[Emma Evans-Peck]

I don’t use many children’s instruments because I mainly work with older adults, but I love the Remo brand. They have such a variety of sizes and types that have been helpful with me throughout my education and starting of career. The jumbo chiquitas are definitely something I’ll look in to. The chiquitas I use with older adults are a little heavy for kiddos and don’t have much auditory feedback. Any instruments that can be varied based on technique of playing would be nice for this stage as well, since variety seemed to be the word of the week!

[Emma Evans-Peck]

When they were talking at the end, like Destiny said, about varying the music and action, it reminded me of what my professor in school called “therapeutic contour”. Just like a melody has a contour that makes it work well, so does a music therapy session. The variety will also help with the maintenance of attention and stamina. 45 minutes of all excitement or 45 minutes of all lullabies will end up with responses that are similar and may become boring. The variety also allows for further flexibility in the group to cater to the needs of the families. Maybe the kiddos one week will need more excitement for engagement and other times, they may need more of the calming songs. I know stimulation is a huge topic in early childhood today with the increase in awareness of sensory needs of kids, so it’s good for us to be aware. Throughout this video, the energy level even within each song varied!
It’s hard to know how much stimulation is too much or too little without being amongst the members of the group. It really is individual and requires an ability to alter the music elements and plan as needed so that the kids are exploring, but still engaged and are also feeling secure and safe with their caregivers as well as the music.

[Emma Evans-Peck]

@Kristen–I love that there’s an option for families and siblings to interact with the music as well! Music is one of the bonding agents I had with my parents and my brother, and it’s one of the reasons I believe my brother and I have remained so close!

[Emma Evans-Peck]

Destiny–I like that you pointed out what you are looking for in this age group. Sometimes we are looking for that big “aha” moment where the baby becomes a mini Mozart, but at this level, it seems that responses like visual tracking and physiological signs of response are the most important. The rest of the skills aren’t developmentally appropriate yet!

Jessica–It seems that Meredith and Beth in this group are really encouraging that support and reassurance of parents, so I think that will be helpful. We have less focus on the clinical documentation in Sprouting Melodies, so the way to “track progress” is to let the parents know what the child is doing and supporting them through their development.

[Emma Evans-Peck]

I have very limited interaction with this age level outside of interacting with children at a grocery store or restaurant. I always am amazed at how engaged they are in their environment with their eyes. They haven’t quite gotten to the “trust” stage, so they don’t reach out and interact, but their wide eyes suggest observation and awareness. I am a little nervous about serving this age, but it’s nice to know that the parents will be involved as well. I am hoping to have more interaction with this age as friends and family members have children, but I, unfortunately, don’t have that experience yet! If anyone has any advice with this, please let me know 🙂

[Emma Evans-Peck]

5 Words to describe music in Sprouting Melodies 1: Consistent, Calm, Articulate, Supportive, Interactive

5 Sentences for bonding: “I’m so glad you were able to take time for you and your child today!”; “Look at your child look at you.”; “You’re child loves to hear your voice, so we would love to hear it, too!”; “You’re doing a wonderful job interacting with your child.”; “Your child is so calm with your voice that she fell asleep, how wonderful.”

Plan:
– Engage parents and children in a hello song to set up the environment. Encourage bonding through movement with the child through a lilting rhythm. Allow this to go on until the parents and children are settled.
-Greeting Song: Sing to each child and encourage parent to do the same while interacting physically with the child so they acknowledge the connection of the singing to themselves. I loved “Today’s a Beautiful Day” because of its calming quality.
-Bonding Song: “Wiggly Jiggly Car” Lap ride. I know as a child, I would have loved doing this song! Speed up and slow down the tempo as needed. Start slow and then speed up as child craves something MORE. This really encourages parents to engage with the children physically and brings joy to the child.
-Songs about Me: “Just like me”. I’m not sure how much the children understand the words, but the use of connecting the body parts of the parent to the child continues to build bonding and also brings physical stimuli to different areas of the body to encourage this exploration.
Instrument Songs: “In My Little Hand” would be a good transition from the last song because it recognizes a body part that might have been pointed out at the end of “Just Like Me”. It now allows for the sensory stimulus to come from an instrument rather than the parent’s hand.
Movement Song: “As Big as Big Can Be”. I like the idea of this song because it integrates the body again and can act as a cool down to lay the child on the ground and encourage them to really stretch out and get comfortable.
Goodbye song: For closure and transitioning use the Sprouting Melodies goodbye song across age groups and levels.

[Emma Evans-Peck]

I know my community doesn’t currently have music therapy resources that are local for children. The main population served is older adults and individuals on hospice. However, I have connected with parents in the community who have young children and children on the autism spectrum that I think could really benefit. Especially in this current society, it’s hard for parents to take time to spend with their children, and allowing a space and time for them to do this through Sprouting Melodies would be really helpful. The community in Albert Lea is pretty tight knit, but can also be hard to “break into” if you are new to the area. I know the library and the Y have events for children, but I’m not sure this young of an age group is a focus at this point. I’d love to help use music in these groups to build connection between kids and parents, kids and kids, and parents and parents. Once you find support in the community here, it is very helpful.

[Emma Evans-Peck]

Melissa & Destiny–both of you mentioned ethnic and cultural diversities in the metro area and Rochester. I know that Sprouting Melodies groups are by age, but do you think that some of the different cultures and ethnicities would benefit from intimate groupings among their culture? I imagine that preserving some of that amidst immigration would be important, but I don’t live in a very diverse area at the moment. I think integrating different cultural music into the groups in general would be wonderful to build community with the younger generations. Thoughts?

[Emma Evans-Peck]

I live in a smaller community in Southern Minnesota. I know of other music therapists serving different hospice agencies, but I don’t know of any other music therapists in the community. After interacting at networking events or in my daily life it’s become clear that music therapy isn’t well known in the community, but fosters a lot of interest in the community. Austin, Minnesota has a wonderful supportive community for children on the Autism Spectrum (AuSM Austin), which I have done some work with, but I believe a lot more can be done. I also know there are families with young children in the communities, but haven’t connected quite yet. I am hoping to do so especially once this training is done. One barrier I foresee is the difficulty in “breaking in” to this community. I’ve found wonderful opportunities through certain connections, but would love to network more. Another is, as Melissa said, the funding issue. It’s always an issue! Right now I’m still doing a fair amount of research to find sites that may be places to connect with for Sprouting Melodies, but they aren’t always outwardly advertised as far as I know. The library and the Y have plenty of programs, which may be one way of connecting…

[Emma Evans-Peck]

@Destiny–I like your point about being in charge of the group. This is definitely something I’m already working on as a leader of older adult groups. One thing I’ve thought about is the dynamics being a leader in a Sprouting Melodies group and intervening when I am not a parent myself. I have thought about the possibility that the parent will think I don’t know anything about their child because I’m not a parent and am “just” a music therapist. Do any of you have thoughts about this?

[Emma Evans-Peck]

I am in the middle of the video and paused it as Meredith suggested, so I don’t have the information from the latter half of the slideshow or the parent interview. However, I appreciated that Meredith encouraged us to think about our value as music therapists and people in providing programs for young children and parents. I think that as a music therapist we can bring a multi-disciplinary approach to our work with the groups. We know a lot about music, a lot about development, a lot about how the brain and body work, etc. We aren’t coming at this program thinking only in terms of music goals! Quite the opposite. We are thinking holistically! In addition, due to our background training at MT-BCs as well as Sprouting Melodies facilitators, we have expertise and credentials to back up the methods we are using. Our scope is so much wider due to the breadth of populations and settings that music therapists have the training to work in. This means that perhaps we aren’t just thinking about these first 5 years, but how the music-based activities will reap benefits across the lifespan. We aren’t only thinking about the motor goals, but how development in that domain can feed others. As music therapists, our knowledge is incredibly valuable and can help the young children as well as the parents.

[Emma Evans-Peck]

@Melissa: In my hospice work the documentation is so regulated, but I feel like that would be difficult in these early stages with children because they are changing so rapidly! It will be interesting to see how documentation transforms across the age ranges.

[Emma Evans-Peck]

It’s interesting to look back at my question regarding parent participation after the Week 4 training, where Beth and Meredith spoke about mirror neurons and how important it is for everyone present in the session to be participatory. As Beth said, “Everybody stays, everybody plays.”

[Emma Evans-Peck]

Destiny– It might be interesting to use this information in our goal planning and documentation. I don’t work with kiddos (yet), but it would be a nice reminder at each session what responses to expect and also the value of each of the responses (i.e. making a pitched vocalization).
Do any of the other participants have any pointers on documenting? (I’m kind of a data nerd…)

[Emma Evans-Peck]

In working with older adults, I have used these 4 types of experiences, and this week’s training has offered me a lot of information on how to shape these interventions. Older adults with Alzheimer’s Dementia aren’t always so different from developing children ;). I tend to stick in the “Responsibility” stage with my older adults. I do a lot of imitation as far as movement and instrument play because the groups tend to respond best to visually seeing what is expected of them. I often instruct them to “follow me” using proximity as an added prompt to follow along. With singing, there are some residents that are more in an awareness stage and may vocalize single pitches in response to my singing while others break out in spontaneously composed songs. It’s interesting for me to think about how all of their responses are valuable just as they are in childhood. Listening is the most difficult experience for me in my older adult work. Some of the residents have difficulty with transitioning because it may be confusing for them. It’s good to be aware that perhaps I should assess what skills they have still and use that to shape my music interventions. I definitely want to incorporate these 4 experiences more regularly within my group sessions to get a better feel for how to facilitate them, and then I can gear them toward 0-5 year olds rather than older adults. But, like I said, there is a childlike playfulness in a lot of my older adult patients depending on the day. 🙂

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