[Alice Sorensen]

This training has made me excited about the upcoming year. As I mentioned before, I’m not currently in music therapy practice and with SM training, I plan on working with my current job to become a spouting melodies provider, being able to hold the sessions at our facility. This is especially exciting because it’ll bring some much needed money to our parish, it’ll give me a sense of fulfillment, serve a need in the community, and spread awareness of Sprouting Melodies!

[Alice Sorensen]

I’m planning on sharing this information with my boss at my parish, and we are hoping to start a Sprouting Melodies program in Brooklyn. He is excited for the opportunity for the parish to serve the community in this need, adn I am excited to help provide it!

[Alice Sorensen]

I think that as I pursue my sprouting melodies experiences, I’ll rely heavily on the idea of unconditional positive regard – it’s okay for kids to be out of the circle, and maintain a huge sense of positivity and joy in the spontaneity of the experience. Unconditional positive regard was huge for me when I was practicing with older adults, and it helped to create a safe space where growth and healing could occur. I hope for similar results with children and families.

[Alice Sorensen]

I’m most looking forward to being able to provide this in the community, as there’s a real need for it and I’m excited for it to enhance the community and the needs of parents. I’m also looking forward to regularly working with kids, and regularly doing music therapy again as right now I’m mostly consumed with my duties as a church music director!

[Alice Sorensen]

Music for skill building is different because while children and families will come out of SM humming melodies and aware of new songs, it’s not purposefully FOR learning new songs or for the sake of making music, although that’s certainly an incidental happening! The music itself is focused on skill building, such as language and social cues – we’re building the skills of sharing and communication, or teaching how to make a specific sound for pre-language development – that is development of a skill, happening through music interventions.

[Alice Sorensen]

Family Sprouts: Interaction. Sharing. Glee. Inclusion. Engaged.

Family Sprouts Plan:

Gathering Song: “Hello Everyone, Hello”, older children encouraging the younger kids to join in saying the names
Bonding: “Wiggly Jiggly Car Song”
ABOUT ME: “All of This is Me”
Instrument: “In My Little Hand”
Movement: “Can You Follow?”
Transition/Goodbye: It’s Time to Say Goodbye, Thank you Very Much

Sprouting Melodies 3:

Specific, Momentum, Spontaneity, Active, Individuality

Gathering Song: Gather Round!
Bonding Song: I Can Play With You, You can Play with Me
ME: All of This is Me
Instrument: You Play a Little
Movement: Jumping Up & Jumping Down
Goodbye: It’s Time to say Goodbye/Thank You Very Much

[Alice Sorensen]

I can see how Family Sprouts can be challenging because of the age variations and the different developmental stages that the children are in. I agree that positioning of the children is very important – and I love how Beth and Meredith are utilizing the children’s various developmental stages in Family Sprouts, for instance, five year olds who want to ride bikes would enjoy being in charge of the bike riding song with their sibling, if they’re the bike steerer!

[Alice Sorensen]

Definitely agreeing with the others, that how much is too much depends on the child and can vary greatly. Like the others, as a music therapist I take cues from the child both in and out of music.

[Alice Sorensen]

For this developmental level, I think I would go with the instruments that have a louder and more exciting, energetic feel to them such as Jingle Bells that the child can shake themselves (which I probably would stay away from in SM1), a big gathering drum or a djembe, or smaller drums that the kids can play, and also tamborines. I’d also incorporate things with less sharp timbres such as the egg shaker maracas, soft colorful scarves, etc in order to not be overstimulating!

[Alice Sorensen]

Flexibility – Space – Excitement – Joy – Movement

SM2 is meant for children between six and eighteen months of age, which can encompass a wide variety of development levels. In SM2, there is a higher level of energy and excitement as children are moving into the stage of independence from the parent/guardian. We focus on songs that center on movement of the child’s body, having the child be more kinesthetically aware of their own body and its space in the world. We use more instruments in SM2. Also, in SM2, you might not be physically holding your child as much as in SM1.

Greeting/Gathering:
After warmup time – “Hey, Hey, Come and Play!” (EKS)

Bonding Songs:
The Ice Cream Cone Song (EKS)

Songs about Me:
All of This is Me (EKS)

Instrument:
I Like This Song (EKS)

Movement:
Can You Follow! (EKS)

Goodbye:
It’s Time to Say Goodbye
Thank You Very Much

[Alice Sorensen]

Fluidity – Calm – Gentle – Bonding – Awareness

SM about the children’s developmental stages, which in music are the stages of Trust and Awareness, particularly in SM1. Everybody stays, everybody plays – by singing to your child, you develop their trust in your unique vocal tone and timbre. Bonding songs, especially when they vary tempo, can speak to the child’s trust in the bond – you’re about to go faster or change the tempo or perhaps the dynamic, and they learn to trust, and stimulate awareness. Songs where we spend time concentrating on the “self” speak to the child’s developing awareness, in this case, of himself – where is my face? Where is yours? We’re bringing these concepts into the child’s awareness, through music.

1.) Hello/Gathering: “Hello Everyone, Hello” – based on Jamaican folk melody, Tracy Wanamaker

2.) Bonding Song: “Row it Faster”

3.) Self Song: “Where Is My Face”

4.) Instrument Play: “In My Little Hand”

5.) Movement: “As Big as Can Be”

6.) Goodbye: It’s Time to Say Goodbye

[Alice Sorensen]

I experienced children at this age and level when I was completing my music therapy fieldwork with Beth at Alternatives in Summer of 2012. I remember seeing the growth effected in the children we worked with through music interventions, and being so in awe of the process – music is enough, and it was marvelous to me how specific songs were so helpful and so meaningful to children at different developmental ages.

[Alice Sorensen]

I was also not able to download it.

[Alice Sorensen]

I began to understand it most when I was watching the first video, and Meredith and Beth were making the distinction that the groups aren’t music therapy, but it’s music therapy based. I agree that there is a need in music therapy in communities – from an advocacy standpoint and from a need for service standpoint. It is important for everyone to be able to experience music therapy based programs, whether or not there is a developmental delay – our skills as music therapists go beyond only working with children with special needs and those skills are very much needed in our communities. I recall Meredith talking about referring to it as a class but not to us as teachers, and that made a lot of sense to me because we’re offering a class, a learning experience, but we’re not teaching – we’re intervening, providing music interventions and music therapy based approaches to child development instead of teaching parents what they should be doing or otherwise formally imparting knowledge. I think that’s a really important aspect of music therapy in communities.

[Alice Sorensen]

I think the needs of the families I’ll be working with will simply be a place to be in music – and all of the things that being in music together provides, such as support, socialization, bonding, etc. As I’ve mentioned before, I think this program is really unique and it is a real need in the community, which has a vast range of socioeconomic families and a lot of diversity.

[Author]

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