[Ericha Rupp]

Again sorry this response didn’t post as well. 🙁 I am looking forward to becoming a SM provider once I find the need within my community. Once I have established enough need to start then I cannot wait for the start educating families with what I have learned during this training. This training has been incredibly helpful with finding “family friendly” terminology to speak with families about their growing families. This training has also helped me create a great bank of additional songs and activities to my repertoire that I can’t wait to start utilizing and practicing within my current work as an MT. Also on a side note I look forward to the day when I can meet you all, Erika, Kristina, Beth, and Meredith, in person at a conference. Thanks again ladies for this wonderful opportunity and I look forward to keeping in touch with you all.

[Ericha Rupp]

Sorry this didn’t get posted the first time friends. Glad I writing everything out on my power point slides. 🙂
Using parent friendly language, I would start off by mentioning how music can assist a child with their developmental levels by holding an instrument, making a vocal sound, etc. Then I would also mention that music is a beautiful tool to assist an individual with skills building. Such as joint attention, taking turns, waiting, etc.

[Ericha Rupp]

I am interested in becoming a SM provider once I can figure out how to incorporate it within the facility that I work in. The current community that I work in definitely needs more opportunities for young children and families to get together. I think SM would be ideal and valuable.

[Ericha Rupp]

I’d like to incorporate this information while talking with my co-workers, administration and other colleagues. I may discuss a bit of this information with some of my current families to see if there is an interest and then based on their feedback I may become an “official” sprouting melodies provider.

[Ericha Rupp]

The first strategy that comes to mind is providing age appropriate activities for the group. This has been mentioned many times over the past 9 weeks, as it should, and it really is the foundation of all of my group experiences. Another strategy includes having a ‘plan of action’ when a member of the group becomes distracted/disregulated for any reason. The other strategy that I can think of is when I have time or opportunities to meet with the families of my group members. I like to ask them what their expectations are for the group and then affirm their expectations while also highlighting what the actual expectations are of the music group. I have found that things tend to run a little more smoothly when everybody is on the same page both during the music group session and during carry-over into the home environment.

[Ericha Rupp]

5 words for SM3: accepting, creative, strong, emotional, and active.
5 words for FS: supportive, individuality, connection, peaceful, and sharing.

Plan for songs and activities for both SM3 and FS would be the same general prep for the other sprouting melody groups. Set up the room in a way to best support the group and their needs. Provide structure within the songs and activities to enhance the 5 words as described above. For the FS class I definitely would provide more variety to the songs, activities, and instruments in order to provide every interested party the opportunity to participate. Where as SM3 I feel a little more structure in a way where I can focus on a few instruments/songs/activities.

Side note: I love the “I like this song” instrument song. Liz, do you have piano accompaniment written out in your songbook?

[Ericha Rupp]

Some of the challenges with providing multi-age groupings is meeting all the kids at their developmental level. I get to work with a few groups like this now and it is always a challenge to create activities that are not too hard and yet not too easy for all kiddos involved. I also find myself ‘picking and chossing my battles’ and constantly thinking “27 step ahead”. These are also my favorite groups to lead because it encourages a more challenging creative side to come out and play. 🙂

[Ericha Rupp]

Getting the opportunity to work with children primarily diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder “too much stimulus” and “not enough stimulus” can appear differently for each child. My general rule of thumb is less is always more. Once I have figured out the baseline of stimulation I can always add more or take away. General signs of when a kiddo is under-stimulated and overstimulated can appear the same. Sometime the child can be under-stimulated and he/she may appear bored or remove themselves from the activity to do something else. On the flip side an individual who is over stimulated may become overwhelmed and remove themselves from an activity to regulate or avoid the activity all together. At times it can be difficult to gage a child’s appropriate level of stimulation.

[Ericha Rupp]

Five words: discovery, authenticity, observation, playful, and surprises.

Five Sentences:
1) Children at this age are completely absorbent to a variety of information.
2) It’s okay if your child doesn’t refer to peers during the music activities.
3) It’s all about having musical choices and the ability to explore and not about actually moving the instrument as suggested.
4) Your child may choose to explore instruments with hands or mouth.
5) Your child may move body parts with internal rhythmic beats.

Plan: In general I’d plan for a lot of structure in the environment while also adapting all the activities to the different levels and abilities of all child and parents in the group. Change the timbre of my voice, include a variety of surprises and opportunities for exploration.

[Ericha Rupp]

Currently I utilize the small ocean drums, maracas, crow sounders, small rhythm sticks, small rain sticks, small handbells, small rattles, 4″ rainbow circle drums, sand blocks, large gathering drum, buffalo drum, lollipop drums, and fruit shakers. All are made by Remo and Hohner.

[Ericha Rupp]

Five Words: Comforting, inviting, includes “snuggles”, warm, and gentle.

Five Sentences:
1. Your infant may attend more to music that is similar to a lullaby.
2. Higher pitched voices and instruments may have a calming effect on your infant.
3. Infants respond to music with repetitive movements.
4. Your voice is preferred by your infant over any other voice.
5. Infants can make involuntary/reflexive response to music.

Plan for songs and music experiences:
Be aware of the baby’s needs (feeding, diaper changes, clothing, temperature of room, sleep depravation etc.) while also taking the parent’s needs or the teachers needs into consideration.
Plan for songs would be tempos, dynamics, type of movements associated with the song, and timbre.

[Ericha Rupp]

Getting to work with infants between the ages of 6-9 months old is one of the highlights of my week. A few of my favorite activities I get to do with them are ones that involve movement. I enjoy watching them explore their bodies with reinforced music and how they move with and without an object in their hands. Also enjoy watching the different types of receptive skills (directional eye gaze, bouncing their little bodies up and down, moving their little feet/toes) that are displayed during music therapy time. I find always myself going over in the time that I am allotted because I am instantly captivated by the “magic of the music” as it bounces from one child to the next.

[Ericha Rupp]

The role of a music therapist in a community based setting is both unique and essential. As music therapists we provide a exciting, positive, fun, and supportive environment especially for children who fall into the early childhood category. We are unique in a way that anybody can benefit from our services. We are essential in the sense that we can provide a specific experience for a specific reason.

[Ericha Rupp]

The biggest need for the families that I work with is funding and parent education resources for the parents that have children diagnosed with a disability. The community lacks a variety of culturally diverse options and resources for families that have children diagnosed with a disability. The families that I get to work with along with the community that I work in are growing rapidly. At points I wonder if the community can keep up with the growing families to accommodate all of their needs.

[Ericha Rupp]

You all have amazing comments. It’s hard to follow. I too agree that music therapists bring a unique experience to every situation. We are adaptable, we provide education to not only our families but to our co-workers and other community members, we provide a unique approach towards any skill for a variety of developmental levels, and we are Amazing!

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