[Beth McLaughlin]

Since I retired, many of my colleagues from Wildwood School have asked me to do a music classes with their babies and toddlers. I have arranged to use my classroom at school to provide Sat. classes later this fall. I have also been invited to do a one time music class/performance at a local early childhood center for young children with ASD. As part of this experience, I will be sharing information about SM and invite staff to distribute to their families. I have also been involved with a small group of families from a local support group with whom I will share this information. Finally, within our local music therapy community there are several music therapists working with young children both privately and within their school programs. I plan on talking to them about the SM training and encouraging them to look into it for their own professional development.

[Beth McLaughlin]

It’s very exciting to read what everyone is intending to do with this training and how it will inform and expand their practice. I love how SM training has validated and inspired us as clinicians. My situation is a little different as I am not intending to grow an existing practice. I am considering starting a VERY small practice focusing on providing music to families with babies and toddlers. The SM model provides a perfect framework for these classes and I am seriously considering becoming a provider. I appreciate all the work that Meredith and Beth have put in to creating this business and the materials needed for us to use as we start the program in our communities. I am at a point where I am happy to have this work done for me! I look forward to continuing to grow in my knowledge of early childhood development and to share the information and resources with the families I work with.

[Beth McLaughlin]

I’ve learned so much from the course. Much of what has been presented in terms of music, structure, behavior management etc. has provided strong validation for the work I have done during my career providing music therapy for young children with ASD. What I’m looking forward to the most as I move forward is:

Providing music activities with a better and more informed understanding of the value and importance of how these experiences are supporting child development.

Engaging parents and caregivers so that they can experience the full joy of music making with their children

Having greater insight into why some music interventions/activities are NOT appropriate or do not fully support children at certain stages of development.

Making music with babies and toddlers.

NOT doing IEPs!

[Beth McLaughlin]

My strategies for success include:

Accepting minimal response and reinforcing small steps

Celebrating novel ideas and including them in the musical response

Having the adult sit in front of the child to encourage joint attention and reciprocity

Giving plenty of time to process the model or direction before repeating or prompting

Tons of praise

Use of movement props such as hoops, stretchy bands etc. that define the group or diad but do not require physical touch (for the sensory defensive child)

1 – 2 minutes of quiet music in the beginning and end to transition children to and from the music environment

Allowing children to sit away from the circle with an adult partner if needed and join at their own pace

[Beth McLaughlin]

This is an interesting question. When we think of over-stimulation we often think of a child OVER reacting to the music stimuli with increased behavior or agitation. I’ve worked with many children who exhibit over-stimulation by under-reacting or tuning out. I know infants’ sensory systems will shut down if overstimulated by their environment (it drives me crazy to see newborns at the mall!). As Jessica mentioned they can only handle so much information then they go to sleep…the perfect defense! As others have also discussed, it is important to assess the environment and understand what other external stimuli might be contributing or interfering with a child’s attention or inability to engage. As we’ve learned in the course, the care with which we choose the size and sound of the instruments and attend to the timbre of our voice is critical to assuring full engagement of the children. I also appreciate what’s been said about really taking the time understand the responses and needs of each individual child. They are our best teachers.

[Beth McLaughlin]

5 words to describe SM3 experience:
creative – active – accepting – personality – emotions

5 words to describe Family Sprouts experience:
challenging – inclusive – cooperation – joyful – sharing

[Beth McLaughlin]

Music for skill building requires an assessment of specific deficit areas and a prescriptive treatment plan for music interventions that will target the identified needs of the child in areas of cognitive, social, motor, or language development. It is also more dependent upon the relationship between the child and the music therapist. Music for development focuses on providing an environment that is shaped by music strategies designed to nurture the child’s overall development with more of a focus on the parent/ child relationship.

[Beth McLaughlin]

Challenges for providing music to multi-age groups include:

Finding music that appeals to a varied age group

Balancing the need for consistency and repetition within the structure for younger children while encouraging and enabling creativity for the older kids.

Keeping the focus on the music and not engaging in conversation with the older children.

Structuring opportunities for older children to be models as well as partners while maintaining positive interaction.

Reassuring parents that demonstrating independence is not a behavioral concern but a natural stage in development that should be encouraged and celebrated.

[Beth McLaughlin]

The youngest child I have worked with is 4 years old. I use chiquitas, small frame drums and circle drums. I like the single bell shaker that has a very gentle sound. I agree with Beth that they are very easy to mouth and not as easy to clean as the chiquitas but I give them a good a good wash between each use. I love the ribbon streamers on the scrunchy band that West music sells. The children can hold them or wear them on their wrists. They also have the same ribbons on a plastic ring that are fun as well. When I use scarves, I also take them home and wash them in a mesh bag. The small child’s tambourine (Remo rhythm club – 6″) has a quiet sound and is easy for little hands to hold. I was very fortunate to get a matching grant to purchase Remo’s NSL (not so loud) large table drum which everyone loves but is a little tall for toddlers.

[Beth McLaughlin]

5 words (or 2 word phrases) to describe SM2 experience:
playful – movement exploration – predictable surprise – authentic energy – intrinsic spontaneity

5 Sentences to use when speaking with parents about musical responses of children in SM2

Create a safe place for your child to move both within and outside of the group as this encourages their independence and supports self-initiated response to the music experience

Musical elements such as glissandos, rests, tempo change, vocal timbre, help to create moments of surprise in a song but it needs to be predictable so that the child can anticipate the change and look forward to it. This strengthens his level of trust in the environment.

Helping your child have feet flat on the floor when tamping feet helps them to organize and process sensory information from the environment and feel more grounded as they have greater certainty about where there body is in space.

Your child will respond rhythmically through movement and instrument play but their movements do not necessarily synchronize with the music. To build trust, make sure your responses synchronize with theirs.

To encourage your child’s independent response to the music environment, keep a number of instruments close to them so that they can reach and choose which and how many to play.

Session plan for SM2:

Gathering/greeting – All of our friends are here today, hooray, hooray (same gathering song from SM!) – use stretchy band to include all in the circle

Bonding song – Horsey Carry me (EKS – page 48)

Songs about me – All of this is me (EKS)

Instrument song – I Know Just How it Goes (EKS p. 119 (use maracas and add verses that vary tempo and start/stop)

Movement – Jumping Up and Jumping Down (EKS p. 69) variation: use scarves as props to stretch and bend instead of jump, adding dramatic pauses between up/down, sky/ground to allow time to process movement changes.

Good-bye – So long, music is finished….I wish you could stay but it’s time to go. Personalize with names of children

[Beth McLaughlin]

I have not had formal experience with children this age but I am a grandmother of 2 beautiful little girls. They are 6 and 2 but when they were babies, I was struck by how soon they began responding to the voice and facial features. I have a 3 minute recording of Sofia vocalizing with me at 3 months. As she got older, she would study people’s mouths when they spoke or changed their vocal timbre. She began imitating words and sounds and funny faces. Of course, I thought she was a genius but realized that this is how children develop – through keen observation and imitation. That’s why repetition and consistency is so important which is the other thing I noticed with both girls. They want the same song sung or favorite book read over and over. I have seen by honoring these requests for ‘again, Gramma,’ we have formed a very close and trusting relationship.

[Beth McLaughlin]

I’ve included some original songs and some tried and true oldies but goodies in my session plan for SM!:

Hello/gathering: ‘All of our friends are here today (hooray, hooray)’ – sung with group while gently moving with child on lap.
‘Johnny and his mom are here today’ – same song individualized for child and family members; group greets each
member at the end of each verse.

Bonding song: Calm body (song shared in previous forum)

Song about me: These are my ears and I have 2 (Very old Sesame St. song – caregiver touches body part when sung in the song
ending with ‘I use my legs to take a walk’ when caregiver gently moves baby’s legs up and down

Instrument play: Let’s Make Some Music (EKS). Adapt lyrics to include child’s response to the instrument e.g. Let’s tap the
shaker on our knee; let’s put the shaker in our mouth; let’s hold the shaker in our hand etc.

Movement: Put Your Hands Up High (song from Come Children Sing by Mary Ellen Pinzino) – explore positional changes with hands,
feet, etc. including clapping, stamping, wiggling etc.

Good-bye: So long, music is finished (adapted from Woodie Guthrie, So Long It’s Been Good to Know You)

[Beth McLaughlin]

5 words that describe the music experiences in SM1 are: calm, nurturing, supportive, safe, fun

When speaking to parents about the musical responses of their child, I would emphasize the following 5 principles:

Sing often to your child as it increases their attention as they are drawn to the timbre of your voice.

Songs with simple repeated melodic themes help to increase your child’s awareness of themselves and you and will support the bonding experience.

Repetition of songs and movement helps your child to grow in familiarity and trust of their environment.

Use instruments your child can easily grasp and explore through all channels of learning (kinesthetic, visual, auditory, oral) as it is the beginning of his or her becoming aware of their world and their ability to impact and control their environment.

Move with your child using slow and gentle rocking, swaying or bouncing but support their movement as it changes in response to the music.

[Beth McLaughlin]

I have been providing music therapy services in the clinical setting (school) for so long that I find it very exciting to expand my practice to meet the needs of children and families in a community based setting. It is a paradigm shift for me to think of providing music experiences based on a wellness model rather than a prescriptive model. My work has been done in a very restrictive environment due to the complexity of our students’ needs. Community based programming has always been a high priority for our students but was not always possible within the music therapy program other than to attend plays and concerts with other schools. As Beth mentioned, with the passage of IDEA in 1974, the recognition of inclusive services was made clear but I know families in some communities still feel isolated with few opportunities for their children to interact with others their own age. Music can be the great equalizer and I feel the strength of this program (as Beth and Meredith have mentioned) lies in the expertise and training of the music therapist and their ability to focus on strengths while promoting healthy development thru music in a fully inclusive environment.

[Beth McLaughlin]

I am just fascinated by early child development and how quickly children learn to interact and make sense of their world through movement and interaction with people in their environment. It really is miraculous. I had a few important takeaways from this week’s materials. My adult kids who are now parents, always marvel at how early their own children would respond rhythmically to music without anyone teaching them. Understanding sucking as being the first instinctual rhythmic response necessary for survival helps me to see how inseparable music and child development are. Also thinking about a fetus for 9 months growing right beneath the mother’s beating heart makes clear how intrinsic rhythm is to their development. The other aspect of EC that I found fascinating from the materials was how a child’s world changes and opens up just by sitting up. The visual perception and movement repertoire that is building and subsequent learning just from a simple change in position is amazing to me. Having this information and a clear understanding of the developmental sequences also gives light to how many things can go wrong and how subtle some indicators might be. Being diligent and observant in the music environment can bring clarity to some of these potential challenges if we make sure that we are providing music experiences that are developmentally appropriate.

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