[Becca Van Wechel]

Over the years I’ve seen the need for families to feel connected to school, to the community, and to other families. Music is the best medium to provide that connection. There are many ways that this can happen, though admittedly I am more limited on what I am able to implement because I am a school employee. One way that this connection to school can happen is by making sure that I am present at after school events, parent teacher conferences, school parties, etc. It is important to be present and available so that parents get used to seeing you and feel comfortable talking to you. Music gives you something to talk about with the families. “Oh did you know Johnny was playing the maraca in music therapy today?!” is a great way to start out a conversation. Connections to the community can come through being available for community events when asked. For example being a collaborator within a library program, or providing music activities when the school is open to the community for an event. Finally, connecting parents to other families can happen through music when we provide music with our parent groups, or encourage families to try out local parent/child music groups.

[Becca Van Wechel]

I do utilize all four music experiences in my practice. However, this has, in the past, sometimes been done without a complete awareness of what I was doing. Over my many years of experience I have added and subtracted things into my music therapy sessions, when I see something is consistently working (or not!).

I haven’t actively changed anything I’m doing in my music therapy sessions right now because it’s summer and i’m not really working a lot right now. However, I am interested in looking and and adjusting the way that I approach listening within my sessions. I think that I haven’t actively address this as much as singing, playing, and moving.

I love the idea of “everybody stays, everybody plays”. This is something we have to teach each year with our staff. I don’t always do a great job explaining why they need to participate! Simply reminding them that the children are watching and learning from them may be all I need to say to get better actively participation!

Becca

[Becca Van Wechel]

Hi Erika,
I suspect, based on my very limited interactions with her, that she is moving into the responsibility developmental level but still has one foot firmly in control.

Becca

[Becca Van Wechel]

Kevin,
First of all, I appreciate your use of the reply function which I totally missed up until now!! Secondly, I appreciate your note about the importance of make believe play and fantasy play. I never tire of hearing about the benefits of make believe and fantasy play. It’s such an important reminder for those of us working with young children that we can provide these opportunities through music, too!

Becca

[Becca Van Wechel]

Our school district is a township school with students from across several cities. The area we service is extremely diverse. Our school district attempted to count the number of languages and dialects that our families use and it numbered more than 250. We also have a very wide mix of religions with probably equal number of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian students. I have tried to be much more mindful of including the music of the home into my awareness. Last year I used the parent teacher conferences as a time to ask parents about music in the home. The answers were varied and surprising. Some families provide no music within the household and yet others have music embedded in everything they do. Some families only listened to music in their home language while others listened only to pop music.

[Becca Van Wechel]

I am the lucky mother of four children, and because I also work, we have a nanny. We are also lucky that our nanny has a baby, Robert, who is 11 months old. I followed his development while I was finishing up my master’s degree in early childhood education. And now I can follow his musical development for this course! I used the tickle song with Robert today. Robert hates diaper changes and tends to flop around on the floor like a fish. I was able to keep him engaged (and still) and his mom was able to change his diaper successfully!!

We use a lot of the songs from You and Me Makes…We within our school district setting. I will share that Marly uses Good Morning as a gathering song for some of her groups. It not only helps the students to acclimate to the room and be ready to make music, but it also helps get the staff ready. It’s so delightful to watch it in action and see the students smiling and the staff just taking that deep breath and letting go of all their stress.

[Becca Van Wechel]

Awareness: Turn toward a musical instrument being played by someone else. Tolerate the presence of another person in their space. Making vocalizations in response to the the music.

Trust: Can direct attention to an object or location. Tolerates novel songs/experiences. Attempts to match vocalizations.

Independence: Use hands to make music (bell/maraca/drum/tambourine). Transfer an instrument or object from one hand to the other. Isolates body parts.

Control: Dances to music. Imitates words to a song. Start and stop in a song.

Responsibility: Can maintain a steady beat. Can listen to the musical play of others. Imitate simple rhythms.

[Becca Van Wechel]

Right now, in the beginning of summer break, it’s quite challenging for me to think about any work related topics! Generally speaking, I see children with special needs. However, in the discussion about developmental levels, I am thinking specifically about early childhood students I see at a camp. Some of these students may have a disability, but most likely do not. I’m there to provide music experiences for them. This week there was a young child who, perhaps, in another setting might be called bossy or sassy! However, in my music group she simply wanted the freedom to make choices. In the age of Covid-19 some of the choices I would like to make are no longer possible. However, she did have the opportunity to choose to play or not to play, to sing or not to sing, and how she wanted to move to the music. “I don’t want to play any more” she would say. And then perhaps a minute or two later, she would join into the music making.

[Becca Van Wechel]

Hi Jeanne,
I also appreciated the inclusion of the developmental models. It’s so helpful to reference back to these – especially when working with the students that we do.

Becca

[Becca Van Wechel]

Hi Everyone,
I always appreciate the reminders about child development and the reminder that the developmental ages are not set in stone. I also appreciated the reminder that our children may be at a certain developmental age that is different from their chronological age.

Becca

[Becca Van Wechel]

Marly,
I absolutely agree with your statement about what you bring to EC groups. You said, “I believe I bring a sense of authentic joy, enthusiasm, and humor.” I really appreciate your ability to find humor within your EC groups and I see the students look forward to interacting with you and attending your sessions.

Becca

[Becca Van Wechel]

Hi Kaylee,
I love your statement, “I believe that I personally bring a sense of authenticity and a genuine desire to work with children in this setting.” I am sure that the children you work with can sense both of these characteristics. Children really seem to sense how adults really feel about them and respond accordingly.

Becca

[Becca Van Wechel]

I believe that I bring genuineness and an attitude of acceptance to my early childhood groups. This allows the children I work with to feel welcome and wanted in the group no matter how they’re feeling or acting at that moment. I also bring consistency and order to my early childhood groups. I believe that my students are successful when they understand what is going to happen as well as knowing how I’m going to treat them.

[Becca Van Wechel]

Hi!
My names is Becca Canastra (Van Wechel is my maiden name of many years ago!) and I live in the northern suburbs of Chicago. I work with Jeanne at Niles Township District for Special Education (NTDSE). Our district is a special education district and we service children 3-22 years old with a variety of low-incidence disabilities. I received my bachelor’s degree in music therapy from University of Dayton many years ago and I recently finished my master’s degree in early childhood education from Erikson Institute. I have worked as a music therapist for over 20 years, but there’s always more to learn! With the ink barely dry on my master’s degree, I really want to further my knowledge of early childhood with a very clear understanding of how music works within each developmental level.

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