[Janet Buchanan]

This has been an interesting 10 weeks for me–as I’m finishing my internship with older adults, I am actually enjoying the population and seeking employment in a nursing home setting instead of in a preschool like I expected! The training has already had quite an effect on my work. I’ve found that I have been applying and adapting a lot of the concepts from the SM training in an age-appropriate way for our seniors/DD folks and getting great results.

Wherever I end up, I hope to be doing at least some work with early childhood, whether it’s a typical SM group or more of an intergenerational thing. As I mentioned in the other forum post, I have an awesome relationship with the preschool where I previously worked and will be doing an inservice about music and early childhood at the beginning of next year. At some point I plan to become a SM provider and use the community-based setting as a way to advocate for music therapy and provide quality music experiences for all sorts of young children.

[Janet Buchanan]

First of all, I’m very excited to share some of this information with a colleague who is seriously considering doing the Sprouting Melodies training herself! Early next year, I’ve been offered the opportunity to do an inservice at the preschool where I used to work. I plan on sharing some music therapy research about young children, and it will be very helpful to bring up some of the developmentally-appropriate music responses. Hopefully they will come away with some new information, new ideas about music, and some good reasons to use even more music in their classrooms! Sometime soon I would also like to start a program in my own community and share the things I have learned with parents and teachers.

[Janet Buchanan]

Before I started the training, I got to look through the “You and Me Makes…We” book that one of my colleagues had. I was so excited to learn some new music! First, I am just really excited to have learned so many wonderful songs to use with young children. I am also looking forward to returning to work with young children and their parents, this time much more knowledgeable than I was before. After learning everything in these past 10 weeks, I feel much more confident to work with children even younger than 3 and provide quality music experiences for them.

[Janet Buchanan]

I can definitely see how having the right expectations helps everyone to be successful. Giving everyone a task that they are capable of accomplishing allows for success right away and prevents frustration at not being able to participate. My supervisors have talked a lot about how it helps to start off with something very basic to get the group together and then build from there.

When children get distracted, knowing their individual personalities, likes, and dislikes can provide that way to pull the child back in with a favorite song or activity. I’ve found that the more you get to know children, the easier it is to see what they might do next. When we have someone who habitually throws things, providing them with a drum that sits on the ground still gives them a chance to play an instrument without having it in their hands. On the other hand, someone who uses their hands to hit may be kept occupied if they have their hands full of an instrument they like or a scarf to wave. Mostly, I think being proactive and stopping problems before they start is the preferred strategy here.

[Janet Buchanan]

The main challenge I see with the Family Sprouts class is keeping the stimulus level appropriate for everyone. While the littlest ones need some more quiet and bonding with their caregivers, the session needs to be enough for the older ones to stay interested and feel like their needs are being met. Particularly if there are siblings, it might be difficult for some of the bigger kids to feel like they are getting enough attention—I LOVE how you described the way to accommodate multiple children on a parent’s lap to let them bond with their parent and their sibling at the same time. I think that a really important component of planning these sessions is making sure that the stimulus level meets the group where they are at, and moves only gradually from song to song. Slowly bringing the energy level up makes sure that you do get to the higher-energy songs that some of the bigger kids are looking for while preventing the babies from being totally startled and upset. Having several different songs in your back pocket, making transitions smooth, and being able to respond in the moment to your group is really important to keeping the group steady and a good experience for all.

[Janet Buchanan]

I’m not totally sure I understand the question here. Certainly you can talk about how this is a program with its origins in music therapy and that it is informed by knowledge of music therapy research and child development. However, Sprouting Melodies is different from other MT services by being a community-based program open to all children with their parents. Therefore, you have some general developmental areas you want to reinforce and the ability to provide music experiences for that, but you don’t have the sorts of goals you do in MT. Lastly, I’ll echo what was said by others that you can differentiate SM from other music programs by the emphasis on the process and experience of music-making rather than the end product.

[Janet Buchanan]

Family Sprouts
Bonding, Universal, Adaptable, Social, Modeling

Opening: Hello Everybody (each child by name), Good Morning
Bonding/lap ride: Row it Faster, Swimming Together
Songs about me: All of This is Me
Instruments/movement: Will you Come? I Like This Song
Cool Down: Just Like Me
Goodbye: Goodbye Friends (each child by name)

SM3
Independent, Accepting, Social, Observing, Creative

Opening: Gather Round, Hello Everybody (each child by name)
Bonding/lap ride: My Brand new Friend, Wiggly Jiggly Car
Songs about me: Head Shoulders Knees and Toes,
Instruments/movement: You Play a Little, Will You Come?
Cool Down: Music is the Way
Goodbye: Goodbye Friends (each child by name)

[Janet Buchanan]

I’ve used both the colorful chiquita egg shakers and the natural wooden ones, and they both have good qualities to them. Going along with the other forum topic about stimulation, I think that the wooden ones would be nice for those who tend to get overstimulated–instead of bright reds and blues, they are a lovely brown color and have a nice soft sound to them. In addition to those, I have also enjoyed using instruments made by Basic Beat and Remo, since they tend to be nice-sounding, good quality instruments.

[Janet Buchanan]

I’ve always appreciated the fact that people will tell you when they are receiving too much or too little stimulation. You can see children becoming agitated if they’re getting too much, and off-task behavior if they aren’t stimulated enough. So it’s important to meet your group wherever they’re at that day and time, and you can gradually manipulate your music and your plan to get the group more energized or calm by the end of the session. In order to increase or decrease stimulation, I like to change up how I’m playing or singing. With the guitar you can make your strumming more or less complicated, fingerpick a simple pattern, or even totally drop the guitar out. Even with just your voice, you have a lot of flexibility in timbre–the tone you use for “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” is completely different than how you’d sing some country songs.

[Janet Buchanan]

Welcoming, exploratory, surprising, playful, genuine

1. We are in a really fun and interesting place! Your child is exploring our environment and deciding where in the room they want to be. Our space is safe for that.
2. If your child gets wiggly, that’s ok. They don’t need to sit still and it’s their choice if they want to follow our actions.
3. They love you! If they are moving away from you and toward other people, they’re feeling safe and independent. When they’re ready, they know they can come back to you.
4. These instruments are also very new and exciting. It’s good to shake an shaker, but we keep the instruments clean and mouthing a maraca is another way to explore it.
5. Look how your child is reacting to the music! The surprises are fun, and he/she is starting to anticipate them and be ready!

Greeting: Hello, Everybody (each child by name)
Bonding/lap ride: Wiggly Jiggly Car, Row it Faster
Songs about me: All of this is Me
Instruments/movement: Marching with my Baby, Sit With Me and Shake
Cool Down: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Goodbye: Goodbye Friends (each child by name)

[Janet Buchanan]

When you mention music therapy in community-based settings, I tend to think of existing community music events and groups. You have the performers and concerts, and then there are the groups like community bands, church choirs, and whatnot. Yes, there are these other opportunities for music already out there, but they don’t quite match what music therapy does. Concerts and events are accessible to all, but are about listening to music rather than participating in music. Community performing groups are participatory in nature, but may seem threatening or inaccessible to people without a background in music. Community-based music therapy can catch the people who fall between the cracks–those who want to actively participate in music, but don’t have the requisite skills. Music therapists have the training and experience necessary to create meaningful music experiences for all sorts of people.

That last paragraph was mostly referring to people who don’t typically receive music therapy services. There’s even more potential for building community when you start to include those who already participate in individual or group music therapy. Promoting a more inclusive environment for children with special needs, or offering intergenerational music groups at a nursing home can allow all sorts of people to come together around the experience of making music.

[Janet Buchanan]

Like many of the others here, I have had little to no experience with children of this age level. However, I have seen a little from observing my own little cousins, younger siblings of students, or babies of my friends. Much of the time, they seem to be sleeping. Some of the other times they are startled or have that “baby bewildered” look on their face. I’ve always really enjoyed watching the ones who are a little older react to the environment–they start looking around and being more aware of the people around them. It’s especially fun to start making faces at them because they’re beginning to react and might smile or mirror your expressions!

[Janet Buchanan]

Safe, Stimulating, Loving, Gentle, Calm

At 4-6 months, your baby is starting to bounce or kick in their own rhythm.
Look at the different way that your baby responds to a lullaby versus to the “Wiggly Jiggly Car!”
Your baby is making the choice to turn their attention away from the music right now, and that’s fine.
Listen to how your baby is starting to use his or her voice in a purposeful way!
The sound and warmth of your voice is much more important than any part of the song or lyrics.

Transition: recorded music
Opening: Today’s a Beautiful Day, Hello Hello It’s Time for Music (each child by name)
Bonding: Row it Faster, Hold on Tight
Songs about me: You Have Two Hands, Everybody has a Face
Instruments/movement: In my Little Hand, I Like This Song
Cool Down: Twinkle Twinkle, You are My Sunshine
Goodbye: Goodbye friends (each child by name)

[Janet Buchanan]

The families of the preschoolers I worked with had some interesting needs. Since I worked with typically developing preschoolers, the families sent them to school for mainly social skills. These parents tended to be educated, and were really very concerned about their child learning letters, numbers and whatnot. Some of the preschool programs I’ve observed have been very academic and curriculum focused rather than play based. I think what the families really need are experiences that are developmentally appropriate for their children, led by someone who has a knowledge of developmentally appropriate responses. Parents have been so reassured to see their child on the same level as their peers and being successful in a class environment.

As far as the community’s needs go, I would say that building community is important. We had a lot of households where both parents were working or chauffeuring kids to activities much of their time, without the chance to create relationships with each other or seeing the friendships that their kids developed. I loved hearing in the parent interview how everyone got to know all of the children and take those relationships outside of music once a week.

[Janet Buchanan]

Singing–Awareness: vocalizes 2 or more different pitches, Trust: imitates and responds to caregiver’s singing, Independence: uses vowel and consonant sounds in singing, Control: requests a favorite song, Responsibility: sings familiar songs independently

Playing instruments–Awareness: looks toward an instrument being played, Trust: explores an instrument with hands or mouth, Independence: Purposefully plays an instrument, Control: starts and stops along with music, Responsibility: maintains a steady beat

Moving–Awareness: moves in the presence of music, Trust: changes movement in response to changes in music, Independence: matches movements to the volume of the music, Control: dances spontaneously, Responsibility: sequences learned movements

Listening–Awareness: tolerates the sound of different voices and instruments, Trust: Looks toward sound from a distance, Independence: reacts to musical “surprises” in music, Control: listens during a call and response song, Responsibility: focuses attention on a peer singing

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