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I also use Remo instruments, and have some small LP chiquita shakers with handles. I also like taking small bells with handles (not sure the brands) and very small drums that the kids can explore! We also have little “quack sticks” that we use often with the kiddos at the hospital. West Music is always a go-to.
ParticipantWorking at a pediatric hospital, the needs of the patients and families are quite unique and challenging. Bonding with their infant is often a challenge for parents due to the medical complexities of the children, and developmental stimulation is also a great need for the kids due to those same medical needs! Once the babies and infants are stable enough to leave their rooms, or hopefully the hospital, I have had parents express to me how much they would love a developmental music therapy group, as their child has catching up to do, and also they get concerned bringing them to groups with kids that may have viruses or the like. So I think that could be a fantastic opportunity for us to offer our community.
May 14, 2015 at 9:18 pm
in reply to: What value do music therapists bring to families of young children?
ParticipantIt’s so nice to read all these comments– yeah, we are pretty cool as music therapists! I echo what everyone else has said– our thought process, the purpose behind the music– HOW we play it, WHEN we play it, and WHY we play it are all considerations that we have with each music therapy session. This makes our approach effective and encompassing of the whole child through the music. As Jaycie mentioned, our flexibility to adapt to whatever needs might be presenting, our musical skills, and our interpersonal skills are all things that make us unique, qualified, and engaging, not just for children, but for any population we may be working with.
May 6, 2015 at 8:06 pmParticipantListening: Awareness– Recognizes parents voices, turns toward sound; Trust– Soothes to familiar music; Independence– Responds with facial affect to musical changes; Control– Listens intently, will stop actions to listen; Responsibility– Actively engages in listening to peers, can take turns to listen.
Moving: Awareness– Sucks rhythmically and moves rhythmically; Trust– Bounces to music, but not in time. Independence– Isolates body parts, has a sense of self in relation to musical engagement; Control: Imitates and mirrors musical movements; Responsibility: Creates their own movements to music.
Playing Instruments: Awareness– Responds differently to sedative vs. play music, grasps instrument, may put instrument in mouth; Trust– Pulse is closer to meter of songs, grabs and tosses instruments; Independence– Independently explores different sounds of instruments, takes them out of containers and puts them away when finished; Control– Loves musical suprises and starts and stops in music; Responsibility– engages in social music making.
Singing: Awareness– Uses pitch, may cry in the same key as music; Trust– matches pitch, beginning of communication; Independence– Uses melodic inflection so listener can identify song; experiments with voice; Control– follows melodic contour, leaves out parts of songs, proud of music making, may love singing into a microphone; Responsibility– explores pulse and meter, sings entire songs from beginning to end.
May 5, 2015 at 9:58 pm
in reply to: How have you used these four music experiences in your practice?
ParticipantWith the little kiddos I work with, I always try and incorporate elements of each of these into each session. To encourage singing or vocalizing, I love using the Nordoff-Robbins song “Let’s Sing A Song”– the repetitive “La”s and musical cues are so fantastic to encourage vocalizing! With instrument play, when I introduce the instruments, I tend to start off with some type of explorative instrument playing, letting them check out all the instruments, put them down, try the next one, etc. with no direction from me. (It was nice hearing that it’s still developmental this way, that felt very validating!) I also will do a lot of musical surprises and starting and stopping depending on where the child is developmentally. Moving is almost always a part of each session, whether a body awareness, or something else. (I love a lot of the Laurie Berkner songs for this, Song in My Tummy and the Goldfish song are great ones!) For listening, I will often incorporate a musical story song, or maybe even end with a lullaby or something more sedative, depending on what the kiddo and the parents are needing in the moment.
May 5, 2015 at 7:42 pmParticipantToday I was working with a little one who has had a lot of setbacks due to illness and surgeries. She had been developmentally on track, and is since playing catch up. I observed her in the awareness stage today during our session. She was alert and definitely responded to the different feels in the music that I was presenting, sedative or play. It is great to be able to help parents see these different responses musically and how they tie to their development! Her mom was very appreciate of this information as we went along.
May 5, 2015 at 7:39 pm
in reply to: Discuss with the board the traditional and cultural music in your home community.
ParticipantLike Christine, I am also half-Filipino, so grew up listening to a lot of Filipino children’s songs and rhymes, maybe some that are traditional, but some that I think my mom would make up, teaching body parts, or even to wake me up in the morning! I also grew up listening to a lot of folk music from the 60s and 70s and classical music, as those were my parent’s preferred music. Also, one of the big musical influences for me early on was a TV show in the 80s called Jem and the Holograms, about an all female musical rock group, that plays their own instruments, and writes their own songs. I thought that was the coolest thing ever, and tie that pretty strongly to me wanting to be a musician growing up. Early music is pretty influential! 🙂
May 5, 2015 at 7:34 pm
in reply to: Sing and learn some of the songs presented in the video. Share with the board your experiences using these songs.
ParticipantI haven’t had the opportunity to try these songs out yet, but I loved them! The different musical flavors made me realize how easy it is to get stuck musically, even in improvisations, and that I need to try and get out of that major key box and try some different feels and modes, even with the little ones!
One of the other great things that I feel like I got from these musical selections was permission for myself to put down the guitar. So often I feel I need to be accompanying myself, and I realize that this isn’t always needed or appropriate!
Thanks for these great songs, I have every intention on incorporating them in my practice to help the little ones in the hospital continue to work on their development.
April 12, 2015 at 7:46 pm
in reply to: What was your most valuable takeaway from this weeks’ content?
ParticipantSorry for the late post everyone!
My biggest take away with this week’s videos was obviously in relation to development, but put in the context where I work, at a children’s hospital. Seeing where the developmental lags tend to be for children who are hospitalized at early ages, and often for long periods of time, I am increasingly considerate of where we can support in these important developmental milestones. Hearing these things was also reinforcing of the work I am already doing with these sweet kiddos!
ParticipantHello everyone! My name is Amanda Maestro-Scherer. I’ve been a board certified music therapist for about 7 years now, and I’m currently living in Salt Lake City, Utah. I did my undergraduate degree at Berklee College of Music, and my masters at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. I’ve been working with kids and adolescents since my internship, which was at the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute, an acute psychiatric facility. After that, I worked for a private practice doing a variety of different things, from hospice, groups with kiddos with autism, refugee high school students and various psychiatric facilities. I then went on to take a full time position at a school for kids with special needs, ages 5-22.
My most recent job has brought me into early childhood– for the last three years, I have been at Primary Children’s Hospital, working with all ages, from birth to early 20s (and their parents, and grandparents). What I’m hoping to get out of this course is a deeper understanding of early childhood development, to enhance the clinical work I am currently providing for the kids I work with in early childhood at the hospital. We do support a lot of developmental goals for children in medical settings and considering this is an age group I have only been working with for the last 3 years, I’d love to expand my knowledge. Thanks for offering this course. I am excited to participate, and also really appreciate that you offer it solely to music therapists. That was a big selling point for me!!
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