[Elyse Suhay]

I haven’t started Sprouting Melodies groups yet, but I grew up in the town that I am going to start them in. It’s a small, rural community; just about the epitome of “Appalachian”. Most people have enough money to live comfortable, but there are definitely some who struggle to make ends meet. Several of the girls I graduated with are single moms who are having their second child, and many of them do not have a college degree (although a few are pursuing one). I think it will be beneficial for this community to understand child development better, think about their child’s behavior differently (running around is acceptable!), and to have some tools to take home that will help their child’s overall development.

[Elyse Suhay]

Music therapists bring, mainly, their expertise and training to the community. We also bring a lot of passion. The path to becoming a music therapist is very difficult, and you have to really believe in the benefits of music therapy and really enjoy doing it in order to make it to the end. Having the musical flexibility to tailor music experiences to fit the needs of the group is something that parents will appreciate, and they will share their experience with friends.

[Elyse Suhay]

I use all four types of experiences during my sessions. The weather has been so cold and snowy (-20 degrees for two weeks, then we got 8 inches of snow last night!) and my biggest contract is at a school, so I haven’t gotten much of a chance to implement what I have learned. However, I find myself planning out what I’m going to do in my next sessions while I’m watching the videos, and then I have to rewind to catch what I missed. You’re inspiring me to be better at what I do 🙂

I use movement because I feel it is important to take a break from sitting in your chair all day at school, and because most of my students need a chance to burn some energy halfway through the session. I feel that singing is a great way to incorporate academic goals, so I try to come up with new songs that have easy melodies to go along with what the teachers are focusing on every month. Playing instruments is probably most of my students’ favorite thing to do. They’re always asking if I brought the drums with me 🙂 I’ve only been working with these students for a couple of months, and I’m having a hard time getting information about academic goals from the teachers, so I’ve been focusing on goals such as playing and waiting, taking turns, and keeping a beat with the group. I do less with listening in most groups, but it has become a main focus of one group that I work with. They wanted to work on reading and comprehension skills, so I have them listen to a song that has a story line, and then ask them some questions about it. I have also asked my preschoolers to listen to a new song when I am introducing it.

[Elyse Suhay]

Singing:
Awareness- vocalizations are in simple rhythms
Trust- detects changes in familiar melodies
Independence- uses glissando
Control- imitates words of song before pitch or rhythm
Responsibility- uses song lyrics within melodic contour

Playing:
Awareness- actions and motions are rhythmic in nature
Trust- briefly uses pulse and meter
Independence- uses hands to play instruments such as tambourines and maracas
Control- likes to pound and bang
Responsibility- maintains play of instrument within a group

Moving:
Awareness- movements are rhythmic in nature
Trust- recognizes changes in rhythm in familiar songs
Independence- begins to match intensity of movements to intensity of music
Control- generally has fast internal rhythm
Responsibility- stabilizes rhythm of movement patterns

Listening:
Awareness- recognizes pitches in a triad
Trust- can locate sounds at a distance
Independence- uses sound to express dislike of music
Control- generally matches selected pitches
Responsibility- controls dynamics of play to match music

[Elyse Suhay]

I think I knew this a while ago and just forgot about it, but I have been using All of Me for a few months now. I use it with the preschoolers and young elementary students I see. They were having a hard time keeping up with it at first, but they were able to perform it perfectly the third week!

During my internship I worked mainly with intermediate-aged students, so I have found it challenging to work with an individual client I see who is 5 and was recently diagnosed with autism. This may sound odd because I said I LOVE working with the pre-schoolers, but they are half typically developing and the students with special needs primarily have speech delays. I have actually been thinking of this child during this training so far. It has helped remind me of what I should actually be focusing on with him. Developmentally, he is anywhere from awareness to branching into independence. He has a hard time focusing, so getting his attention on the music can be challenging sometimes. He’ll be right in front of me, and I’ll take a breath in to start singing, and he’s across the room before my lungs are full 🙂 However, he loves exploring the resonator bells and can even take turns with me (We each play for a line of a song). I’ve only been working with him for a couple of months, so I have a hard time telling if he’s not interested in the music experiences I’m providing him or if he’s just having trouble focusing and attending. We just moved to a new facility, and that threw him off a bit, so I will definitely try some transition songs and see if that helps him start trusting the new space more quickly.

My “home” is all over Southern Ohio. The traditional music in this area is country, but I have never liked more than a handful of songs from that genre. A couple of weeks ago, I used “Compass” by Lady Antebellum for listening and comprehension, and my students responded better to that than any other song I’ve used in the four months I’ve been working with them. Most of them had heard it before, and all but one said they liked it. A few even sang along, and almost the whole class kept a beat which they haven’t been able to do in the past. I think I’ll use some more country songs with them 🙂

[Elyse Suhay]

I really appreciated learning about a few red flags to look for that signal possible developmental delays. So often, parents don’t realize that their children are missing milestones in development. I believe that early intervention is key, and if I am able to recognize some signs, then that child might get a few more years of services and make a lot more progress than they would otherwise. I believe that what I bring to early childhood music therapy based programs is enthusiasm. I LOVE working with the little kiddos, and I’m sure I’ll also be able to bring expertise to the table when I am finished with this training. Both the training and running Sprouting Melodies groups will help me out when I eventually decide to have children.

[Elyse Suhay]

Hi everyone! I’m Elyse Suhay, and I am a new professional. I finished my internship in June, got married in August, and began working for Central Ohio Music Therapy in late September. My company contracts to many facilities in Ohio, and my biggest contract is with a school for students with special needs. I absolutely LOVE working with the pre-schoolers, so my boss signed me up for Sprouting Melodies so that I can start doing more groups with the little kiddos. We are hoping to start several Sprouting Melodies groups in the surrounding area, and have already scheduled 2 monthly groups in a small town nearby! In March after I finish the training, of course. My internship was also at a specialized school, but I mainly worked with middle school-aged students, so I am looking forward to learning about how to design activities for younger children.

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