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?

[Elyse Suhay]

We officially have a contract with a local library to do Sprouting Melodies once a month! I was also invited to present at a children’s fair where programs are able to showcase what they have available for children. They specified that I have to bring something interactive. Shucks! If only I knew something like that… 😉 I’ll be trying to help my boss with getting more Sprouting Melodies groups going in this area. Also, I found out that my sister, who lives an hour and a half away, is going to have a baby, so now I HAVE to make sure we get a group closer to her!

[Kristina Rio]

Elyse, what great news! Congratulations. That is so exciting. Please know that I am always available to provide support and answer questions. Good luck!

[Caroline Gillott]

Great news Elyse!
I’m not sure where I am going from here. I have a lot of questions that need to be answered (missed the conerence call and am behind on week 10 videos) before I start pursuing this further. What I would like to do is offer groups at our library or through our community outreach program but I don’t see that happening any time soon. I’m going to have a baby in May and like I said previously, I also have a young toddler. I’m definitely looking forward to using them as my guinea pigs until I can become a provider. I’m kind of in a scary place right now vocationally. In the past I’ve always known what I was going to do. I’ve always had a job and I”ve always had stability. Right now, I don’t have any of that… so I guess we will see where this leads to.

[Katie Maurer]

Woohoo Elyse! Great news on both fronts!

Where do I go from here? Well, I want to start researching to see if a library program would work in my community. I’ve also started putting out my feelers for a location that I could host regular Sprouting Melodies groups. The biggest complication of course, is the fact that I work in an office during the day! I shared during the conference call this week about a call about some contract work that I’m hoping will allow me to move back into the MT world and quit my office job. When that happens, I’m really hoping I can put it all together to start a thriving Sprouting Melodies program!

[Katie Maurer]

After I posted here I went back and started listening to the week 9 conference call where you spoke a lot about library programs. While I listened I started looking at the programming offered in my local libraries and was shocked to discover how little is offered for the under 2 crowd. Out of 7 libraries in the system, only 2 have any programming for that age at all! Definitely was an encouraging find!

That brought up a question, what do you call your library programs? Do you refer to them as Sprouting Melodies or something else?

[Kristina Rio]

Hi Katie,

The library program that Meredith provides is not called Sprouting Melodies. It is a program that is offered once a month and is free for families to attend. We do however get a lot of our families from the library program to come sign up for the classes. It is a great way to show families how important music is for their development, and then explain that SM would be a great way for them to have consistency since it meets weekly, and the other children and parents are relatively the same from week to week, which provides a safe and trusting environment for young kids to grow and develop with consistency. I will also let Meredith know about your question so she can hop on the forum and speak more about your options with setting up actual SM groups at a library. I’m so glad to hear your enthusiasm with becoming a provider!

[Kate St. John]

Bravo Elyse!!

Katie, I also went to my local library’s website while listening to the conference call. I was surprised that there were no groups offered for children under age 2. There are three groups led by the same person, a music group, a developmental enrichment group that has music for part of it, and a felt board and story group that has music for part of it. This sounds like a great place to bring people in the door.

I have a clinic and I am planning to offer SM there. I have lots of questions related to marketing SM and how to get enough people to sign up, pricing, etc. I have already done my homework on similar types of classes in the area so I have a good idea of the pricing, but would like to have more support in that area too. Will all that be answered with the “support package” after paying for the license?

I have an employee and plan to open multiple NeuroRhythm locations across the country, possibly franchising. So I plan to pay for the Agency license to train multiple employees and offer it at multiple locations, but it is too expensive for me right now. Hopefully in the next couple months or so I can afford to pay for it and get started.

[Anonymous]

Hi Kate,

I am going to forward your questions to Meredith. It sounds like you have many exciting things on the horizon!

[Cassandra Mulcahy]

Hooray Elyse! Great work!

From here I will become a SM provider through my work 🙂 I have some groups that are pending in the future. I also feel that this is something I can find locations for in my more immediate community. I travel quite a bit for work, and it would be wonderful to have a program that I could share with local libraries and community centers. I feel inspired to seek out new locations for this great program.

[Cassandra Mulcahy]

Hooray Elyse! Great work!

From here I will become a SM provider through my work 🙂 I have some groups that are pending in the future. I also feel that this is something I can find locations for in my more immediate community. I travel quite a bit for work, and it would be wonderful to have a program that I could share with local libraries and community centers. I feel inspired to seek out new locations for this great program.

[Nancy Bair]

Great news Elyse! Way to go!!!

After, I finished listening to the conference call, and I was happy to hear about all the ideas of how to price your classes and approach community places, such as the library. My local library has as great storytime program for 0-2, 2-3 and 4-5 yr old. I haven’t been to it with my twins (that would be a death wish by myself–the bookshelves will be emptied by the end….), but I plan to enlist some help and go with a friend to “check it out.”

I have so many wheels turning in my head after taking this training. Where I will go from here is not clear, but here are the areas I’m thinking…

I have a question about providing sprouting melodies for special needs children, specifically children on the autistic spectrum. Is this a possibility? Obviously, I’d have to adjust my lesson plans and potentially have other limitations like instrument choice, class size, etc. I know there is a HUGE need in my area for this specifically with this population….and I have a lot of contacts and community resources that I have hooked into through my previous MT work. I’d love to discuss the possibility of this program. Not sure who I address this question to….

Also, my father has dementia and currently attends an intergenerational day care. I think this program would be absolutely fabulous there. I need to figure out how to present this to the director. I know you mentioned in your video about your national influence in this area and I’d like to explore this. I am currently providing music for them twice a month, on the days I take my Dad there. I often do two groups, one with the seniors and one with the seniors and kids. Instead of having a parent/child relationship, it would be a child and a “grandma/grandpa.”

Lastly, in two years, my twins will be in preschool (4 years old then-gasp!!) and I would like to have an on-going program of my own by then, possibly in conjunction with their preschool. There are many preschools in the area, one specifically has dance and music “enrichment” programs that is an “add-on” 45 minutes to their regular preschool day. A lot of parents enroll their children in this program as well as the preschool. I think this is a perfect setting for sprouting melodies. I know several preschool outlets that would welcome this program.

[Jennifer DeBedout]

I am so glad that I did the training and now know more about the Sprouting Melodies program. I’m not sure if I will become a provider just yet as I’m trying to figure out the next steps for my rapidly expanding private practice. It’s exciting to be growing and working in my area.. but motherhood (7 & 12 yr old) begs (demands?) balance! I’m trying to navigate my next direction. I think there are many appealing things about the Sprouting Melodies program and that my area would embrace the programming if offered! I’m open!

[Anonymous]

Hi Nancy,

Meredith or Beth would probably be able to answer your questions in full, but I wanted to point out that their is one group of Sprouting Melodies called “Special Sprouts.” I do not recall, at the moment, where it may have been discussed in the training. I understood this program to be available for families of children with special needs, that would prefer to be in a environment that was only for special needs children. Sprouting Melodies as a whole was created to include all children, but some families feel more comfortable being with other special needs families. So, this may be a good option for you.

I forwarded this question, and your instrument package question, on to Meredith, Beth, and Kristin and I will let you know when they post on the forum.

[Meredith Pizzi]

Wow! Wow! Wow! I love reading everyone thought and plans for the future! I am all about visions for the future and making them happen! I am at the New England Region Conference right now, my second conference in 2 weeks, and I’m sitting in the hall typing this out to reply to all of your awesome comments!!
There are a number of questions I want to answer here, but first of all, I want to extend to each of you a complementary 30 minute phone call to talk about your thoughts, ideas, plans, questions and visions for the future. I do a lot of coaching with music therapists about business development and career options and I would love to extend this to all of you as your figure out where to go next. To schedule your 30 minute call, please call Leslie at Raising Harmony, at 781-343-4061 and she will schedule our call.
Okay! Now on to the questions!

Q: What do you call your library programs? Do you refer to them as Sprouting Melodies or something else?
A: I do not call my library programs Sprouting Melodies, but other Sprouting Melodies Providers are offering Sprouting Melodies through the libraries. You can decide which would work best for you. For me, the library program started before Sprouting Melodies and has always been a way for us to introduce people to what we do and to invite people down the street
to our center for Sprouting Melodies Classes. However for other Sprouting Melodies Providers who are new to early childhood or are offering programs for young kids in a new community, they have chosen to offer the library programs as Sprouting Melodies. This helps to increase brand recognition and build credibility for a new program in your area. You can offer Sprouting Melodies at a library and instill invite them to a class as you build your program. We can certainly talk more about the specifics of how this would work in many different environments.

Q: Will all f the business/marketing questions be answered with the “support package” after paying for the license?
A: Yes! I am here to help you figure out all of those details!

Q: What about paying for the license?
A: So, I’m kind of making up this question, but I want to answer Kate’s comments about getting the agency license. Everyone is welcome to begin with an individual agreement and then as your practice and your program grows you could always upgrade your membership. For most organizations, it makes perfect sense to start a program with an individual agreement. You can also have up to 2 providers as an individual program, and can then add additional folks over time and upgrade.
We also offer payment plans for the individual provider agreement. You can pay upfront $400, or $110 for 4 months, or $100 up front and then a monthly ongoing membership fee of $35 a month for the remaining 11 months.

Q:A question about providing sprouting melodies for special needs children, specifically children on the autistic spectrum. Is this a possibility?
A: As someone already mentioned we do have a model for Special Sprouts which you can offer as a Sprouting Melodies Provider. You can also however include children with autism in your regular Sprouting Melodies classes. We have had many children with autism participate in our classes and make a tremendous amount of progress with the support, modeling and interaction with their same age peers. I would suggest that you not overlook this possibility because it does work really well. At the same time, if you think a Special Sprouts would work better for your community, Beth and I can help you get that going.

Q: What about intergenerational programming?
A: We do have a Seniors and Sprouts group which would be perfect for this!! It can be done as you mentioned with older adults and little ones, or with older adults and parents bringing their little ones with then 3 generations of group members. Both ways work.

Q: What about Preschools?
A: We have worked in few schools. This is definitely do-able!

[Sarah jane Mason]

I am very grateful for the training as a MT to improve my understanding of childhood development from 0-5. This is an age group that I really feel connected to and think my personality fits best with. From here I plan to start becoming a SM provider, marketing my classes, and my goal is to have have 4 full classes by fall. I have struggled with trying to have a MT practice full time and I feel like with this community based music therapy enrichment opportunity, this is a great step in the right direction to full time. If I can get MT clients and music lesson students in the afternoons after school, and establish my early childhood programs in the morning I feel like I will be on my way to becoming a full time MT. It’s been my dream for over 6 years and I feel like SM is a big key to make it happen. As we discussed before, broadening the reach of MT is so important and providing this community based service hopefully will bring more families to know and understand about Music Therapy. Thank you, Beth and Meredith!

[Dany Orozco]

I’m still establishing my new company which is focusing on assisting C sections right now, once I establish that I will look into starting these kinds of classes. I’m excited because like I said, it’s a good way to continue to build a relationship through music and so far people have been interested when I mentioned that I might open early intervention mother-baby classes soon 🙂

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