[Angela Drury]

Suzanne – great start, way to go! I too am excited/anxious to work on my advocacy. My main work experience was in one institution, where the best advocacy happened just by showing others what I do. Now i am getting out into a community and I will have to advocate without the ease of just showing….using words and being articulate and concise with adults. I too, am much better with the children 😛

[Angela Drury]

I am so excited for all of you and your endeavors! It has been great and informative to hear different perspectives from fellow MT’s with different experiences in early childhood. Wishing you all the best as well

[Angela Drury]

From here, I am planning to meet with local libraries and businesses to get myself out there. I have connection to a few local moms and community members that can point me in the direction of all available resources and groups for parents already existing in my new community. I also plan to seek out opportunities to join local boards and committees, such as the rotary club.

I feel this information is already ingrained in me and has informed my practice, especially since everything has been reinforced as I see it and experience it with my own son.

[Angela Drury]

I am literally packing up right now for a big move to a new community, where my mother in law is already telling everyone about my plans to bring music therapy based early childhood music into the community. My new community is very small and lacks in early childhood resources. I am so excited for this fresh start and to have completed this training, which got me excited and passionate for early childhood music. When I began the training, early childhood music frightened me because babies and toddlers are entirely different animals than school age children and I felt under trained to provide for this age. I am now confident and excited to have so many great resources at my fingertips! I am already planning on meeting with the local libraries and a few local business owners to offer workshops or groups to get myself out there.

[Angela Drury]

Suzanne – it sounds like you have your hands full! I am also excited about the network of providers that is specific to this program, but also all MTs! I am so glad I didn’t cough up money for an inadequate training geared towards non-clinicians just to use a recognized name/logo. I gained so much knowledge in addition to a network of invaluable insight and marketing/business guidance.

[Angela Drury]

I agree with fair, firm, and consistent! That was the first lesson I learned when I worked in an after school program and one that i find essential even for adult groups. I also agree that children respond better to praise when doing ‘good’ things. I have always ‘kept it breezy’ in how I redirect (more direct when needed), which helps with rapport and keeps the mood positive.

I use activities that allow for different levels of participation and consider that every child is doing their best. Listening is still participating!

Hally – I like that you mentioned choices! That is always a great way to make anyone feel involved and engage them. Success for me means a sense of achievement or ownership and choice making is a great avenue for that.

[Angela Drury]

I am in the middle of moving to a new community, in a new state, and I am so excited for a fresh start! I never thought I would work in early childhood as a music therapist and this course fell in my lap at just the perfect time in my life. I enrolled in this while on maternity leave, because a friend asked me to do some mommy and me classes at her music studio. I have since caught a glimpse of the available early childhood music programs and gained a ton of confidence as an MT for how much more we have to offer! It was also perfect timing as I got to play and sing with my son in a very special, unique way, as my way of learning the material! I quit my job and now am planning on providing SM in my new community, which so desperately needs more early childhood programs. I am also eager to use SM as a way to get involved and be a leader in my new community.

[Angela Drury]

5 words Family Sprouts: Connect, Flexible, Social, mindful, variety
plan: Hello Song – Hello (NR), Bonding – Row row row, Songs About Me – Where is the music? Instrument Song – I like this song, Movement – I can move around, Goodbye – Goodbye (MRP)

5 words SM3: Energy, emotions, unique, accepting, creative
Plan: Sit downa nd join my circle, Bonding – Swimming together, Songs About Me – where is the music?, Instrument – You play a little, Movement – Clickety Clack, Goodbye – Time to Go

[Angela Drury]

Sam – “When music is used for musical skill building, the attention is on musical skill rather than the developmental areas and the clinician may not be as trained in how to support someone through their developmental stages.”
When you said this, it shows another benefit of MT’s in the role of music skills training, because we can adapt and teach music in a way that is developmentally appropriate and break it down into more understandable concepts. I am sure parents can relate to seeing somebody try to teach their children something that goes way over their heads and ends in frustration for the children. I could have a whole different conversation on music skill building with children! Parents want their children in music lessons, but those initial music lessons and experiences are so crucial to their children’s attitude and motivation for music that they should be successful and rewarding experiences.

[Angela Drury]

I am also assuming that music for skill building, means music skills.
I would tell parents to think about the importance of ‘play’ for their children, what are children doing when they ‘play’? Play involves expression, creativity, freedom of choice, spontaneity, and social connection. We play within the music, because we can structure and manipulate the music to allow children specific opportunities and choices, while still maintaining those elements of play. We are guiding their play to allow opportunities for self-expression, communication, movement, social interactions, and provide opportunities for children to explore choice making and independence.

The more you are exposed to music and the more you play with music, the more ‘musical’ you become. Just like we are all exposed to language and learn to speak without being formally taught as babies. Our brains are equipped for language, just as they are for music. When we reach school age, we begin to learn the rules of our language, how to read and write, and can continue this learning to a much higher level. The same applies to music. You don’t have to have formal music training to be musical. You can talk and hold a conversation without knowing how to read or write, just like you can sing and clap a rhythm without knowing what notes you are singing or rhythm you are playing. Music for skill building is specific to just that, music skills.

[Angela Drury]

I agree with Kim about the challenges of making the activities engaging and not boring for those functioning at a higher level. When I was working in adult inpatient psych, I always had this challenge of trying to facilitate specific groups that could engage a vast array of functioning levels. In the end, it always worked out because we have so much flexibility with music and those higher functioning sometimes enjoy taking things a step back and flourishing. It is especially great to see them take leadership and really help out the lower functioning. Personally when planning these groups, it was helpful to remember (and to model) that it is typically easier to start simple and make things gradually more challenging, rather than losing/confusing/scaring half of your group. It was also helpful, as Erin mentioned, to use activities that allow for different levels of participation.
Specifically for children, I have also frequently seen teachers/facilitators give older kids special tasks as ‘helpers’ which is a great way to engage them and give them a sense of accomplishment.

[Angela Drury]

I think with kiddos this young, it is easier to gauge the level of stimulation. If a baby isn’t getting enough stimulation, they will go find it elsewhere and if they are overstimulated they will voice their opposition or maybe even just disengage. I love this age, because you can tell when they are fully engaged and loving it. So, how do you manage the stimulation level for a group of babies with a large developmental range with their caregivers? I am sure it will be trial and error at first! Right off the bat, controlling the room and atmosphere that the children walk into and the layout of instruments can help set up for success or failure. I am also used to gauging a group and changing my own posture, stance, or position in the group. I am sure as I get more comfortable leading these types of groups and gain more repertoire and tools in my toolchest, I will be more flexible and able to immediately respond to signs of over or under stimulation. I would love to hear more about musical tools that can help in the moment, i.e. Meredith mentioned keeping the rhythm going to keep or divert attention

[Angela Drury]

5 words: observe, explore, energy, variety, surprise
5 sentences: When your child is watching and observing others, they are working just as hard to process what they are seeing, they will probably go home and do everything they just observed.
It’s ok if your child moves all around, you probably know best that there is no way we are going to be able to make every child sit still
Look how your child is anticipating what comes next, they are starting to become familiar with the music
As your child is gaining new skills, they have so many more options and choices. let them explore those choices, whether that looks like playing or not playing, shaking high or shaking low
Your child might like to sit facing their peers, they are noticing their peers and the other moms even if they arent ready to interact with them
Plan: Hello (NR), Bonding- Hold on tight, Songs About Me: All of this is me, Instrument: In My little Hand, Movement: Pick Your Hands Up High, Goodbye – Goodbye (MRP)

[Angela Drury]

I purchased the stacking frame drums as shown in the videos a few months ago and I have grown to love them! They sound great (I have used them with adults and they don’t even notice they have a children’s pattern), are easy to hold, compact for easy storage, and the variety of sizes and pitches is fantastic. The lightweight foam mallets that come with them are my sons absolute favorite. I never realized the versatility of a simple frame drum until I had my son….you can bounce balls off of them, hold them upside down and roll balls around to make a cool sound, use them to hold and pass out shakers, hold them up to a light and you can see your hands shadow, or sing into them and feel the vibrations

LP makes a clear plastic tube shaker with beads in it that has been endless fun!I love that it is just a tube and doesn’t have a handle. It would be great for kids that can grasp larger objects or grab and shake with both hands. It is even fun to just roll it along the floor. If the colored beads are too distracting, they might even make solid color ones.

Recently I purchased the REMO rhythm lids that you put on 5 gallon buckets for a drum group of mine. My 9 month old goes to town on them! They are the perfect height for him to stand and play and have a large diameter, which makes target practice easier. The only downfall is the buckets are so lightweight they topple over easy, so you have to hold them with kiddos that might lean on them for support :/. Compared to the REMO kids floor tom and other drums, the larger size and height make them a lot of fun for kiddos that want to stand and drum. I really wish they made a tubano that size!

This age is tricky because of such varying abilities. Many are still not stable walkers and still mouth. My son also loves the large wood frog guiro which has a short wide mallet that is easy for him to hold, but he prefers to grab my hand while I scrape. It is great to mix it up and provide a new wood sound and he can feel it as he scrapes the ridges.

[Angela Drury]

Christina- Like you said, this class has really helped me to see the benefit and advantage of using voice with this age. One of my first hesitations when thinking about leading music groups with such young kiddos prior to this training was about the use of the guitar or accompaniment for many different reasons. I especially love that in allowing ourselves to put the guitar down in a session, it empowers parents and makes singing and music time more accessible, if that’s the word I’m looking for. That it shows parents they can be just as musical at home without being a musician.

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