[Brianna McCulloch]

I incorporate singing, instrument play, moving and listening into my early childhood groups and my music therapy sessions. I loved walking through the appropriate developmental responses to each of these music experiences because, especially when I was first starting out, I have had moments when I tried a song (i.e., movement songs) that were too developmentally advanced. It was a challenge to figure out how to adapt certain songs to fit the developmental stage of the children/families I was working with in the moment so that the entire intervention didn’t fall flat. With experience, I have been able to plan my sessions better and those moments are fewer and further between (but still not unheard of!). I feel better equipped to prepare appropriate music for my groups after walking through this process, and I really love thinking of it as a fluid, evolving process and not discrete steps.

[Brianna McCulloch]

What a great exercise!

1. Singing
a. Awareness: Uses pitch in babbling (my 10 month old is in the trust stage, but he still regularly vocalizes an “ahhh” on F# and it entertains me to no end)
b. Trust: explores sounds safely screeching, attempting to imitate, combining sounds
c. Independence: follows general prosody/contour of speech/song
c. Control: Attempts to follow along with song/fills in blanks, particularly ends of musical phrases
d. Responsibility: Sings familiar songs with appropriate rhythm; can augment songs to other tempi

2. Playing Instruments
a. Awareness: responds to sedative vs. play music (timbre, rhythm, etc.)
b. Trust: follows pulse and meter for short periods or in a delayed fashion (when provided ample time)
c. Independence: explores varying pulses/meters/repetitions (i.e., mimics small number of taps on drum)
c. Control: Follows starts/stops, explores starts/stops, initiates/generates music/instrument play independently
d. Responsibility: entrains to beat

3. Moving
a. Awareness: Instinctive bouncing/rhythmic movement
b. Trust: Begins to mirror gestures of others/approximates movements
c. Independence: Moves individual body parts according to gestures/song lyrics
c. Control: Repeats familiar song gestures/movements, suggests movements
d. Responsibility: Intentionally sequences movements, creates movement sequences

4. Listening
a. Awareness: localizing toward sounds, changes in sounds
b. Trust: recognizing familiar sounds
c. Independence: Approaching sound sources
c. Control: Participates in Call/Response
d. Responsibility: Listening to others make music

[Brianna McCulloch]

I love Do You Wanna Be My Friend! I have 2 clients (one with ASD and one with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome) who are really working on social skills and appropriate play. I’m excited to adapt these for them–I feel like I can insert other appropriate things to do (aside from find toys and make noise/hold hand and understand) that will work for their age/skill level. I’ll report back after my sessions!

[Brianna McCulloch]

I have a practice in my hometown in northern California, and like many of you, our musical culture is centered around traditional children’s music. However, I was a music therapy student in Miami FL, and the musical culture there was heavily influenced by our spanish-speaking, hispanic community. One of my favorite memories in practicum was singing Down on Grandpa’s Farm in my 3 yr old group of children with ASD, and the (mostly ESL) paras (who always participated wholeheartedly) sang that the bird says “peep peep” instead of “cheep cheep.” It was a small (but significant) difference, and the kids noticed 🙂 I have a 10 month old son and I read to him in Italian and in English, and according to his farm book, the duck doesn’t say “quack” he says “quah.” It’s fun to think about how our culture and our native language sounds influence our perception of the world.

[Brianna McCulloch]

I had a mommy and me group that I began with babies who were mostly 4-6 months old. By the time I handed the group off to another MT when I went on maternity leave, the babies were about 16-18 months. In the beginning, we were definitely in the Awareness stage. Mostly, the little ones would look at me or at mom when we would sing. We used lots of repetition and simple songs. By the time I left the group, many had moved through the trust stage, and into the independence stage. I would have instruments behind me, and the newly mobile babies would crawl/walk around me to find their favorite maraca, drum or rainstick. It was amazing to see how the group evolved over time, from the music I provided (initially more structured, moving toward more improvisation and following the babies’ lead) to the interaction between the parents and the babies (it was mostly interaction between the mother-infant dyad, but when the babies were becoming more independent they would approach other baby’s moms too!).

[Brianna McCulloch]

Sorry for my delayed response! We took my 9-month-old on his first plane flight from CA to MI to meet his 90-yr-old great grandparents who were celebrating 70 years of marriage! It was a great trip but I’m a bit behind!

As someone else mentioned, it was really great for me to review typical development, as all of my music therapy work is with children with various developmental exceptionalities. When I have the opportunity to teach a typical child a piano lesson at the music conservatory where I run my MT practice, I always walk away feeling like the child is so gifted or clever, when really, they are just developmentally appropriate! As I mentioned, my son is 9 months old, so I especially enjoyed the 0-12 months, as we have recently walked that road, or are just starting to see glimpses of what the next few months will bring. 🙂

I also really appreciated that in each section, you mentioned “red flags” to watch for. I think it’s important when working with what we believe are typically-developing children to keep an eye out for those things that a first-time (or even a seasoned) parent might not be aware their child should be doing. At the same time, I have had parents in a few mommy and me style groups really scared that their child wasn’t developing at the EXACT same pace as a friend’s child, and have had many opportunities to reassure parents that children develop at different rates. A book I love for development and developmental milestones is “The Wonder Weeks”–it takes a really interesting approach to development, and explaining how/when developmental leaps happen.

Also, I loved the idea of saying “let’s trade” instead of “let’s share”–what a great idea! I always have kids exchange one thing for another, but still have used the word share. Trading is more accurate!!

[Brianna McCulloch]

Hello! My name is Brianna McCulloch, and I’m a music therapist working in Vacaville, CA (about halfway between Sacramento and San Francisco). Following my internship, I worked for about a year under a FABULOUS music therapist in her private practice in the Sacramento area. Our clients were pre-school and school-age children with various developmental exceptionalities. We also had a number of community “mommy and me” style groups, mostly hosted in homes. After the birth of my son, I decided I didn’t want to commute and my experience working for the music therapy agency in Sac gave me the extra confidence boost I needed to fulfill my dream of opening a private practice. I began my practice within a nonprofit music conservatory, and in under a year was invited to create a music therapy division within the music conservatory. I have one mommy and me group that meets weekly, but I look forward to providing an increasing value for the families I work with. I’m currently working on creating a partnership with our local early-intervention providers; I look forward to this training helping me utilize my skills as a music therapist to enhance the early childhood experiences I offer.

[Author]

Posts