[Destiny Boyum]

Emma – for the most part parents are very understanding of their child’s engagement. After all, they know their kids better than anyone! Often times they are picking up on what I am picking up on, “wow she loves it! Look how much she is watching you!” I don’t feel like I have lead enough groups of babies/kids that are in the same age group to have parents make comparisons to other kids either. This might be something that I run into in the future.

[Destiny Boyum]

I have learned a lot from this course that I have already been able to use to feel more comfortable understanding the different developmental stages of kids, and WHAT that looks like for musical engagement. This has been such new information to me, and is information that I wish I learned in my undergrad. It may have been something that we breezed through in a textbook one day, but it definitely was not information that was integrated and implemented into my coursework or practice. I am excited to re-evaluate what that means in my day to day work and overall confidence.

Team that I work on with Emma and Kristen are going to become providers, and our supervisor is also going to be taking this training in the fall. It will be helpful for us to all have taken it so that we can make a game plan to figure out how we are going to use Sprouting Melodies as a part of our offerings to serve the clients and community that we have already been established in.

[Destiny Boyum]

I am looking forward to tapping into some of our existing clientele/ families I work with as I think of offering a group specific to some of the ages that I am currently working with. I also work with the company that Kristen and Emma work for, and our supervisor will be taking this course in the fall. We are all excited to become providers, but I am especially looking forward to her learning more about the program as well. I do think that our team (as mentioned above) does a very strong job of networking in our supported communities, and have a well followed e-newsletter as mentioned in this weeks videos. I think that as soon as we feel prepared to host our first group, that we will be able to effectively inform our community about it! We are very supported in our community.

[Destiny Boyum]

@Elizabeth, good point about “music therapy” potentially sounding like it targets a very specific group. I think this is why it is so important for us to get engaged in community music opportunities so that families can experience the benefits for themselves.

[Destiny Boyum]

@Erika , thanks for clarifying! I really appreciate the emphasis on not having formal assessments and “grading” kids against the group. It makes more sense to my brain to approach the groups in ways similar to Sprouting Melodies.

[Destiny Boyum]

I am most looking forward to executing the knowledge I have learned throughout the course, and feel confident communicating more clearly with families and parents about what I am seeing and doing. I want to work with more intention and this course has given me more tools to effectively do this.

[Destiny Boyum]

Things I do to make sure every kid is successful:
Choose appropriate instruments for ages and number of kids.
Recognize where the kids are at developmentally, and celebrate their engagement (usually parents’ reactions to their own kids engagement shows me if they are also encouraged by their kids engagement). If not, I try to point out things I recognize. Or as suggested, point out the kids attention or that their engagement doesn’t have to look like every other kids. I do find that since most of my groups have a large age range that families seem less preoccupied about developmental milestones in comparison to peers.
Offer choices and opportunities for kids who can make them, but also acknowledge when a kid is communicating non-verbally with disengagement or wandering.
In the types of groups I run, I make sure to include songs that each kid likes.

[Destiny Boyum]

I think that the most important point to stress is what was said in the video – something along the lines of, “Even if your toddler isn’t correctly jumping like the other kids, doesn’t mean that what they’re doing isn’t a valuable step to get there.” The kid might be bending their knees or observing the peers, but not able to get off the ground. Your baby might be putting shakers in their mouth instead of banging them together like the other babies, but the important thing for us to do is validate them and make sure that they see that music is able to meet these kids where they are at and encourage their development, and it isn’t a matter of “is my kid doing the right or the wrong thing? Is my kid succeeding?” The skill building isn’t what is necessarily being measured in our therapy sessions. I think that is the goal sometimes, but not necessarily for a group of toddlers. We are not engaging them to test proficiency against the group, but to help them gain that awareness and independence.

[Destiny Boyum]

Emma,

I think that is a great idea to do that for Onsong set lists – at least for older kids or adults. I find that I sometimes use my Onsong when I’m most often singing Pop music with some of my mixed age groups, but if I were playing with the younger kids in a group like this I would have a more definite structure and would hopefully have the songs I intend to use memorized so that I can better facilitate!

[Destiny Boyum]

Sprouting Melodies 3:
deliberate/intentional
Personality
Accepting
Creative
Push & Pull

Lesson:
Hello: Sit down with me – I really like the way you can change it to clap with me, stomp with me, and immediately engage them
Bonding: Swimming together – this one would be an easy one for me to incorporate soon, because it’s pretty repetitive which is appealing to me.
Songs about me: Where is the music? Or the monkey drumming one I would like to adapt even without the book, with using the thumb, fingers, and hand for tapping and playing on a small instrument.
Instrument Play: You play a little
Movement: Will you come? – I like that this one is a familiar tune, also a great way to adapt to many different movements.
Goodbye: Thank you very much – I like the idea of using the hands rubbing together

Family Sprouts:
Sharing
Support
Cooperation
Helping
Connections

Lesson:

Hello: come and join the circle!
Bonding: Row It Faster – I think this would be a good visual for the older kids, and another opportunity for them to model for the younger kids/siblings.
About me: That All Makes Up Me
Instrument: I Like this Song
Movement: Will You Come
Bye: Music time is over

[Destiny Boyum]

I do think there are more challenges with doing music therapy groups with mixed age groups- although this is actually what I feel more comfortable with. I provide groups in pediatrics and at our Ronald McDonald House regularly and both groups I have a hard time with preparing anything before – so I have to be ready to accommodate a group that has a 6m old and a 10 year old, and sometimes another kid who doesn’t speak any English. I think that it is our primary goal to make a positive experience that is shared between all ages, and do our best to keep it steady/predictable for the younger kids and exciting enough for the older kids. It is a challenge to pick songs that are this way, although I do find with some of the newer Disney songs that even older kids really enjoy Moana, and families with young infants often have older siblings around the babies and I notice that even babies even under one year old will appear find these melodies familiar.

[Destiny Boyum]

I really liked the points made at the end of the video. I have heard before at a conference the idea of structuring sessions with shifts between high and low stimulation, to promote self-regulation in preschool aged kids. The idea of helping them shift between high and low stimulation. I think this principle applies to all ages though, and agree with what was said in the video about increasing stimulation if you are losing interest of the kids. If they are leaving the circle to pound on the wall, you need to get your energy up and do something engaging with movement and faster tempo and re-engage the kids. Once they are attending again, I think it is important to bring them back down to a calm state because they can’t/shouldn’t probably remain in this high stimulation state for too long. Eventually they will get overstimulated, and the parents will get overstimulated and you will lose CONTROL! Also, with the importance in this stage of surprise and sudden changes, this will continue to peak their interest.

[Destiny Boyum]

I am actually primarily using the same instruments that I see you using. The small Basic Beat chiquitas or those larger ones (I can’t recall which brand those are, but we have the same!) We have a lot of Remo brand instruments and small drums. With this age group I tend to stick to these shakers, and will also sometimes integrate a larger floor/gathering drum if I am with one kid. One of my other favorite drums for this age is a kids version of bongos by Remo, that has two tones, but can comfortably sit on the floor in front of the baby if they are sitting supported or on parents lap.

[Destiny Boyum]

@Emma, I hear you saying that you haven’t had a lot of experience with the young kids – I really think that this will be a positive thing for you, because having this training as your foundation and to sculpt how you work with kids and parents is a GREAT foundation! For me, I feel like I am trying to “unlearn” some habits or re-work how I have been comfortable doing things in the past.

[Destiny Boyum]

@Erika
That’s a good idea! Although, one of our other therapists “focuses” on the ICUs and I am typically in gen peds or rehab. I do follow a handful of patients through the units, and will go to the ICUs when she is not there if there is a referral. I would be potentially interested in doing it to make myself more comfortable overall!

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