[Camryn Gallagher]

My biggest takeaway from this course is just how necessary early childhood music programming is in just about every community. I feel much more confident than I used to about the value of this work. I appreciate having more concrete language to share with administrators and parents about how early childhood music programs deeply enrich family dynamics and our communities as a whole. Throughout all of my music therapy education and my now 2 years of professional practice, not once did I ever picture myself actually establishing my own programs – now it’s my biggest goal for 2024 and I have concrete steps to follow in order to get there. I am going to be holding these resources closely for the rest of my career!

Just like MacKenzie said above, I also have already been sharing the information I’ve learned with families and my colleagues from other disciplines like SLPs, developmental specialists, and OTs and I will continue to do so. I remember in my undergrad, we were given an assignment to choose a facility in our community and create a brochure/pamphlet defining music therapy, describing a few examples of interventions, and information about how music therapy suits that specific population to practice advocacy. I feel compelled to create something like this specifically to share with libraries, community centers, early childhood resource centers, etc. about music and development. I also hadn’t previously considered inviting local government/politicians to observe or going to them myself with this information but I definitely will consider that!

[Camryn Gallagher]

My co-leader and I focus a lot on using simple, direct language that helps establish the ground rules for everyone in the room to hear, including the caregivers. One that we use a lot is “Feet on the floor!” as we have a table in the room that children like to climb or try to stand on. We tend to have success with that sort of “positive” language that focuses on what the child should do rather than what they shouldn’t do – “Feet on the floor” rather than “Don’t stand on the table.” I do, however, really like the language Elizabeth uses in the video – “we don’t do that here.” I do think that children need to hear that! We also try to redirect behavior by finding a similar, more safe behavior that might still meet the sensory need that climbing meets, like jumping, marching, or being lifted up high by an adult/carrying them while we walk around the room together.

[Camryn Gallagher]

Since starting this course, I have noticed that my music selections in my sessions and groups feel more intentional. I love having concrete explanations of why certain songs work or don’t work in certain situations and based on the child’s individual developmental level. Not only does this inform my work, it helps me better present that information to families as well for continued learning after I leave. On that note, hearing some of the songs that are used in Sprouting Melodies and how/why they were written makes me feel excited and inspired to start writing and recording some of my own tunes again. I haven’t really tried to do so since I was a student!

Ever since my internship in pediatrics, I have felt grateful to be part of a profession where we can connect with our clients in a way that is so adaptable, individualized, and fun. Even now working full time in Early Intervention, I see a lot of parents who feel they should only focus on what their child “can’t” do. I am thrilled to have a toolbox that gives parents and opportunity to see their child shine.

[Camryn Gallagher]

At my Early intervention center, the groups I currently run are 18 months-3 years. Even though we are there to service the children enrolled in EI, our program emphasizes the importance of community so we always invite siblings and some older children (usually ages 3-5) who have “graduated” EI to join. This means sometimes we have a range from newborns to elementary schoolers. There was one day where we weren’t expecting one of our friends to be bringing his older sisters, and I felt myself panicking a bit because I could tell just how bored these sisters were! We ended up changing our language a bit so that we were encouraging them to participate because “you’re your brother’s best teachers! Look how happy he is to play with you!” Re-framing it and giving them a sense of responsibility to help gave them some more motivation to participate, especially during the movement and instrument songs. On the other end of the spectrum, sometimes it’s challenging when parents bring their much younger children along. I have found that most parents who need to bring a baby sibling along will keep the baby in their carrier or stroller throughout the group, as they feel it’s more “important” to focus on their older child who is enrolled in EI. We’ve been working on this by encouraging caregivers to hold the baby in their lap if possible, and by offering them instruments that are safe/more appropriate for babies to explore.

[Camryn Gallagher]

Use 5 words to describe the music experiences in Sprouting Melodies 3.

1) Humanistic 2) Interactive 3) Active 4) Parent modeling-based 5) Flexible

Create a plan for songs and music experiences to use in Sprouting Melodies 3.

Opening: Hello Song

Bonding: Firetruck Song (I’m really excited to try this one in my own 18month-3years group soon!)

Songs about Me: I Like the Me I See (Adaptation of Culture Queen song)

Movement song: I Can Move Around, Row your Boat with scarves

Cooldown song – Familiar song that incorporates relaxing/breathing – we used Itsy Bitsy Spider here recently

Goodbye song

[Camryn Gallagher]

When I’m explaining music therapy to parents, I tend to emphasize the fact that we’re using music to work towards non-musical goals. Creating an aesthetically pleasing musical product is not the goal – Music is just the tool that we use to reach goals in areas like communication, motor, socialization, etc. I also explain that music therapists often work under a specific clinical framework in a way that most other music learning-based programs don’t tend to consider. I personally was trained under a humanistic perspective which emphasizes choice making and following the child’s lead – which sometimes doesn’t lend well to a learning-based program that often has a set curriculum to follow. Music therapy recognizes that progress isn’t always perfectly linear. I love the quote that I’ve heard throughout this training that music is “by the child, not by the book.” A quality music therapy program is individualized and flexible to you and your child’s needs, not what a textbook would say your child “should” be doing at their chronological age.

[Camryn Gallagher]

Use 5 words to describe the music experiences in Family Sprouts.
1) Community 2) Togetherness 3) Problem solving 4) Energetic 5) Adaptable

Create a plan for songs and music experiences to use in Family Sprouts.

Opening: Sit down and Join my Circle

Instrument song: In my Little Hand, Song in my Tummy

Songs about Me: Just Like Me

Movement Songs: I can Move Around, Sleeping Bunnies (Always a hit)

Cooldown/Goodbye Song

[Camryn Gallagher]

5 words to describe the music experiences in Sprouting Melodies 2.
Trust
Exciting
Surprises
Playful
Connection

5 Sentences: Children in SM 2 are likely to take the initiative of reaching out to touch instruments in their environment. Children at this developmental level will also want to turn outward to see other people in the group, rather than just facing their caregiver like in SM 1. “Surprises” in the music, such as a sudden stop, will get children’s attention and may even be humorous to them. You may see your child start to move rhythmically along to the music by bouncing, clapping, or rocking. They are also likely to imitate the rhythmic actions of adults who are moving along to the music.

Gathering/instrument exploration song: In my Little Hand
Hello Song
Bonding- Wiggly Jiggly Car
Songs about Me- All of this is Me
Movement song- I Can Move Around, In The Jungle Adaptation
Goodbye song

[Camryn Gallagher]

I’ve definitely had the experience of feeling like I’m “not doing enough,” when in reality, pulling back and allowing for a break was probably the real solution I needed!

Also, about the toys being in the room… we had a large “busy board” on the wall that was very distracting and often over-stimulating (one of the buttons makes a sound that is very much like a car horn. That’s over-stimulating even for me!) We weren’t able to remove it from the wall but we ended up using Command hooks to cover it with a small, makeshift curtain. The room we use is also a play space with shelves and shelves of toys, so when it’s time for music we flip the shelves around to face the walls. It makes for a lot less visual clutter and distraction. 🙂

[Camryn Gallagher]

This might make other musicians cringe a bit, but… When you flip the drum over and let children sit in it, suddenly it’s a spaceship! 🙂

[Camryn Gallagher]

This course has definitely given me more perspective on how to follow the child’s lead and watch for cues that they may be under or over-stimulated. I hadn’t considered paying attention to facial expressions. I think typically we tend to look for the smiles and write anything else off as disinterest or boredom, but now I know how to look for signs of focus and relaxation.
Some things we do specifically to prevent overstimulation is reducing the amount of visual “clutter” in the room – making sure every instrument is cleaned up before we move on to an activity scarves, for example. We also dim the lights during our cooldown period. I feel pretty familiar with looking for signs of too much stimulation – restlessness, crying, avoidant responses – but not much experience yet with asking myself if I’m providing ENOUGH stimulation. As Lydia said above, I also love the idea discussed in the content this week of intentionally providing more opportunities for surprises in the music to help provide this stimulation in a way that is developmentally appropriate.

[Camryn Gallagher]

We have a selection of instruments available at my facility that have been there since before my time at the company, but I believe we also order through West Music! Remo drums specifically are what I tend to gravitate towards because they offer such a wide variety of sounds. My personal favorite is the gathering drum. We also have large egg shakers, and shakers with handles and various color beads inside. For melodic instruments, I love using rainbow handbells. It’s fun to watch children explore them independently, but also provides a great opportunity for caregivers to model how to play them. We also give children a chance to strum the guitar along with us at this age.

[Camryn Gallagher]

Music therapists provide a safe space for young families to connect with other families in similar situations. I also love the idea of music therapy spaces offering a space where children can just be themselves and have ALL of their contributions and behaviors celebrated. There is no “good” or “bad” behavior, just communication of need and responses to the environment. I remember my favorite part of being an intern in pediatrics was having the opportunity to show families not just where their child is “failing,” but the areas where their child shines.

[Camryn Gallagher]

5 Words: Welcoming, bonding, exploration, observation, joy

5 Sentences: 1) I would introduce the purpose of the group as a means of connection, education, and developmental stimulation as a shared experience between parent and child. 2) I would stress that the group is all about pausing to watch and listen to your child’s responses to music – I like Maura’s comment above about mentally storing away any other thoughts/concerns other than you and the child. 3) Parents may notice their child’s movements changing in response to the music they hear. 4) I also encourage parents to listen for purposeful vocalizations from the child; some infants may even be matching our pitch. 5) For a group of this age range, repetition is key, and as a result we will be hearing a lot of the same tunes multiple times and I encourage families to continue singing these tunes at home in between sessions.

Embedded song during instrument exploration: I like to use an adaptation of “You’ll Sing a Song and I’ll Sing a Song” by Ella Jenkins. “You’ll bounce around, and I”ll bounce around, and we’ll bounce around together!”

Opening “Hello Song” – we use a melody I picked up during internship, not sure who the original writer is! Frequent repetition of the word “Hello” and emphasis on the motor action of waving

Bonding: Row Your Boat/Row it Faster

Instrument song: In My Little Hand

Movement song: “Will you Come?” (I have been using this in individual sessions lately and loving it!!)

Cooldown – Something familiar/can be adapted to be relaxing – “Twinkle Twinkle” is one we use a lot here.

“Goodbye Everybody”

[Camryn Gallagher]

Currently the only parent/child music group my program offers is for children 18-36 months. Because of this, all of my experiences with children in the 0-9 month age range are through individual home visits as both a service coordinator and a music therapist. I recently had a child who aged out of our program, but I had developed such a strong relationship with the family that the mother requested I stay to provide services for her 3 month old (now 7 months) who had concerns for Torticollis, tightness, and sensory concerns. I was super overwhelmed by this at first since it’s not an area I’m very experienced in. So far our sessions have focused on bonding/relationship development between baby and mom. Mom is very comfortable with singing, so we’ve gone over several different songs including tickle songs, lap riding songs, and embedded songs. I also have been writing simple melodies to teach her older children to help remind them to have “Gentle hands” with the baby. Starting this course has definitely made me feel more confident in working with children in this age range and I have been adding them to my caseload more frequently!

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