[Erika Svolos]

Hi Jeanne and Kevin- Elizabeth’s book is a wonderful resource. She wrote it to be a “working” text so that you can refer back to regularly to inform your work. She used it as a reference in her work as well.

[Erika Svolos]

I truly enjoy reading each of your responses and hearing all the unique gifts you bring to your work. Thank you all for sharing.

[Erika Svolos]

Hi Everyone, I hope you are enjoying the material this week! Please remember to check back each week to read and respond to your fellow participants. We find this really helps to deepen what you are learning! I look forward to reading your responses and insights.

[Erika Svolos]

Hello everyone. My name is Erika Svolos. I am the online moderator for this training. I live in New Jersey with my husband, my 6.5-year-old daughter, and our cat Moose. It is a joy to be a part of this fantastic program and to join in your Sprouting Melodies journey. I am a graduate of Marywood University, currently, a graduate student at Montclair State University, and have been a music therapist in New Jersey for the past 20 years. Over that time, I have worked in a variety of settings including in-patient child/adolescent psychiatry, a private clinic for autism, a large urban public school, private practice, and a private special education high school for individuals with emotional and behavioral disorders. In August 2013 I started my own business/private practice; Music Therapy Services of New Jersey, LLC. I completed the April 2013 Sprouting Melodies online training and it was a wonderful addition to my practice. I began offering Sprouting Melodies classes in February of 2014 and I’ve truly enjoyed working with my SM families. I have been moderating the Sprouting Melodies Online Training for the past 6.5 years and I am now also a part of the Sprouting Melodies Provider support team.

I will be assisting with any questions and/or technical difficulties.

You will be receiving an email with information about the online forum technology and my contact information. If you do not receive the email, please contact me at erika.svolosmtbc@gmail.com.

I am looking forward to getting to know each of you over the next ten weeks!

[Erika Svolos]

It is wonderful to hear all that you have gotten from this course. It has been a pleasure to have you all in this training. I wish you all the best as you continue with our work.

[Erika Svolos]

Thank you all for your thoughts and strategies.

[Erika Svolos]

Hi Cricket: Excellent points about the children needing to be near us and transitions. I like how you make your self available by moving towards those that need your present and considering transition as you plan. I like to remind myself when I see behavior “Children do well when they can.” (Dr. Ross Greene). Behavior is a communicator and there are times they need us to be with them or to consider what they need when they are having difficulty following the expectations.

[Erika Svolos]

Hi Maryrose, I also have ADHD and have a tendency to move quickly. Something that Elizabeth taught me that I found really helpful when I was tired of the repetition: Each time you repeat you do it a little differently. E.g. First time the song is done faster, second time slow, third time loud. I’ve also used this as an opportunity for the children to tell me how we should repeat. E.g. “Should we go fast or slow? Should we go loud or soft? Should we use our bodies or our instruments?.” There are also times that I change how we do the song based on stimulation levels.

[Erika Svolos]

I am so glad to hear all that you have gained from the training and what you will be taking with you as you complete the training. Thank you for all of your insights.

[Erika Svolos]

Shylie you may also want to consider taking the NICU training with Joanne Lowey. Joanne is based in NYC at a prominent hospital. She has done a considerable amount of research and created a training based in NICU music development.

[Erika Svolos]

You each have shared excellent examples of how we can share with parents what makes our services and classes unique. Remember to save these if and when you need them in the future.

[Erika Svolos]

Hi Molly,

I would add that a personal trainer only has a quick online training course, approximately 6-8 weeks, giving a general instruction on exercise. There is minimal to no learning about the mechanics of the body, injuries, injury repair, and there is also no internships. A physical therapist or a clinical exercise physiologist, like music therapists, go through a degree program, internships, and certification exams after completion of their degrees to qualify them to treat injuries and provide prescriptive exercise plans. Like music therapists, they are also trained to adjust/change/and improvise to continue to meet an individual’s ever-changing needs.

[Erika Svolos]

Wonderful insights from everyone! It sounds like you all have a strong grasp on the challenge of multi-age sessions and ways to address these challenges.

[Erika Svolos]

I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s responses, thank you all for your insights. Something you can also take into consideration is the “iso-principal” where we meet a client where they are and then move the stimulation to the optimal level for engagement. So, when you have infants and toddlers you may consistently need to start with the lower level of stimulation, but with older children, they may come in needing a higher level of stimulation that moves down to the optimal stimulation. If you have mixed needs, you then have to consider how to provide higher levels of stimulation for those that need and lower for the others. For example, our kiddos that need more stimulation can be a “helper” or a “leader” while you provide lower stimulating music to support those needing less stimulation.

[Erika Svolos]

Hi Tony, excellent point about checking in with Occupational Therapists. Especially OT’s that have extensive training in sensory processing. The Star Institute in Denver, CO was founded by the OT to first discover Sensory Processing Disorder. They are doing significant research on sensory processing as a whole and are showing us that sensory functioning is very varied from person to person and how to get to optimal functioning.

[Author]

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