[Cassandra Mulcahy]

5 words: Sweet, calming, nurturing, connecting, loving

5 sentences:
-Welcome! I am so happy you are with us today!
-Look at how confused (he/she) seems to be, (he/she) sure is processing all of these new experiences!
-Please join in singing with me so you can remember it at home.
-Look at how (he/she) loves to listen to you sing!
-Lets try it again to help you remember and to help and baby become comfortable with this song.

Create a plan:
-Hello/Gathering Song:I have a simple hello song that I adapt to a 3/4 meter for this population. I usually walk around and sing to children individually. I love the idea of giving a firm touch to the child’s chest to let them know that we are singing about them. I will certainly use this if the child is at the awareness stage.

-Lap/Bonding Song: I like using the row song, and I loved hearing your rendition of this. To facilitate the faster part (when appropriate) I use the line, “row row row your boat, gently down the stream, if you see an alligator, don’t forget to scream!” If there are any children who are easily startled, a vocal sigh or squeal (eeee!) work well here. However, I also find that a little scream helps validate some of the fear children may first be experiencing during their first months/year of life. Also- tossing an alligator in the song is a metaphoric replacement for the explanation to parents, and is also a fun way to explore the ups and downs of life. I like having parents/caregivers toss in something that makes them ‘scream’. A little lyric substitution is super engaging, and can extend the bonding beyond parent/caregiver+baby pairs into group bonding 🙂 Additionally, I love changing the meter during the fast part to a 6/8 or 4/4 feel instead of 3/4 too.

-Songs about me- I am not sure of the title, but I love the EKS song “from my head, head head to my…” Although it is an embedded song, it can become a great tickle song too. I also love Just like Me. I will have to implement that one too 🙂 However, my FAVORITE song about me is a ‘peek-a-boo’ song that came out of an improvisation. It is just a I-IV-V vamp using the words “peek-a-boo, I see you!” or I see mommy, or I see daddy, or I see (baby’s name). This one usually results in giggles.

-Instrument Songs- I like using ‘shake it up baby’ by the Beatles, and giving parents/caregivers time to explore instruments with their children. I will definitely use the ‘in my little hand’ though. I love the ‘around and around’ tip too!

-Movement song- I have always had a challenge with movement songs in this population. I love the song ‘as big as can be’ and will try to implement this in the future. In the past I have used ‘hickory, dickory dock’, or done a finger play like ‘5-brown buns, but are not as adventurous as ‘as big as can be’. I wish this course suggested some more movement guidelines for this age group. Not having a child of my own, and being a bit afraid of this age group leaves me on the cautious side of facilitating movements with kiddos.

-Goodbye- I have a goodbye song that I use (w: goodbye everybody (or childs name) goodbye for today, goodbye everybody and thank you for your music) and I go around and sing the names of the kiddos.

Love the suggestions in this module and am inspired to write and learn more 🙂

[Cassandra Mulcahy]

I was given a library group with for children under 12 months. The second round of the group (a couple of years later) was opened up to the siblings of the babies (both of whom were in my first group!) So I am excited to hear some more tips and tricks about sibling integrations.
Back to this age group- I instinctively knew that calming music was the most appropriate, however, as the group continued, I learned to modify the tempo/elements of the music when the babies seemed to move from the awareness to the trust level. I think that intuition is super important when reading the energy level of this age group. I loved the soothing music, because I was initially terrified of working with kiddos so young, so the music helped me prepare myself! One valuable experience I had, was to leave a bit of room for improvisation. I know this is not something that is spoken about much, but a few years ago I was not equipped with a book of early childhood music. I found that leaving space for improv time helped me create some of my own repertoire for this age group, and the parents LOVED having music that their child inspired!

[Cassandra Mulcahy]

Again some great thoughts! I am catching up on this class slowly but surely.
I feel that music therapy in community based settings is just a great way for people to connect. As a music therapists, we have a great tool to discover strengths and help other people share their strengths with each other. I love that this format is a bit more open and less of a closed therapeutic space and can be taken almost anywhere – libraries, town halls and perhaps even spacious coffee shops.

[Cassandra Mulcahy]

I serve SO many different socio-economical populations during my travels around Western CT, that it is hard to pinpoint exact needs. What I see above all is a generalized need to connect with their children, other parents, and unique social experiences.

[Cassandra Mulcahy]

I agree too! Some great points! What I love the most is that we are not a prescriptive program (such as kindermusic or music together). Very often we have more musical training than these programs too. We have the capacity to provide high quality music experiences, and our definition of music is not confined by song structure, but by the awareness of the many elements that create music.
I think also that we are so immersed in music as therapists, that it becomes a language that we learn to communicate with. From a music-centered perspective, it is not necessarily about meeting non-musical goals, but walking these precious individuals through the evolvement of their ability to develop musically. Through this process, we are also helping parents to reach their child through a medium that is intrinsic to the human race and is often lost along the path of adulthood. What I love most about working with this population is watching the parents embrace not only to their child’s music, but also their inner child.

[Cassandra Mulcahy]

I use all 4 of these experiences in my sessions for sure. I use listening-centered experiences the most with my newborn groups, and often with my 5 year olds who can tolerate it. But for those in the trust, independence and control groups I tend to have listening moments. I always try to incorporate some sort of movement in each experience. I find that my little ones need it to stay engaged. My schedule has been a vicim of snow days since beginning this course, and I have only had one early childhood group. I did not change anything during this group. Sometimes consistency is the key when schedules are upside down. However, I did find myself observing the group and beginning to pick out things that have been discussed in this course.

[Cassandra Mulcahy]

Singing- Awareness: Prefers higher pitches. Trust: Will vocalize in tonality of the song. Independence:Will use vocal glissando, and sing animal noises. Control: Will sing 2-3 words in phrases using pitched intervals. Can match pitches. Can replicate different vocal timbres. Responsibility: Can sing familiar songs while playing a simple instrument. Can create lyrics to a familiar song.

Playing- Awareness:Turn eye gaze toward source of sounds. Trust:Will grasp an instrument for short periods. Independence: Will use hands to strum guitar and purposefully play other instruments. Control:Can isolate index finger to play. Can imitate simple rhythmic patterns. Responsibility: Can play rhythmic patterns on a two handed instrument. Can participate in call and response.

Moving- Awareness: Will tolerate movement from parent or caregiver (being rocked, bounced, or moved) Trust: Will move entire body rhythmically to the music. Independence: Will alter movement in response to change in music. Will attend to mouth movements of singer. Control: Can sustain hand-clapping and marching, can adjust to the speed of movement. Responsibility:Can hop on one foot. Can move with a peer partner. Can participate n a ‘freeze musical game.

Listening- Awareness: Will tolerate live music in his or her environment. Trust: Will initiate vocalization in response to silence. Independence: Will demonstrate likes and dislikes. Will follow simple directions in familiar music. Control:Can stop action and listen to music. Anticipates the end of phrases. Responsibility: Can maintain attentive posture while listening. Can accept a non-favored instrument. Can take leadership.

[Cassandra Mulcahy]

My biggest reaction to the songs was the formatting of the categories. I usually include at least one movement, instrument, and fine motor song during my early childhood groups. The categories definitely helped me to place some of my miscellaneous tunes, and will most certainly help inform my session structure in the future. I am excited to use these new tunes in my sessions in the coming weeks!
Also- I have had a difficult time in the past composing songs for this age range. I think that the advise of utilizing ‘functional and meaningful language’ is great advice! It is such a simple concept that I have overlooked in my songwriting with this age range.

[Cassandra Mulcahy]

I grew up in Western Mass, and we too had the basic wheels-on-the-bus, old-mac-donald, eensie-weensie-spider repertoire. In elementary school we sang lots of americana tunes like she’ll be coming around the mountain, this land is your land, my country tis of thee etc. We lived a few towns over from where Woody Guthrie retired, so I believe this had an influence on the music our schools choose.
I currently live in southwestern CT, and there is a great deal of cultural and economic variety. I find that a great deal of the younger kiddos I work with do not know much children’s music,but are instead more familiar with pop tunes.

[Cassandra Mulcahy]

I work with a 22-year old man with developmental disabilities, who is predominantly in the trust category. His vocalizations are almost always descending. His movements rhythmic, but not in time to the music (except when I change to follow him.) He definitely thrives off of reciprocal communication, and seems to be validated by having his vocalizations sung back to him. Although he has severe tactile aversion, through the use of predictable experiences, he has been able to tolerate playing simple instruments. Often he chooses not to play though. 🙂

On a chronologically appropriate note, I do enjoy watching my 3-4 year olds develop from independence to control. My little group of once maracca-mouthing tots can now choose their maraca by color, engage in call and response tunes, and pick up the words to a melody after a few repeats .

[Cassandra Mulcahy]

So many great reflections!
I too appreciated the red-flag suggestions.
I also feel that this review of developmental milestones can be a framework of celebrations that little ones reach. As I am not a mother, and have not seen my own little ones work through these stages, this is a good list of things to communicate with my parents about when I notice changes. I have not yet had the experience of sharing an observation regarding delayed development to parents of my young clients, but I feel more prepared to do so when the time may come.
While reviewing this information, I felt myself checking in with the development of some of my disabled clients and identifying certain behaviors within the various age categories. I feel that it also informs some of my work with older kiddos who have had traumatic experiences and may be regressing.

Can’t wait to move on to the music 🙂

[Cassandra Mulcahy]

Hello! My name is Cassandra, and I am super excited to jump onboard to this training.
I graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2006. During my at Temple for my MMT (’11) I took a class with Beth to broaden my understanding of developmental music theory with some of my clients with developmental delays. I enjoyed it very much, but am excited to studying this at a deeper level after I have had a few years of experience.

I currently reside in Danbury Connecticut, and work for Connecticut Music Therapy Services. I have had more than a few early childhood group/individual sessions. I never saw myself enjoying work with this population, but it is quite rewarding to watch their growth. On a note of self disclosure: babies used to terrify me. I had NO idea how to interact with them, and their fragility was a little overwhelming. One day, my boss had an opening for a library group with babies and parents, and my schedule needed some plumping. How scary! I expected a room full of red-faced screaming ‘lil tots! In no time at all my intuition kicked in and I had a room full of coo-ing, bouncing, jolly little music makers. My group was surprisingly successful, and although the library could not support the ongoing funding, I now have a ‘following’ in a particular town. The mothers have been hounding my boss, and she decided to sign me up for this group so we can (hopefully) run groups in the future with the sprouting melodies brand.

On another note- how cute is the name ‘sprouting melodies’?! I am so excited to dig into this training and further inform my work. Now hopefully I can catch up!

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