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Raising 4 children is such an impressive accomplishment! That experience must be SO valuable in helping you to empathize with parents/caregivers of little ones. 🙂
ParticipantOur backgrounds are so similar! I minored in psychology as well. I am about to start a new nannying position and will be bringing my own baby with me, in addition to running my business! Let’s meet up for coffee sometime soon. 🙂
ParticipantI am excited to put both my educational background in both music therapy and early childhood special education as well as my love for working with children to use as I take this course and pursue starting up early childhood music programs in the future! I have worked in a lot of different environments with kiddos including schools, hospitals, homes, and daycare facilities, which has given me a lot of valuable experience with a wide variety of developmental stages. I would describe my approach to early intervention as routines-based, and I think there is so much benefit to meeting children where they are at and working with them in their natural, inclusive environment with peers. I think I also bring a unique perspective as a brand new mom and will be able to personally relate to parents with children similar in age to my little girl (now 12 weeks!).
ParticipantYes! Remembering that it is a “vague outline” is so helpful. I always go back to Shelly Moore’s “don’t should on me” perspective when talking about where children are in their development. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeRNhz0nGts)
ParticipantI have had so many similar experiences! Even when working as an early childhood special ed teacher, it astounded me how often teachers, daycare providers, etc. expected very young children to stay seated, sit “criss cross applesauce”, and to not touch anything. I always invite little kiddos to explore their surroundings, move around, touch objects/instruments, and sit/stand/lay in whatever position helps them learn during both musical and non-musical activities.
ParticipantI really liked the breakdown of the various developmental theories and what to “expect” during the different stages of development from the perspective of each of these theories. It is so interesting to think about how therapy can be approached from all of these different lenses and how that shapes my own practice as a music therapist and teacher. I also liked the developmental checklists for each age range but think it is so important to remember that these are just reference points and each child develops differently. As a parent, it is so overwhelming to look at these checklists and “compare” my baby to others, so I think it’s important to remember that when working with other parents and children and to not focus on what children “should” be doing and to instead focus on what they are doing and what they can be working toward next.
ParticipantHi Maria! It’s nice to meet you. I’m interested in hearing more about what your are going to be doing with early intervention!
ParticipantIt’s nice to meet you! Congratulations on your recent board certification – how exciting! Are you enjoying your work so far?
ParticipantIt’s nice to meet you! Wow, you have so much experience! I am so interested in hearing about how you use your speech pathology background within your music therapy sessions. I am hoping to incorporate ASL into my early childhood music classes and might end up collaborating with an SLP, so I would love to hear your insight on how to do that effectively! 🙂
ParticipantHi Sammy! I’m excited to take this course with you! Since we are both in the Madison area, maybe we could collaborate on something together at some point! Are you currently taking new referrals? I sometimes get referrals for families who are only available on weekends, and we generally don’t see clients on weekends. Can I send them your way in the future? 🙂
ParticipantHi! My name is Danni Christian, and I am an MT-BC in WI. I’m a day late posting here – please forgive me! I am a new mom to a beautiful baby girl named Alaina June (“Lainey”), born on April 14. She’s my everything and also my reason for posting late!
I live in Sun Prairie, WI and own a private practice, Madison Area Music Therapy, LLC. I graduated from Alverno College with my Bachelor’s degree in music therapy in December of 2015 and became board certified in spring of 2016 (just started my second cycle!) I received my Master’s degree in special education from UW-Stevens Point in spring of 2020. I am licensed to teach early childhood special education as well as cross-categorical special education for all ages, with specializations in the areas of cognitive disabilities and EBD.
My previous experience includes working for a private practice in Indianapolis with children with disabilities, a private practice in central Wisconsin where I worked in school, hospital, and in-home settings (also primarily with children with disabilities), and, most recently, I taught early childhood special education full-time for the Sun Prairie Area School District for the past two years. I have decided not to return to my teaching position this year in order to focus on the business and to spend more time with my daughter. As I continue to grow the business, I will also be nannying part-time and bringing my daughter with me!
I started Madison Area Music Therapy, LLC in 2018 and it has been growing steadily ever since! We primarily provide home-based services to children, but we have also recently started up a group for an Adult Day Program and are excited to continue to expand our services to other populations. I currently have two employees and have another one starting in August/September.
I am hoping to launch early childhood music classes this fall, which is what brings me to this course! I am excited to combine my love for teaching early childhood with my love of music therapy, and to involve my daughter in this work (after all, I will need an example kiddo, right? 🙂 )
In my “free time” (ha!), I enjoy camping, going for walks/hikes, exploring new areas of Wisconsin, traveling (hoping that with the vaccines, it will be safe enough to start traveling again soon!!) checking out breweries/wineries, and relaxing with my family.
Looking forward to getting to know all of you! 🙂
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