[Alison Albino]

I also use all of these music experiences in every session. I generally structure my sessions like so: Greeting/Gathering song -> Warm Up -> Movement Song -> Instrument song -> Cool Down -> Goodbye. I’ve seen children respond to these experiences in all of the developmental stages. I’ve noticed that with repetition, children will sing along to most songs throughout the sessions. I find that leaving space to fill in lyrics is especially helpful for encouraging children to begin singing along. Moving is also a ton of fun with children! One song I love to use with children in the responsibility stage is “My Head, My Hands, My Knees, My Feet.” The children will follow these movements when the speed up and slow down. Another movement song I enjoy using is “Show Me How You Can Move,” and any movement that the child is making, no matter how small is mirrored to validate that child. I also give each child the opportunity to play instruments, with the very young ones, I like to provide drums with large surfaces that can be explored. As soon as they are able, i like to give children a choice of instrument to play. Some of my favorite instrument songs to use are “Sit With Me and Shake” and “Playing in a Band.” Finally, listening is something that happens throughout the session. Sometimes children need to take a moment to listen and take in the music. Sometimes I’ll use the warm up or the cool down to just sit and listen and/or sing along to the music.

[Alison Albino]

Singing
Awareness: Any vocalizations in response to music stimulation in generally descending pitches.
Trust: Begins imitating pitches purposefully.
Independence: Babbles and begins singing one to two word phrases.
Control: Starts singing along to familiar songs
Responsibility: Remembers and sings along to familiar music, matches timbre and pitch.

Playing Instruments
Awareness: Explores new instruments with mouth and/or hands, looks toward music.
Trust: Continues exploring instruments with hands and/or mouth. May begin filling musical pauses with intentional instrument play.
Independence: Uses hands to play instruments purposefully, explores a variety of new instruments.
Control: Follows nonverbal cues to stop and start instrument play, plays in variety of tempos.
Responsibility: Explores instruments independently, plays steady tempos and responds to musical cues.

Movement
Awareness: Will move toward or away from music intentionally.
Trust: Repeats movements that aren’t necessarily synchronous to music.
Independence: Isolates body parts, i.e. clapping hands, patting knees, stamping feet, etc.
Control: Follows learned movement to music.
Responsibility: Can move in sequence, “My Head, My Hands, My Knees, My Feet” is a great song example for movement that works in the responsibility phase.

Listening
Awareness: Recognizes parents voice, can hear changes in vocal timbre.
Trust: Differentiates between familiar and unfamiliar melodies.
Independence: Matches movement to music intensity.
Control: May pause what they are doing to stop and listen.
Responsibility: Listens to peers and caregivers making music while making music themselves.

[Alison Albino]

It appears my post for this week did not actually post as I look back to read others responses. I originally had wrote that I agreed with Cassandra about music being fun! Having all this information is so important because now I can share my knowledge with parents. I have witnessed a lot of parents who are so concerned about their child doing something “wrong” that they don’t seem to be having fun! Being reassured that their child is at a totally normal developmental level is so important.

[Alison Albino]

A lot of the songs that people have already mentioned are very similar to the songs that I have noticed are a part of the cultural and traditional music in my community. The Wheels on the Bus, Old McDonald, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and She’ll be Coming Around the Mountain are what I have really found successful as familiar music with children.

[Alison Albino]

So many of these songs are very familiar to me! With the babies in Sprouting Melodies 1 I’ve used the transition song Good Morning to You over a period of several weeks. One of the families in the class mentioned they sing that song to their son every morning now! I’ve also used In My Little Hand with this group of children. The children have responded so well in their own different ways to this song! Especially when musical pauses are given, they will fill in the gaps themselves, it’s really wonderful to see!

[Alison Albino]

I have seen children in all different developmental levels through observing Sprouting Melodies classes during my internship. What really sticks out to me is the children in the Sprouting Melodies 5 course who range from 4-6 years old. These children are experiencing music in the responsibility phase. Each week they are given the opportunity to choose their own music activities from four activities laid out around the room. They are so wonderful at imitating and singing along and coming up with their own ideas!

[Alison Albino]

My biggest takeaway from this weeks content is really looking for those “warning signs”. It is so important to know what is going on with children as they develop. If you understand typical development, you can spot something that may be taking a while to develop and focus in on that skill. I really find all of the information presented so interesting! I loved using a small pillow as a child, it really got the message across!

[Alison Albino]

Hi all, my name is Alison Albino. I’m from Connecticut, but I’ve been living in Boston for the past five years. I graduated from Berklee College of Music in May of last year; I dual majored in Music Therapy and Music Business. I’m about halfway through my internship right now at Roman Music Therapy Services. Roman Music Therapy has such a broad variety of clients that they work with, so throughout this internship so far I’ve been able to work with people from all walks of life including older adults with dementia, special needs children and adults, veterans, and hospice care. I’ve also had the pleasure to sit in on Sprouting Melodies classes throughout my training. I love being a part of the classes so much and can’t wait until I can run them myself some day. I’m really looking to learn more in depth about the early childhood stages of development and how to use music with children and their families throughout those stages.

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