[Ann Marie Raddell]

Soothing, bonding, cooperative, warm, calming

Babies are individuals and have different responses to music that may be different from the other babies in the room.
Bonding with caregiver is an important goal of SM1.
Babies have different responses to calming songs versus play-songs.
Movements that are stimulating for one child may not be for another, so as a caregiver you can try an alternate way (standing vs. sitting).
Babies are able to engage in instrument playing with the correct instruments.
The routine of babies are constantly changing. What doesn’t work one week, may work the next.

[Ann Marie Raddell]

I have shared this before a few weeks ago, but it also fits within this week’s topic. I took a music class with my daughter when she was just a few months old. She just turned seven on Friday, which is hard to believe. The wasn’t a great experience, and I often found myself thinking about what I would do differently if I was facilitating the class. After staying in the class for a few months, I looked to see if there were any other music class offerings for children of my daughter’s age that may be a better fit for what I wanted for her. I never found another option. So, at that point, I approached the community based agency for which I work (still do!) to ask permission for me to start an early childhood music program. They jumped at the offer. I always introduce my groups by explaining that I am a music therapist. And often times families are really intrigued and excited by that information. It also opens the door for them to approach me with questions regarding development. I try to provide for families what was not given to me and my child in that class I took. I am very grateful for that class though, because without it, I may never have gone down the early childhood music path, which I enjoy so very much. And I also was able to get a glimpse of what works and what doesn’t. Early childhood music groups are an absolute need. And my classes are always packed, because there are not a lot of them offered in my area. I truly believe it is even more valuable because of my background in music therapy.

[Ann Marie Raddell]

Thanks for sharing that, Erika! Glad to know that I am not off-base in offering a class for families with multiple children!

[Ann Marie Raddell]

Music therapists have so much to offer to families with young children. Music therapists have the knowledge to provide information to families in regards to the development of children, while also creating and facilitating music experiences to encourage bonding, stimulate the senses, promote learning and provide opportunities for socialization. And music therapists are not only providing meaningful services to the children, but supporting and empowering the parents and caregivers as well.

[Ann Marie Raddell]

I wanted to add a bit more to my response since I am still thinking about the needs of my community. Early childhood programming in general is a HUGE need, which is why I began offering classes. I took a music class with my own daughter years ago and was disappointed, because it wasn’t what I needed to bond with her and have a memorable experience. So, I wanted to provide that opportunity to those around me. When I meet a new family in one if my classes, they almost always say that they were excited to find an early childhood music class, because there are not many offerings in my community. The agency that I work for has done a wonderful job building more of an early childhood emphasis and most recently added age-appropriate infant and toddler art classes.

[Ann Marie Raddell]

I echo Noelle that Saturday and early evening groups are a need for the community I serve. However, because of the large number of dance classes that occur during those hours, room space is limited at my agency. I do what I can and meet a large number of families during the day-time hours, but even more children could be served if I was able to broaden the days/times that groups are offered. We are looking at an expansion in the relatively near future. I am hoping at that time we will be able to serve a larger number of families.

Another need of my community are groups that are able to include siblings. I know it is emphasized that children should be placed in developmentally appropriate age-groupings. I absolutely understand the purpose in doing so and used to keep all ages separated. There is a high number of Catholic mothers in my community and attending multiple music groups is just not possible for these moms. I have needed to find ways of meeting the developmental needs of all children in attendance even when there is a range of ages in a group. I offer age specific groups as well, but based on the need of a large amount of moms and requests by those families to include siblings (that are often close in age), I include two groups where children ranging in age are in one class. I have had success in making that work, though it was challenging to navigate at first.

[Ann Marie Raddell]

I found it very helpful to categorize these different music experiences that may be found in an early childhood group. I was able to reflect on the music that I plan per week for the children in my groups.

I feel as if my groups are fairly well-rounded in using singing, instrument playing, movement and listening. I create a picture schedule for my families to follow, but also for myself to be certain that I am covering a wide variety of experiences. My groups are often very heavy in movement as movement was strongly emphasized in my undergraduate training. The aspect that I struggled with the most in determining a developmental sequence was “listening.” There are aspects of my own group that require listening but almost always have one other experience intertwined. For example, we sing a hello song that requires a child to raise his or her hand upon hearing his or her name. The child needs to actively listen in order to know when it’s his or her turn to raise a hand (or two!), but the movement of raising a hand is also involved (many of the children also sway or rock to the song). I am curious what a listening-only experience would look like and if that is used in the early childhood groups of other MTs.

[Ann Marie Raddell]

Singing:
Awareness: suck, make movements with mouth in response to music; caregiver imitates (applying NICU MT knowledge for this one!). Trust: approximates pitch in response to music. Independence: imitate repeated sounds in familiar music. Control: independently sing and perform familiar song for caregiver. Responsibility: sing familiar songs, learn call and response with peers.

Playing:
Awareness: looking toward or away from instruments; reaching toward instrument. Trust: holding, grasping instrument. Independence: intentionally creating sound with instrument. Control: chooses preferred instrument; starts and stops with music. Responsibility: maintain steady rhythm on a variety of instruments; follow changing tempo and dynamic level.

Movement:
Awareness: naturally moves in response to sedative versus play songs. Trust: incorporates entire body in movement experiences. Independence: isolates one body part at a time to music. Control: imitates learned movements and follows model. Responsibility: follows movement pattern.

Listening:
Awareness: turns head toward or away from the music being played or sung. Trust: familiar songs are known by child as indicated by response. Independence: facial expression and movements match style of music. Control: chooses to engage in the music played by stopping other actions. Responsibility: participates in group listening experiences and music sharing.

[Ann Marie Raddell]

I began another section of my community-based early childhood class today. This topic was well-timed for me, because I was very aware of observing the children in the room with the music stages in mind. I had one little boy in one of my classes since he was an infant. He is now two. His mom was telling a new mom in the group how it has been fun watching her child in music class and how he continues to gain more skills during the process. I remember when he was in the stage of awareness and spent a large amount of time looking at his mother, or me or one of the instruments. As he grew, so did his music self. Now, he is clearly in the stage of independence as he easily moves away from his mother and independently plays his instruments with purpose. I observed him attempting to start and stop playing his maracas to a “freeze” song I was playing and singing the repeated sounds that I was using during a singing experience. I love when families start a music class with an infant. Like the mother that was describing her experience to another mom, it’s rewarding for me to see that growth as the child ages as well.

[Ann Marie Raddell]

Kristen and Sarah, I absolutely agree with the “I, IV, V” comment as well. It was such a great reminder that we are able to bring more musically complex, yet still age appropriate music to clients we serve. I started a new section of my early childhood class today. While I did not use any of the specific songs taught (my theme today was winter!), I was keeping in mind what type of song I was using and why. I never realized how many transition and embedded songs I use on a daily basis and how purposeful that music is to the group and the needs of the children. And Sarah, I had the same thought about using “Sit Down With Me And Sing This Song” to introduce some instruments!

[Ann Marie Raddell]

I work for a community agency. We bring in many different people from many different local communities. We strive to be able to bring the arts to anyone interested regardless of income. That is one of the largest reasons that I enjoy my job so much. I see families who have higher incomes and live in the suburbs, families from urban areas, and other families who speak other languages in their homes. One of the largest aspects that bring all of these groups together is music. I provide the opportunity for these families to share their preferred music with me and our music therapy and/or early childhood music programs.

In my own home, I echo Laetitia in describing our home as “eclectic.” I love exposing my own children to many genres of music from many different eras. Like Sarah, we often have music playing. We have a large mix of Pandora stations. My six-year-old’s music teacher often comments on how he never knows what he will hear my daughter sing next. One day it may be musical theatre another day it may be Frank Sinatra.

[Ann Marie Raddell]

It was helpful to see each stage of development in one presentation. It really demonstrated how quickly children change, grow and develop. Although it is not necessarily new information for me, I always appreciate hearing it again, because I am able to catch information that stands out to me in different ways than the last time I learned this information. After listening to the presentation, one new consideration for me is the difference between early childhood classes that have parents and caregivers present versus my classes that only have a teacher in the classroom. Each class definitely has its own dynamic, and my role is slightly altered depending on those different situations. It was interesting for me to think about how each child’s developmental stage also plays an important part in those different types of groups.

[Ann Marie Raddell]

One of my largest personal goals of my current early childhood groups is providing those in attendance with a positive experience: not only for the children, but also for the families. I want them to leave the group feeling encouraged and uplifted.

I have noticed even with my own little girls that people in public often comment on children. Sometimes they have something positive to say, other times they may smile or giggle about the difficult behaviors they see. While those comments and responses don’t personally bother me, I know that sometimes it creates the idea that children always have to be on their best behavior, so some of the families I see may carry that view into my early childhood groups.

I try to create a safe and welcoming environment on day one by telling the group that children respond to music in so many different ways. I don’t want them to feel like they need to leave the group room if the child cries or has a difficult moment. I often have a mom or dad approach me to apologize for their child’s behavior when often that behavior is very common for a child of that age. I like to remind parents that even though at times certain behaviors are challenging, those actions and attitudes are also wonderful, because it means the child is on track for his or her age. Sometimes parents need to hear a different perspective. I always remind them that there is never a reason to apologize, since the child is learning how to navigate his or her environment in his or her own way on his or her own time.

The presented information is a great reference point as to which characteristics are typical per developmental age. I am looking forward to the other topics mentioned in the presentation. I know that new songs, interventions and approaches will be very helpful for my own groups. I am always looking for some new ideas.

[Ann Marie Raddell]

Ashley, I know Bethany Lutheran Village well, since I went to the University of Dayton. I had practicum experience there. Small world 🙂

[Ann Marie Raddell]

Hi, everyone! It’s nice to meet you all! My name is Ann Marie Raddell. I am from Wickliffe, Ohio, which is a suburb of Cleveland. I graduated from the University of Dayton in 2005. I completed my music therapy internship at an inpatient adult psychiatric hospital. Once I completed my internship, I became a full-time music therapist at that hospital. The state eventually closed down that facility, which led to my decision to move back to my hometown with my husband as opposed to accepting a position with the sister hospital in another city. Upon moving home, I accepted a music therapy position at a school for “troubled and troubling children and adolescents” (Kindergarten-High School). I worked there for one year and then had a baby girl. Initially I was permitted to work part time, but then was told I needed to work full-time. I decided I wanted to find a part-time position and accepted a job at the Fine Arts Association of Willoughby, a community based arts agency very near to my own home that provides music therapy services both on-site and off-site around the area. I have now been a part of the Fine Arts community for almost seven years. Initially I only provided music therapy services to individual clients with varying needs. I realized a large need for early childhood music experiences when I took a music class with my own infant. I was really disappointed with the experience and realized how few music options exist for the early childhood group. At that time, I asked permission to start a group on site at my agency. They loved the idea and helped me move forward. From there it really took off, (other people near me also observed the lack of opportunity for infants and toddlers!) and I have been running early childhood groups for five years. One of my current contracts also includes the preschool and kindergarten classes at my daughters’ school, which has been wonderful.

My desire to provide meaningful music experiences in early childhood increased even more after having my second daughter. She had a bone marrow transplant when she was nine months old, and I experienced firsthand how much music helped her. I was very grateful for my own background most especially during that time.

I am looking forward to gaining more ideas and resources to use as part of my early childhood music classes.

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