Where will you go from here?

[Meredith Pizzi]

Where will you go from here? How will this training impact your work as a music therapist?

[Kelsy Gati]

Moving forward I will use the information about early childhood development in planning sessions that are more developmentally appropriate. I will also continue to apply the music that has been modeled in the content videos to my sessions. My work has been enriched by this program and I look forward to using the new information moving forward as a clinician. It was wonderful working with and learning from you all!

[Belinda Adams]

I guess I sort of said this in the other post. I hope to continue to use this information in my classroom and in music education but also in the other community based preschool and community centers. Most importantly I would like to grow the usage of BOCES in this region to provide music therapy services to our component districts and the local and regional preschools, early intervention facilities and head start programs!

[Ann Marie Raddell]

I will continue my current work for my music therapy agency with a renewed excitement for the early childhood groups offered. This coursework has given me much to consider in how to create and implement sessions to support the development of young children. I don’t know many music therapists that work in early childhood, so it was refreshing to connect with other music therapists that understand the importance that music plays in development beginning at an early age.

[Tiffany Lee]

I plan on using all this knowledge in my current practice in my early childhood public school groups. I also plan on starting a 6 week mommy and me music class this summer before I go on maternity leave as an experiment to see what the response is. I have a lot of friends who have young children who have been asking me to host a group like this! I am still considering becoming a sprouting melodies provider later in the year and would love to stay connected!

[Kristen McSorley]

This training has already impacted my work in a multitude of ways. I feel more knowledgable working in early childhood and explaining musical development to caregivers and teachers. I also feel like I am more able to break down tasks to achieve a goal (e.g. before writing a goal for a child to sing an approximate melodic contour of a song, it would be helpful for them to be able to sustain sound and match approximate pitch!) This has also helped me to reaffirm the value of community-based music therapy and see how valuable these classes can be to parents, even though it’s not our traditional understanding of ‘therapy.’ Thank you so much!

[Sarah Szymanowski]

I think this training has already impacted me as a music therapist. I very much appreciated the review of childhood development and musical development, as well as new songs and ways to categorize song repertoire. I think also hearing such experienced practitioners week after week was good for me as well, even hearing little tips such as using silence/space in the music, or their inflection as they sang examples. As far as where I am going, I don’t see myself developing my own practice in the next couple years. However, when I feel the time is right for that, it does not feel like foreign territory anymore. I think the Sprouting Melodies program would be an excellent way to start.

That leads me to a more practical question: will we be able to access presentations and the forum in the future? Or is there a date when we will not be able to access them anymore?

[Kristina Rio]

Once you become a Sprouting Melodies Provider you will be given access to the provider resources including marketing materials, the forum for SMP’s and all of the videos from this course to review at anytime.

[Anonymous]

Echoing Kristina, if you become a provider you will have access whenever you need it. For those who do not become providers I believe you will have access for 30 days after the training is complete. I will double check with Meredith and Beth to make sure that is correct.

[Stephanie Harris]

From here, I will be exploring with my employer whether we will become a SM provider or if we will be creating a program based more specifically on our facilities needs. Regardless, the training has given me a greater understanding of music and development with young children and I will utilize that with all of my clients. We are hoping to start some sort of program in the fall/early winter.

Immediately, I will read Beth’s book and ordered the songbook to increase my young child repertoire since I’ve been mostly working with adults.

[Laetitia Brundage]

I have already begun implementing skills and techniques that I’ve acquired here into my practice. I love having more parent education moments in my current classes, and clinically, I have already begun to further understand some of my clients because I have the knowledge of where they lay developmentally and musically. Between the review of early childhood development, musical development and the implications for applying this knowledge to many different areas and populations, I am excited to have some exploring to do!

I will probably start teaching sprouting melodies classes within the year and I am very excited to further explore and utilize this well-rounded and fantastic program!

[Noelle Larson]

In a broad sense, I think that the first ‘direction’/application for me now that the course is finished is to take a few steps further in my development as a human being, specifically in the ways that I interact with the young children and families and I encounter in my daily life. I always strive to speak with children with dignity and respect for who they are and how very much their ideas and needs matter, something that I have seen myself being able to do more authentically/fully as we have gone deeper in the course. Taking this course has helped me gain a greater appreciation for the many joys and challenges that these children experience in music and life in general, and increased my desire to try to see the world from their eyes. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m currently in a transitional time in my career as I learn to be a mother to my new little girl, and so I have few connections to the professional/outside world than usual for a time. I do hope to start doing work in the community part-time in the next few months, and I’ve maintained positive connections at two private schools in my community whose parent communities I think would be very interested in early childhood music programing. I’m not sure right now if my journey will include becoming a Sprouting Melodies provider in the immediate future, especially since I don’t currently have a private practice to base it from, but I do appreciate and have deep respect for the professional support community and all of the resources available in the Raising Harmony community. In the immediate moment, I am very excited to have such a great collection of songs, techniques, and developmental knowledge to taking into my parenting. My daughter is two weeks old today and it has been a pure joy to sing with her and already see her begin to experience developmental milestones and awareness of her surroundings. Thank you Meredith, Beth, and everyone for this learning experience and for sharing your knowledge! It has been great to learn from and with you these past 10 weeks.

[Jennifer Whitlow]

Moving forward, I will use the information provided to build Sprouting Melodies within my own business. At first I will be the only provider and as the program grows, I hope my employees will want to join in. I have already enjoyed using some of the songs with my 10 month old and I cannot wait to continue to use the techniques I have learned. Thank you ladies for doing this course and allowing us to be part of your community. I am looking forward to joining.

[Kristina Rowles]

From here, I will be able to used this information to better help the people I serve. I have a better understanding of creating developmentally appropriate programs. I have already been able to incorporate it with individuals that I work with. I am excited to begin groups upon the completion of the training!

[Tracy Wanamaker]

Moving forward, I plan to start looking for time in my schedule to start working with young children in my community. This sounds like a small first step, but for me (I currently teach full time, while also devoting about 20 – 25 hours per week to my private practice) this is a huge hurdle, but it’s something that I really want to do! I know that I will have the support of the Arts Council where I offer most of my community classes, so I will also begin discussing options with them for the fall, including finding the right location for the classes. In the meantime, I plan to use all of this information in my current work (I do have a few preschool age private clients) and sharing these ideas with my college students.

I have really enjoyed taking this class! The training has given me a greater understanding of music and development with young children which is exactly what I hoped it would do, and the resources that you provided will be very helpful in my future work. Meredith and Beth – Thank you for sharing your expertise!

[Ashley Carroll]

Moving forward, I plan to become a Sprouting Melodies provider (Yay!) And start serving my community, reaching out to local preschools, as well as the Family Readiness Group for both military bases in my area to start a program with military families. This training has lit a fire in me to get back into the professional world again, since moving and having my daughter. Thank you Meredith and Beth for your guidance through this course!

[Anonymous]

For those planning to become providers, please consider reaching out to Meredith to set up a meeting. When I first became a provider I scheduled a few phone meetings and even did a few business coaching calls to get the ball rolling. Meredith has a wealth of information and my talks with her really helped me to be successful. You will also have the support of all of the providers through our provider network, forum, and monthly conference calls.

[Katy Hutchings]

For now, I’m excited to take what I have learned and to use it at the preschool. I definitely want to go through Beth’s songbook and challenge myself to learn two new songs a week and incorporate them into my work. I am always looking for new intervention ideas and her book is a great resource.

I definitely would like to become a provider someday although I’m not sure when that will be! I look forward to continuing to dream of running my own classes in my community and will definitely start to explore that option!

I have thoroughly enjoyed this training and gotten a lot out of it. Thank you to the whole Sprouting Melodies team!

[Anonymous]

Katy, you will love Beth’s book. I use a lot of her songs in my Sprouting Melodies classes. I would listen to the new songs, with my daughter, in the car for a few days and the songs stick pretty quickly.

[Kristina Rio]

Beth also posts a lot of great new songs on the Sprouting Melodies website blog with a video, lyrics, and description of why the song is functional for young children!

[Author]

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