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?

[Kimberly Rodgers-Melnick]

Similarly to what I have said in other posts, this training has been a great refresher and addition to my knowledge of early childhood development. It will help to better inform my choices for music and experiences in my early childhood classes and in my clinical work. The parents of the children I serve will benefit from this additional knowledge as well. I now feel more confident in my role as an early childhood music therapy provider.

[Carolyn Keenan]

I feel quite similar to what Kimberly stated above. The training has increased my confidence as an early childhood music therapy provider and has given me fresh ideas to use in my work. The review of child development and what types of responses we can expect has been really beneficial. It has already made me take a second look at some of my current song choices and how I have been implementing them.

[Anonymous]

I am so glad the training materials have been valuable to your work. I wish you all the best! For those who become providers I look forward to supporting you as you start your Sprouting Melodies journey.

[Laura Pruett]

As I stated in the other post, I plan to work with another SM provider while I’m still living in Arizona. Once I move In January, I plan to make SM classes part of my own company. As Kimberly and Carolyn stated above, this training has already made me more confident and educated about how to appropriately run early childhood groups. I have already adjusted the preschool groups I am doing, and I look forward to learning more and more of these songs to help get me out of my rut. I really connected with the recorded phone call when Erika, Alison and Meredith spoke about how kids can get out of control physically when they are not stimulated cognitively. That is really making me re-examine my groups, and how to facilitate them better.

[Jen Hinton]

I just lost this submission so am retyping…sorry if it posts twice…

From here I plan to be in a time of intentional planning and strategy. I will be looking into the Sprouting Melodies license agreement to see if I can answer some additional questions of what the full investment with SM would look like.

– I don’t currently carry a professional liability insurance so I will look into that…any recommendations?
– I don’t currently pay for royalties – I’m not sure if that’s something that I should be doing? I have been shying away from use of recorded music that is not in public domain because I’m not sure of the process. If we were not SM Providers, would we be asked not to use the songs published in the You and Me Makes We book you included in this training?
– I will be mapping out my availability and brainstorming where I might set up shop/how much I would invest to have a location. Our local civic center approached me about running community music services out of their location and they charge 30% of the profit as their fee.
– I am interested in finding help in setting prices as right now the investment part is looming larger in my mind than the income part.

This training will be something I refer back to often when planning to better ground myself in musical and non-musical development. Prior to this training I did not have a good grasp on musical development. I will try to be more intentional about using wording that highlights the response I am seeking, such as “use gentle hands” (thank you, Erika!) and will try to restructure instrument playing experiences so that there are less “you get what you get and don’t get upset moments” in the first place – ie. using more similar instruments or really making sure that I am breaking the group down to provide for opportunities across the group.

I will try to really name what I see more, instead of just adjusting to problem solve- I will create insight into how and why I am adjusting. The more transparent I can be with these tools the more that the teachers and aides that I work with may be able to adjust and apply the same concepts. I feel much more comfortable to approach a class with caregivers and children.

Thank you all for your continued input and my best to you all!

[Elana Dietz-Weinstein]

This training has provided me with valuable information about development, as well as giving me so many new ideas and wonderful material to incorporate into my work. It has also provided me with great ways to communicate with parents and teachers about the behavior and progress of the children. I am more aware of musical responses and now feel much better equipped with songs and interventions to address the developmental needs of the children I work with. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Hi Jen,

You can set up a phone call with Meredith and she can go over all of your questions and everything needed when becoming a provider. I can answer that you are not required to use any music created by Meredith and Beth and there is no curriculum. They encourage you to use music that works with your families, whether it’s Beth’s music, someone else’s music or your own. We also encourage you to challenge yourself to create you own music. To my knowledge I believe that copyright infringement is not a concern since you are not a public performance. AMTA is a great place to start and Meredith and Beth will also be able to help with this question.

There are several liability companies for music therapists. Mercer, HPSO are two that I know. I’ve experienced Mercer being less expensive. There are also local insurance companies you can look into as well. If you are currently working as a music therapist you may want to consider having coverage since most facilities may cover you, however it is important to be protected under your own as well.

[Jen Hinton]

Thank you, Erika, for all of this info.

[Claudia Eliaza]

I am so grateful to have taken this training. I feel much more informed with Early Childhood Development. As I move forward, I know that this information will continue to better inform my work and practice with kids of all developmental stages. The songs I’ve learned are wonderful and will serve me in future classes. I’ve also been inspired to do a lot more writing of my own! Thank you for this incredible training. It was full of all kinds of educational goodies!

[Mabel Ortiz]

This training has been very empowering and encouraging to start my own program. I currently work in hospice, with adults, and I am excited to hopefully start offering early childhood classes in my community. I feel confident that I have the knowledge and ability to do so.

[Alison Barrington]

It’s great to see what other people are doing to move forward. Right now I’m planning a long break in Europe but will be back in August and then looking at work prospects.
I will take the CB-MT exam and have some school work waiting on me passing that exam. I am also applying for a church youth position – which is only temporary and part time but I want to see if I can include Sprouting Melodies into their programs.
I have also been given a lot of names and contacts for preschool programs for kids with learning disabilities. I would love to focus on special sprouts there if that’s possible.
I will also continue to link up with colleagues in England and spread the word about SM there as I think there’s a market for it. I do know that some MTs are doing similar things but I’ve enjoyed the structure that SM offers.
I will certainly be keeping in touch and hoping to become a SM provider.
Thank you!

[Author]

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