[Erin Schmidt]

5 sentences when speaking with parents:
It’s ok and very natural if your child is an observer, or taking stock of their environment; when they feel comfortable, they will participate!
It’s ok if your child isn’t connected to your peers, if they gravitate towards adults more.
Infants at this age prefer higher pitches, so it’s ok to sing in higher octaves.
Infants at this age focus more on themselves during lullaby-style singing and more towards the external world and other peope during play song-style singing. Play song style is more rhythmic with more consonants, whereas lullaby-style is more smooth and soothing.
The bottoms of a child’s feet is a great place to take in information and helps them process a lot of information and respond; the point is to organize their rhythmic movement
One of the main points is for the child to make choices as a response, so if they choose not to shake up high, it’s ok, that’s their choice!

Plan:
Hello Song: Hey Hey Come and Play
Bonding Song: Wiggly, Jiggly Car
Songs About Me: All of This is Me
Instrument Song: I Like this Song, Sit With Me and Shake
Movement Song: Pick Your Hands Up High with Scarves then move into Where Oh Where Is My…, I Can Move Around (allow them to keep instruments for the movement song)
Goodbye: Music Time is Over
Thank You Song: Thank You Very Much to bring children together and shake a peer’s hand

[Erin Schmidt]

I’m not currently working with children at this developmental level, but I do utilize a lot of different instruments with my clients.
I have a set of stacking drums that I use with my groups or with clients that I see at locations that don’t have tubano or djembe drums.
I also use egg shakers almost every day: they’re very versatile, are super easy to transport, and hold up against any roughness.
Other hand held percussion instruments I use are: cabasa, maracas, kokoriko, tambourines, claves, jingle sticks, boomwhackers, desk bells, and tone chimes.

[Erin Schmidt]

Trust. Explore. Spontaneity. Synchrony. Playfulness.

[Erin Schmidt]

Music therapy in community based settings is so important! Even better when we can collaborate with other community based organizations! The goals can be widely varied and can help children in crisis or with trauma, integrate into society, prepare for school, provide emotional support, etc. Holding groups in community based settings allows for both special needs children and typically developing children to coexist and socialize in a safe space. And when using music in this environment, everything is equalized.

[Erin Schmidt]

I don’t have much experience with children at this age and level. During my internship I worked with one infant, but only for a few sessions. At this time, all of my clients are at least 10 years old or older, but I’m very interested in working with infants and babies, especially now that I’m pregnant with my first child.

[Erin Schmidt]

5 Words:
Explore. Bond. Socialize. Touch. Gentle.

5 Sentences:
Infants attend better to more sedate music, like lullabies.
Music with more consonant intervals, rather than dissonant intervals, produce better attending skills.
Infants find it difficult to attend to music after being exposed to periods of melodic or harmonic dissonance.
Between 4 and 6 months, infants respond to music with repetitive movements.
Singing can be used to regulate infant emotional states and to communicate emotional information.

Plan:
Instrument Exploration with prerecorded music while group members arrive
Hello Song: Good Morning to You
Hey Hey Come and Play!
Body Percussion: I Can Move Around
Lap Ride: Hold On Tight!
Tickle Time: Row It Faster
Instrument Play: Sit With Me and Shake
In My Little Hand
Gross Motor Movement: As Big As Can Be
I Can Move Around
Cool Down: All Of This Is Me
Goodbye:

[Erin Schmidt]

Christina, I totally agree with the “in the moment session changes”. I can plan and plan until I turn blue, but inevitably something occurs and my plans go right out the window :).

[Erin Schmidt]

Christina, I love the word “empower”! And limited access to services is a problem nationwide; there’s just not enough money to go around :(.

[Erin Schmidt]

I work with families in SE Indiana and Cincinnati. My families in Cincinnati are very different than the families in IN: a lot of my IN families are low-income, live in rural areas and need a lot of support and assistance in navigating the special needs terrain. My Cincinnati clients, on the other hand, have had a lot more opportunities to learn about programs and therapies their child might benefit from.

[Erin Schmidt]

I think that as music therapists one of the biggest values we have is our capacity for empathy. No matter where the child is at, no matter what struggles or hardships the parents or guardians are going through, we can empathize and put ourselves in the other person’s shoes, to understand what they’ve gone through. And we can use that empathy in sessions, to adjust and format the session to make it as successful as it could possibly be.

[Erin Schmidt]

Hally/Kim/Angela – Singing into drums is such a great way to utilize an instrument in a new and unique way!

[Erin Schmidt]

Samantha and Angela, this wasn’t discussed much in my college coursework either. It’s something I’ve learned along the way in my practicing music therapy, but I definitely needed some refreshing!

[Erin Schmidt]

These 4 experiences are definitely utilized when doing assessment sessions on potential clients. Having it laid out this way, though, makes the though process so much more simple and clear! And it doesn’t have to just be with children; having a session laid out to always include the 4 experiences could take a lot of anxiety and fear out for clients with autism or who struggle with schedule changes.

[Erin Schmidt]

Singing:
Awareness – turn their attention facially towards the source of singing
Trust – match selected pitches or make vocal pitch changes in response to pitch changes
Independence – use about an octave pitch range
Control – use selected sung words at the end of phrases
Responsibility – Sings intervals of a 3rd or more

Playing:
Awareness – turn facial attention towards the sound source
Trust – reach out to touch instruments
Independence – transfer instrument from hand to hand
Control – shake instruments at a variety of tempos
Responsibility – play a simple sequence on bar instrument or desk bells

Moving:
Awareness – move entire body and show reflexive movement patterns
Trust – tolerate movement of body parts rhythmically
Independence – imitate clapping hands in response to music
Control – isolate body parts to move rhythmically
Responsibility – maintain balance during a “freeze” musical game

Listening:
Awareness – tolerate live music
Trust – adjust vocalizations to indicate happiness or displeasure
Independence – follow simple directions set to familiar music
Control – stop action to listen to music
Responsibility – follow multi-step musical direction

[Erin Schmidt]

Hi all,
I think my most valuable takeaway from this week’s content was the fact that children can vary so much in terms of where they are developmentally; for instance, for a child of 6 months, physically they could be exactly where they should be, but emotionally they could be lagging behind a little, or their language could be further along than what is considered typical. Every child is different!

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