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

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

[Jillian Brown]

My most valuable takeaway was really the breakdown of all the developmental stages and age ranges. It was good to see piece by piece how children develop. I feel like I have a better understanding now and as I was looking at the videos and going through the different age ranges I was thinking of children I know and remembering the things they did at certain ages. It makes a lot of sense.

[Lisa Klostermann]

My favorite, and most valuable, tidbits:

24-36 mo children ask lots of questions. It is our job to answer them! (With simple, concrete, and routine answers.)

It is not really developmentally appropriate to ask 3-4 year olds to say “Sorry”.  

Parents often focus on academics, but it is much more important understanding of how to organize the world. (Amen!!!)

[Lauren Bevilacqua]

The most valuable idea I took away from this week’s course content was the idea of moving your mind into a child-like state (not childish) and to not be afraid to feel and experience how it feels to be a young child and more specifically, how it feels to be a young child in music.

Hearing Beth encourage me to feel and understand how rich and exhilarating it can be to experience life/music/events with a child-like mind was a reminder wake-up call to bring back PLAY (and playfulness) into session planning and implementation.

I really enjoyed jumping and skipping on this Friday afternoon.
 

[Michelle Muth]

Grasping hold of the concept of partnering with parents.  This is what I’ve been wanting to do, but you never know if you are over-stepping boundaries.  So to hear that it is helpful to illustrate what is taking place developmentally and to have an understanding is quite gratifying.  Other points:

Use Trade rather than Share at 12-18 months old (makes perfect sense)
Same as Lisa – not developmentally appropriate to expect “sorry” from a 3-4 year old.
Focus on academics rather how to organize – great change in thought.

[Kristen Macleod]

Like Michelle I really like the idea of using “Trade” rather than share and I’m looking forward to trying that this week in a session.  I also found it really valuable to think about things from a child like point of view as I know this is sometimes something I forget to do.  It is so important to feel what it might be like for the child and to truly engage in jumping, skipping, etc (which was also fun to do!)  This reminded me of a voice and music therapy class I took in Grad school where we explored babbling and how the voice develops. We were encouraged to be babies and move through stages of development from lying on the floor to crawling to walking unsteady and beginning to explore sound & movement as if for the first time.  I had forgotten about this experience of being child-like with feeling and experiencing the world that way  and how useful it had been – this week Beth reminded me of its importance.

[Vanessa Talbott]

I think a challenge that I have had in early childhood is to provide developmental information to parents in a natural way instead of a scripted way. I think that the more that we can learn about development the more we can catch a child “in the moment” of development and point it out to the parent and other parents in the environment. I like how Beth kept bringing the child development back to how it impacts the parents. This makes for great family centered practice.

[Anonymous]

I found the review of the development stages and the “red flags”helpful and it helped me to better “connect the dots” where there I had gaps of remembering. Other parts that stuck out were the typical behaviors that come with early childhood and how it is important to address with parents that these are normal behaviors.  I’ve worked with many parents that expect their children to be perfectly “behaved” all the time and they don’t realize that the behaviors are normal for the particular age.

[Emily Seymour]

The most valuable takeaway from this week’s content was learning what typical parent concerns/thoughts are on their child’s development.  I have been working and studying alongside other therapists for so long that I forgot that phrases like, “this child needs oral sensory input” may not be the most parent-friendly way of communicating!  It was helpful to hear how parents might feel about issues of potty training, biting and make believe play.  Not only can I reassure and educate parents on these topics using laymens terms, but I can also use my expertise and knowledge to explain why these behaviors occur in development.

 

[Megan Goddu]

My most valuable takeaway from this week’s content was being reminded/asked to look at the development from the child’s viewpoint, especially when we were asking to lay down and see how limited our range of motion is when doing that and thinking how an infant feels when laying down. I also liked using the word “Trade” instead of share and that it is not realistic to ask a 3 year old to say sorry and actually understand why they are saying it and what it actually means. These are things I will be keeping in mind when I go to the daycare/preschool I work at on Fridays.

[Courtney Fanello]

I also appreciated the red flags to look for in development, the trading instead of sharing, and to remember to support and encourage the parents when their children are in difficult developmental stages ( teething, throwing fits, biting, throwing things.) As a mother of a one year old, I am very aware that sometimes, I have no idea what to do in a situation and am worried others are judging my parenting skills. When I go to the pediatrician, I am always asking about developmental markers, but all they typically do is give shots and look in her ears. Sometimes I don’t know the questions to ask, and this information is very valuable to me as a parent and as I can share that information with other parents who are looking for the same thing. I also solved the reminder that make believe is difficult to differentiate from reality. I had two nephews that fought all the time, because the younger one would tell stories about his adventures at the zoo, and the older one would get upset and say, ” that’s not true, he’s lying!” It would have been helpful to try to explain to the older brother, and his parents, that it was a very developmentally appropriate behavior.

[Carla Carnegie]

sorry, I had posted a new post, rather than follow the thread! I especially liked the reminders of appropriate development—not expecting behaviors that are beyond ability.  I know some children can grasp the concept of sorry quite early, but most don’t.   the  information about what to look for that might be a red flag was extremely helpful.   I really liked the idea of trading rather than sharing—-that is a really tough concept at very young ages!  I am looking forward to partnering with the parents in encouraging them and sharing with them in music making with their kids!

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

I am so excited to hear how you use this information as you work with your clients this week!

[Jennifer Schofield Gietzen]

I think the most valuable takeaway from this week is that we as music therapists who are in this field of early childhood have a lot of knowledge about children that can help the parents understand their own children.  As a new parent, I really do appreciate when people I respect share something that can give me a new perspective on my child, whether that be something I need to watch out for or just reassurance that what I’m doing is okay as a parent and that my child is developing “normally”.  Being confident that sharing what we know without thinking we know it all is important.

Also, something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is FUN and PLAY!  I’m trying to bring this more into my practice as well as my life and I like it!! Often I do so many structured activities that have become somewhat routine.  I’ve been thinking about how to be lighter with them and just enjoy them…isn’t that what a large part of music is all about?

[Carla Carnegie]

As I mentioned, I am not currently working with any children, but rather lots of well-seasoned adults! My well-elder group at a retirement home today was a small group, and I was thinking about bringing in new ideas of FUN and PLAY as a result of this class so far, and so I did a parachute experience with them to an Ella Fitzgerald  piece, Paper Moon.  They loved it, and we smiled and giggled together.  We talked afterwards how great it is to be playful, and let the little kid in us out a little bit.   (I have a beach ball that I will bring another time to have bouncing in the center of the parachute for a different twist.)

[Meredith Pizzi]

Thanks for your insights and responses everyone! This foundation is so important and will carry us all forward for the rest of the training! Get ready for a great and time intensive week 3! You’ll love the depth of content in week 3! So block out a solid chunk of time, and please come back to read other participants comments and continue the conversation on the board.

[Mary Kerrigan]

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The most valuable piece I will be taking away this week is the very specific breakdown of the developmental stages of children.  Of course I have a gist from naturally being around children in my own family about what the typical developmental stage is and what should or should not be happening with children at those ages, but it was very important for me to get those details for each age range and breaking them down.  I also like others have mentioned liked the “Trade” concept rather than share.  I think that is clever approach to the idea and I honestly don’t think I would’ve thought of that.  I also sometimes forget that in this case it is okay and beneficial to be appropriately “playful” with clients especially because music can naturally be a playful type of experience.  It was a great reminder to be conscientious about that and bring it into play more in sessions.

[Elizabeth Schwartz]

In the Music, Therapy and Early Childhood book, I devote a whole section to all the roles that we take on as early childhood professionals. You might want to check it out.

[Trish Jonason]

II appreciated the breakdown of developmental milestones- both from the perspective of a parent and music therapist.    It also reminds me that there is such a range in children’s strengths.   For example, a four year old who can ride a bike, but does not enjoy puzzles or coloring.

 

 

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