]

Flowing, gentle, bonding, simple, soothing

1. The music, touch and facial closeness will illicit bonding. Using these songs at home will provide more opportunity for bonding.
2. Our initial focus for your Baby will be building awareness
3. Babies and young children explore with their mouths. It’s ok for them to mouth the instruments
4. Approximately 18 inches from your face is the optimal position for your baby to look at you as we sings this song
5. Begin by moving your scarf very slowly for your baby to follow or track. As they get older they will be able to follow more quickly moving objects. Anticipate the they may startle at moving objects or changes in the music.

1. Hello to each child. Really liked the first hello song that was sung. Very relaxing and calming for parents as well.
2. Song such as “just like me”- baby mains still, but it serenaded in a loving manner
3. Bonding song with movement-I’ve been using “row your boat” as we’ll and I LOVE the comment that life is not always like that and it’s ok, it will get better.
4. Instrument song-I struggle with this for the younger babes and look forward to learning some new ones. I think the ones I have are to fast paced.
5. Another visual tracking song with something such as scarves. I have an “up and down” song that would be good for a class of older babies
6. Good bye to each using their name and then to everyone until the session seems to have come to close

I have recently begun to work with 3 babies, 3-6 months old,all born approximately 26 weeks gestation. I have been using the songs shared from this program and it has been fascinating exploring how I and the parents change the timbre, tempo and expression as we do the songs with the younger children. There is one that I am not able to use the guitar with due to startle and another that loves and craves the movement songs. They are all so different. I have especially loved working with one of the families as I felt that Mom has been having a difficult time bonding. She was so preoccupied by something possibly being wrong with her baby that she couldn’t enjoy him. Through the music she shares with him each week she is now relaxing more and snuggling with him, rather than always having him on the floor “because that is the only way he is going to catch up”.

[Robin Jacobs]

Sentences for parents:

There are no right/wrong or good/bad responses. Please participate, even if you are not comfortable singing. The sound of your voice is the one the child wants to connect with. We’ll notice how your child responds, perhaps by turning their head towards a musical sound or reaching out for an instrument. You will be able to take home special connected moments with your child to use in your daily life. A baby’s hearing is very sensitive. If your baby seems startled, that is a cue for us to sing or play instruments a little softer and maybe a little slower and steady. You may want to be more aware of what volume you play the radio/cd in your car or music at home.

[Robin Jacobs]

Session plan:
Have music playing as the families come in and get settled.

Hello song : welcoming everybody, as a group and individually

Bonding song:-Russian Children’s folksong:
May there Always Be Sunshine
May there Always Be Blue Sky
May there Always Be Mama
May there Always Be me

Movement song: starting with a familiar song:
changing tempo slow – medium and slow way down
Row, Row Row Your Boat or teach Bumping Up and Down In My Little Red Wagon.

Just like me

instrument play-a-long
Singing She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain

Goodbye song

[Alyssa Kereki]

5 words: gentle, flowing, personal, simple, light

5 sentences: Your child CAN play an instrument! We are looking for any response to the music that shows awareness, even if it is just the turning of a head. Your voice as the parent is the most important teaching tool because it is what your child will notice and trust. All babies develop at their own pace, so do not compare your child’s responses to the other children’s responses. Pay attention to the pitches your baby sings when babbling or cooing; this is a form of communication and you want to mirror these pitches back to your baby.

Sprouting Melodies 1 Plan:

This task was very challenging for me because I have yet to work with children in this age group, and I am just now building my repertoire for older toddlers. With that said, this is my attempt at structuring a sample session:

– recorded music while the parents and children arrive

– some sort of Hello Song designed to greet each child individually

– body percussion: possibly a “song about me” where parents are tapping specific body parts to the beat, maybe a simple gathering song such as “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” where parents could bounce the babies or help them clap their hands. I think a song like this could work as long as the singing style is gentle and free

– bonding song: I think the most important aspect of this section is that the parent and child are physically bonding and that the baby is developing trust. There is a song “Hold onto Me” that I have used with older clients to practice trust and gross motor movement that could be adapted for a bonding song. This song would allow for close cuddling as well as silly bouncing like in “Wiggly Jiggly Car”.

– instrument play: For SM1, I would prefer instrument songs that discuss the instruments but do not limit the playing with specific directions. I was considering creating a gentler version of “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” since it is vague,repetitive, and a tune that the parents would recognize. I would want to play guitar with this song though, because I think it needs the harmonic progression to have the full feel. I’ve used “I Can Move Around” with a few different age groups and a calm version of that song may work well, too.

– gross motor movement: the song “Hold onto Me” could be adapted for this portion of the session as well as for a bonding song. When using it for gross motor movement, I would make the movements more dramatic and varied.

– cool down: there is a simple song by Maria Rame called “Colors Everywhere” that would be fun to use with the scarves.

[Lisa Spall]

1. Five words: connecting, learning, warmth, gentle, and intrinsic

2.

‘Remember to pat your baby’s chest when we sing their name during the hello song. This is the sign for “me” and the beginning of awareness of self and of course, their own name!’

‘Young babies love to look at faces and even anything resembling a face! It’s an important part of their development as they begin to bond and become more aware, so go ahead and turn your baby toward you. They’re learning and bonding with you by looking at your familiar face.’

‘Speaking of faces, watch your baby’s. We love see them turn toward the sounds or track instruments in their field of vision. These are milestones to look for.’

‘Good to know that startle reflex is in working order! Don’t worry if your baby gets a little jump or cries when the music starts back up. It will pass with time as they develop awareness and trust. This milestone is why so much of our music at this stage is very gentle, simple, and repetitive for developing clear expectations.’

‘Reflexes are important milestones in development. For the first 4 or 5 months, you should see your baby automatically grasp when you put your finger or an instrument in their palm. Try it out! It’s the beginning of learning muscle control and one of the precursors to reaching, which is why we love to use instrument songs for practicing those skills!’

3. Is it cheating since I’ve led SM1 sessions before? Heehee. I try to use more voice led songs than guitar songs with the very little ones. They’re great for parents to sing along with while not being overstimulating for the babies.

A nice gentle, extended hello song. Give each baby time to figure out what’s going on and transition into the session.
Keep the self-awareness wheel turning with a song like just like me while the parents face their babies and sing along too.
Time for bonding with Little Red Wagon, one of my favorites. Also a good rev up in energy for the coming instrument song.
Break out the maracas for ‘In my little hand’ or ‘Sit with me and Shake’ with just your voice the shakers. Have the parents model shaking and watch for tracking and body/facial movement.
Cool down with the scarves. Practice tracking some more and the beginnings of object permanence. Mommy is still there, even with the scarf on her face! The slightly see through scarves are great for this developmental game of peekaboo.
Goodbye song. Practice some more of those “me” skills in this gentle goodbye song.

4. I love these itty bitties. Their faces are so priceless as they try to figure out what’s going on during the class. Like when you see one of them catch on and you gotta say “Look! Suzie got it. That’s great! Let’s keep going!” and you repeat a bunch of times just to see that facial expression and comfort in the music. It’s great. If you haven’t seen a baby’s face as they do a lap song facing their mom/dad, you’re in for a treat there too – the biggest smiles! I’ve sat in on Meredith’s SM1 classes and led a few as well. It’d amazing to see how much they change in those first 9 months. Just great.

[Amy DiLabio]

5 words: gentle, joyful,calm, safe,and nurturing
5 sentences
*You many notice that your baby turns towards music and responds differently to gentle and more playful music.
*Please do sing the songs in and out of class. Your baby loves to hear your voice. It is comforting and reassuring to them as they are becoming aware of themselves, others and their environment.
* Notice how your child uses their arms and hands to reach toward the sounds of an instrument.
*During instrument play don’t worry if your baby puts it into his/her mouth. Babies explore their world through their mouth. Just set the instrument aside in this box and I will make sure it is cleaned for next time.
*This is a special time set aside for you and your baby. Make sure you are comfortable and just enjoy this time of bonding with your child. Be sure to make eye contact and smile as we rock together while we sing a lullaby.

My plan:
I would begin with an inviting hello song and sing each child’s name. I wouldn’t rush this special time of transition. I may even sing 2 welcoming songs. Next I would sing, Just Like Me and move into a scarf song where I would encourage the caregiver to move scarf for babies to track.After that time of play, I would transition to In my Little Hand and pass out the small maracas. I would then sing a song with movement called, I’m so Big. The motions of the song have caregivers moving babies arms out wide and bringing baby to a standing position and bouncing.To cool things down I would bring out the scarves again for a peek-a-boo song. Then it would be time for a familiar good-bye song with the guitar. I would encourage rocking side to side as we all sing good-bye.

I haven’t worked professionally with children of this age level, so my experience is limited to my own children and our shared musical experiences. I used to do a lot of lap bouncing while listening or singing to lively music as well as rocking to a lullaby.

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

There is a very interesting article in the 2011 Volume 2 issue of the AMTA journal Perspectives by Jayne Standley and Darcy Walworth (and others) on infant attentiveness in structured group music classes. The study looked at the differential in attentiveness in music vs no music and in two age ranges- 8 months and 16 months.
What stood out to me in the study, though, was that in both age groups, the infants attended primarily to the music therapist! This is certainly reinforced in my own work, where the children display intense focus toward me as the ‘music’. What I took from this research is that I as the music therapist need to work harder with children in the early developmental levels of awareness and trust to encourage the parent or care-giver to be the music source for the infant in order for attention to be focused toward them. In real terms, this means that I need to decrease the dynamics of my singing and encourage the families to sing out. I need to pull back physically sometimes from the circle in order to let the parents take center stage and I need to use gestures (such as pointing) or facial presence toward the parents in order to refocus the infant’s attention on their mom or dad or grandma.
If you don’t have access to the full article and would like a copy, just let me know.

[Wei Ming Loi]

5 words: gentle, warm, loving , cuddly, flowing
5 sentences:
1) Look at the pitch of vocalisation that the child is making. He/she is responding to your singing!
2) Look at how your baby relax with your voice. Be confident of using it.
3) Let’s slow down and pay attention to the little one. See how he/she is looking at you.
4) Don’t worry if baby startles, let’s start gently again.
5) See how baby is moving his/her lips wanting to respond to you

Plan:
I’ll start with a gentle hello song with individualised babies names in it. Then perhaps with a familiar tune bonding song as most Singaporeans are very anxious about singing and a familiar tune will keep the anxiousness down plus keep the babies close to them. I really liked the Row it Faster song as it’s familiar and yet by adding in the pauses and movement brings the familiarity to something unique. Then building up the atmosphere again to an instrument song allowing the child to explore an instrument. After the little excitement in the instrument activity, I might want to move onto have a song that adds a little deep pressure on the child while singing “Just like me” can incorporate that with a gentle tap at the chest reassuring the child at the same time. Alternating the deep pressure with movement, I might want to move into a movement song but one that is still gentle enough for a young child before ending with the goodbye song.

Experience with young children 0-9 months:
With the aid of technology, I’ve been keeping videos of my child each month and saving a copy of them as reference to track how he has grown over the months as these tiny steps are so fast that I can’t keep track of them if not for the videos.
At 2 months, he started very soft gentle cooing in response to our voice, so we spoke and sang at very quiet voice as a reflection to his and leave gaps in between for him to respond.
At 3 months, his head was more stable so he started to turning his head independently. so we propped him up a little, for him to look around more but still keeping our faces near his midline.
At 4 months, his awareness of environment became increasingly strongly and starts to babbling to soft toys/ objects dangling in front of him.
At 5 months, he started giggling to voice slides, change in tones, he also started rolling at this time and tracking rattles flipping over to look at them. So we were placing rattles at his side encouraging him to learn to flip.
At 6 months, he was imitating various mouth shapes made by us and also has better neck control. We placed him in prone position (tummy time) and he smiles in being able to confidently lift up his head.
At 7 months, he loved being upright and babbling lots of ‘da da da’, we left lots of gaps for him to babble and listened to him attentively as he does so.
At 8 months, he was sitting up, playing with toys
At 9 months, he loved reaching out to people and could follow one-step directions when requested.

Beth, I don’t have access to the full article and would love to have a copy of it please.

[Tamara Strom]

Five words: gentle, warm, soothing, bonding, cuddling

Five sentences:

It is ok if your child puts the instrument in his/her mouth. This is part of their way of exploring the instrument.

Your voice is the most important voice to your child, so please sing along here and at home.

Holding your child about 18 inches away is the ideal distance at this stage for bonding and interaction.

I’m so glad you were able to make it here today, as I understand the demands of caring for an infant.

It is important for all caregivers here, even if you are not the child’s parent, to work on developing the bond and attachment.

Plan:

1. Hello Song- sing to each member of the group
2. I like the idea of something like row your boat that allows parents to gently rock their baby, or can pick up the tempo and be more playful depending on the group and how much the babies will startle. Another song I might use here is “This train is a rockin train”, in which babies can be on laps, and different actions such as rocking, bouncing, swaying, etc. can be used.
3. Just like me
4. Instrument song, such as “in my little hand
5. Movement song: when I worked in EI, the kids loved the frog song: “there was a froggie in the pond and (insert name) was his name oh. Jump (name), jump, jump, jump (3 x), he’s jumping up so high oh. (To the tune of bingo). The parents would lift the kids up and down in the air, and the kids loved it
6. Cool down- “little wheel turning in my heart” or “twinkle”
7. Goodbye song

I’ve had experience working in early intervention, though most of the kids were older than 0-9 months. It was a mixed age birth to three group, so I’ve never run groups specifically catering to this youngest age group. My godson is eleven months old, and when I have spent time with him in the first nine months, he has loved any song that involves bouncing and movement. My most recent visit with him, when he was about nine months, he was very interested in imitating vocalizations and movements such as clapping hands.

[Alyssa Kereki]

Tamara – That frog song sounds adorable! I will have to try it sometime.

[Robin Jacobs]

I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s posts this session. It’s wonderful to see how “tuned-in” everyone is to the process and how we each implement the program in a way that matches our own personalities and experiences while using the same framework to design a session.

Elizabeth, I loved how you explained in real terms what kinds of actions we could take to nurture focus between parent/caregiver and music source and less between the child and us. I bought your book quite a while ago and though I thought it was a good assessment tool I had no idea where to begin to implement a session based on these ideas. This week I am going to re-read the book with “new eyes” and think about in “real terms” how the info translates into a session.

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

We are planning to have an interactive forum for Sprouting Melodies Providers to share their own music with everyone. I suspect all of you have great material!

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

Thanks for the kind words about the book. Please post to the forum any questions or comments you might have. We will also have some time during our Week 9 conference call to dig deeper into the material.

[Meredith Pizzi]

Hi Everyone, I’m popping in to post my comments here – I love reading all of your thoughts on SM1. This is such a wonderful class to lead! I love seeing the babies grow and change each week.
Excellent job coming up words, statements to share with parents and sessions plans. As Beth mentioned earlier, save these! They will come in handy when you become a Sprouting Melodies Provider! And we sure do hope you will! 🙂

[Leigh Giglio]

5 words: calm, gentle, loving, bonding, cuddling

5 sentences: * Please take the time to get settled in our space before music begins. I want you to feel relaxed and comfortable. *Please help out and sing along so that you learn the songs to take home with you. These songs/activiites are wonderful tools to have! *As we sing hello, please gently tap your babies chest when we sing his/her name. This will help them to recognize their name, as well as help strengthen your bond. *Did you hear that? S/He was trying to imitate what you were singing! *It’s okay if your child puts the maraca in their mouth. They are learning and exploring how to use this instrument. *Please place your used instruments in the wash bin. I want to make sure that I keep all my Sprouting Melodies kids safe and as healthy as can be.

Session Plan: Since I have never held music therapy sessions with such young children, I would probably start with using your suggested plan and then adjust as time went on and I became more familiar with the program.
1. Welcome parents and chidlren as they arrive. Have name tags available for all to wear. Play some quiet, recorded intrumental music in the background to help bring a soothing and peaceful atmosphere. Give parents the time to get settled.
2. Hello/Gathering songs: Good morning to you and then into Hello Everyone (can insert child adn parents names instead of everyone);
3. Body Percussion songs: All of This is Me and Just Like Me
4. Lap ride/tickle time: Wiggly Jiggly Car and Hold on Tight
5. Instrument Play: I Like This Song and In My Little Hand
6. Gross Motor Movement: I Can Move Around
7. Cool Down: Quiet, instrumental music with scarf play
8. Goodbye: Goodbye

I do not have clinical experience with working with such little ones but personally I have been a mom caring for my two children who are now out of this newborn/infant stage. I have a girl, Grace, who will be 5 in July and a boy, Caleb, who just turned 3. They are 19 months apart, so it was a challenge at times having to take care of both of them when Caleb was a newborn. My husband died when I was 5 months pregnant with Caleb, so I have also had to learn to be a single Mom, which I never dreamed I would be! I remember thinking to myself after Caleb had turned one and had just started sleeping through the night for the last 2 month, how did I make it through that first year? I mean I was extremely tired since I would get to nap for 1-3 hours at most throughout the night and maybe one or two 1-2 hour naps during the day. I was basically a walking zombie because I was so sleep deprived. Besides getting Grace to preschool 2 days a week, making sure that Grace had solid foods to eat, a clean diaper or was able to start potty training, I was also nursing Caleb, changing his diapers, doing tummy time/playing with him, introducing Caleb to solids (and I made my own baby food), bathed the kids at seperate times, put them both down for naps. I also had other duties like food shopping, cleaning, cooking (if you called it that), taking out the garbage, etc. Just know that the parent’s that you will be meeting at this stage are tired, frazzled, may be unsure of themselves, and did I mention tired. They may feel like they are just holding on by a string and are proud of themselves that they even were able to get out of the house, especially if Mom is alone at class or a single mom. I still have days where I feel a bit overwhlemed and my kids are older.
My husband, Nick, and I did take Grace to a Kindermusik class when she was 3 months old that happened to be lead by a MT-BC! I was so excited to be with someone that knew my kids milestones and had the education I had while running a music program geared for her age. It was a great bonding exprience for us as a family and I recommend new parents to find these kinds of programs for their children, too.

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

Thank you for so clearly reminding all of us about the realities of parenting. We need to celebrate the commitment that families make to get to music class every time. I often work with moms who work nights and then pick up to kids to bring them to group before napping in the afternoon. Hopefully the music gives them an oasis of support.

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