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

[Meredith Pizzi]

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

[Kerry Cornelius]

My most valuable takeaway from this week’s content has been the importance of understanding the typical stages of child development in order to deliver developmentally appropriate practice to the clients with whom we work. Having a strong foundation of knowledge regarding what children and their families are experiencing at each point in their growth (be it ups, downs or a combination of both!) helps us be more in tune with each unique child’s needs—both musically and developmentally— at that point in time. Having a strong bank of knowledge can also help music therapists establish themselves as a source of support for families as they learn and grow together. As community leaders, we can provide families with tools and knowledge as we encourage parents (and at times, reassure them that what they are experiencing is totally normal!), as well as be mindful of looking out for children who may not be reaching their developmental milestones in a typical fashion.

[Katie Bagley]

For me, I found it most valuable to learn the basics of typical development for each age bracket of early childhood. Coming from a background with little early childhood experience, it was a very informational lesson, which is extremely necessary to create a base for developmentally appropriate practice. I also found importance in the concept of assuring parents of their little ones’ typical, healthy development. This includes education in regards to aspects that can be troublesome for most parents, for example, the “Terrible Twos”. This developmental period which can appear so daunting is actually a big and healthy step for 18-24 month olds- in which they are now able to show adults their wants and needs. I found Beth’s point in the video regarding this to be very informational, and gave me a new vantage point to view these behaviors.

[Shonda Malik]

My most valuable takeaway from this weeks’ content was the emphasis Beth put on us being a source of education for the parent’s regarding developmental appropriateness as well as spotting when there might be a developmental delay. I often find myself noticing developmental aspects about a client but I sometimes forget that the parent of this single child hasn’t had the privilege of working with many same-aged children like I have and thus doesn’t always know if they should be concerned. I also found it valuable to be reminded about the developmental appropriateness of the aggression and rebelliousness of 3-4 year olds and comforting to be able to share with parents that this aggression will decrease as they become 4-5 year olds.

[Stephanie Tassos Wohlsifer]

For me, the most valuable take-away from this week’s content was reviewing the progression of the various domains of development we humans go through, and where to spot some of the “red flags” in those developments. Although I have worked on and off throughout my career with kids of all ages, there are many times when I’ve questioned whether or not a certain movement, response, behavior, etc., is “normal” for a particular child, especially if I’m still getting to know that child. I was reminded that when a one-year old wants to bite, it may only be because he is seeking sensory input and not because he’s being malicious and inappropriate. I was also reminded that the endless questioning by a three-year old is his way of looking for reassurance, and that we adults should keep answers simple and understandable.

[Adrienne Salmon]

The most valuable lesson that I took away from this week’s assignment is the importance of understanding a child’s developmental levels, and working within them. I work as a nanny for a quite advanced 16 month old, who I bought sidewalk chalk for way too early.. Needless to say, he had a very colorful mouth. I will be applying understanding of just what a typical child should be able to do, at what age, while also keeping in mind the possibility of development not being 100%. On the flip side of that, as Stephanie said above me, I have worked with children of varied ages where I have wondered if certain actions that I was observing were a ‘red flag’ or not. I will definitely be getting to know these developmental expectations better and applying them to my arsenal as a music therapist to make sure that my activities are always developmentally appropriate.

[Katherine Sestrick]

There was so much valuable information in this module, but the one part that really “struck a chord” (ha, ha) with me was the reminder that babies between the ages of 3-6 months are beginning to fear strangers and that we should wait for the primary caregiver to introduce the baby to us. I think that it is our natural instinct to go up to a baby of that age, get right in his/her face, and start making faces and cooing at him/her. I can imagine that this would be very overwhelming for any baby and that we need to show a little more restraint when approaching babies that are unfamiliar with us.

[Jonni Fogerty]

The most valuable takeaway from this week’s content for me was the commentary Beth provided as she discussed developmental milestones. In particular, the advice to provide parents in regards to some of the more challenging aspects of early childhood development such as biting, “lying”, moral concepts, and defiance. I especially appreciated the advice to instruct 12-18 month children to “trade” items, since they are not yet ready to share.

[Kasey Sollenberger]

The first valuable “takeaway” that comes to mind for me, is having the ability to assure parents that every child develops in their own time and that certain challenging actions/reactions from children (biting for example) are not reflections of ones parenting style. I took away so many bits of wisdom just from the developmental information and I can’t wait to dive into reading the book (Music, Therapy, and Early Childhood) I just received!

[Christina Wensveen]

The most valuable takeaway from this week’s content for me has been a review of the developmental milestones. I think this has given me a wonderful general understanding of a child’s development and will influence my expectations of what children are able to accomplish. I found milestones such as turn taking, using simple phrases and understanding same/different especially relevant to my work in early childhood ed. Knowing what age these milestones begin to develop will influence my session planning.

[Kathryn Costanza]

I hate to echo what everyone else has already said, but I definitely agree that reminding myself of the typical milestones of development was incredibly helpful. Without that template to refer back to, it can be difficult to know what I’m seeing within a session or what would be the most helpful to both the child and parent to work towards. In addition to that, what really struck me was how so many of the atypically developing children I’ve seen are at several different developmental stages depending on the domain. For example, a client may be at 3-6 months in terms of language, but developmentally appropriate for their age group in terms of physical or motor development. Knowing a client’s current developmental status as it relates to specific domains is going to be incredibly helpful in creating appropriate goals and interventions, especially since it relates to utilizing areas of strength to help bolster areas of weakness. I also appreciated the “red flag” tips.

[Katie Romano]

I think the most valuable part of this unit was the discussion and exploration of the developmental stages of early childhood. Having a good understanding of normal development helps us how to interact with the children more appropriately. It also can help identify developmental delays if a child is not behaving the where they should. It also helps adapt interventions and activities to match the needs and developmental stages of our clients/participants!

[Nicole Sanabria]

I’m late answering this post. However, throughout this course I feel as though the most valuable takeaway has been understanding the developmental stages a child goes through, while working musically within them. I feel as though, if we understand typical development of a child, we can scale more carefully where our clients are that have various developmental delays. If we don’t understand where the child is developmentally, how will we be able to provide appropriate music interventions in order to encourage development? We are lucky to have a creative modality to support child development, and when needed modify various experiences to meet our younger clients in order to maximize their success and to observe realistic growth.

[Author]

Posts