[Janet Buchanan]

What wonderful songs! I really appreciated hearing the transition songs, having seen just how helpful they can be in transitioning to and from music time. “Are You Ready for Music?” in particular is one that I can’t wait to use–the rhythm kind of pulls you in and the questions in the lyrics really invite you in to have some fun.

Although the songs are really geared for children, I’ve gotten to use the concept of embedded songs with some of the adults at my internship. Responding in the moment to our clients and supporting musically what they do has gotten some great engagement from them, and I’m really looking forward to doing this with children too!!

[Janet Buchanan]

Some of my experience is in early childhood education without a music therapy component. In my time as a preschool teacher, I learned a LOT about how to communicate both with children and their parents. I also learned a lot about what kids are interested in, and grew to have a sincere appreciation for some of the songs we sang and books that we read!! My particular school put a lot of emphasis on learning through play and letting the child direct what they wanted to learn, so I also am bringing this perspective to my music therapy practice.

[Janet Buchanan]

I’ve seen a lot of things I agree with mentioned above–taking different approaches for different children, providing boundaries and expectations, showing the parents how to interact meaningfully with their children. When the video got to the part about the parents singing the songs, I was really struck by how important that is. As music therapists, we also have some training with adults and can use that knowledge to make sure that our songs are something they can sing, remember, and take home with them.

The most important thing, I believe, is being able to facilitate the group. To some extent you have the parents to work individually with their children, but as a music therapist, you can provide reinforcement, continually assess the group, and respond to the children’s needs in the moment. That’s not something you’re going to find in just any early childhood music group.

[Janet Buchanan]

Erika, I would say that the spontaneous dancing would fit into the “control” level. This particular type of spontaneous dancing didn’t really have a strong rhythm or any sort of pattern, it was mostly random movement (such as spinning around in a circle) to the music (much like they describe spontaneous singing without a rhythm or tonal center). Other observations of this particular group gave more indicators they were in the “control” level, such as pounding and banging and that they would get the words of our songs more than the pitch or rhythm.

[Janet Buchanan]

Movement: With children, movement has been a really great application to redirect off-task behavior. It has really helped engage kids who aren’t very interested in singing a song or listening to anything, and brings their focus back to the group. Some of the residents that I work with are at a very young stage developmentally, and learning more about the sequence of movements has helped me adapt my approach to movement with them. We also focus a lot on encouraging our older residents entrain with the music we provide. As we see their dementia progressing, they still have the ability to move rhythmically along to music, still having the capability from their earliest years.

Singing: Often I find myself using singing activities to accomplish something else rather than singing for its own sake. Academic things like colors and ABCs and whatnot certainly stick a lot better when we sing them. However, I have seen with preschoolers that they are still learning to incorporate pulse and rhythm into their singing—sometimes they get a little ahead, as if they just can’t wait to get to the next part of the song, or I see them singing to themselves and doing the same sort of freestyle rhythm-ing.

Listening: I am so glad that listening has been included in this! In addition to the musical listening aspects, this discussion reminds me of the preschool social skills we have to teach. Learning how to listen to others, hearing that they’re making music too can really work into their play as kids learn to play interactively with their peers. Even the stopping and actively listening to a short song or story can be such an important skill to learn for them to be successful when they get into school.

Instruments: I too have been cautious about instrument playing activities, given the amount of structure they require. Of course, the most difficult aspect is the whole starting and stopping process. I’ve seen kids be a lot more successful with starts and stops when they get a little bit of a cue beforehand like “here it comes! Get ready to stop!” Learning that it takes a little time to process that is extremely helpful to know.

[Janet Buchanan]

Growing up, I actually had got a lot of exposure to folk songs. In college when we had to learn songs out of the Heritage Songster book, I was surprised to see that many of the songs were very familiar to me. It’s been really nice to use those songs with all ages, since they’re not limited to just children. While the folk music was used mostly for its own sake, church music was also important in my family growing up. Those simple Sunday School songs, “Jesus Loves Me” and the like, served to reinforce the concepts that we heard at church.

I’ll echo what was said earlier about the influence of media and television on children’s music. In my community, we have a lot of kids familiar with the music specifically targeted to them. Along with that, the kids at our preschool hear plenty of music incorporated in their classroom routines–Laurie Berkner and Greg & Steve make regular appearances at circle time.

[Janet Buchanan]

I’ve seen a lot of spontaneous dancing among the children I’ve worked with. When some of them first arrived and were waiting for everyone else, they would frequently ask for “dancing music,” which to them meant just about any sort of music. If you watched them do this on several different days, you might notice that at times there might not be any sort of structure to their dancing, and they’re just moving around however they want. From time to time, some kids would create a new way to dance and shortly after, the others would start to imitate it. They also could make the choice about to what degree they wanted to participate: sometimes one would get tired of it partway through, some would just watch the others, and others would dance their hearts out for as long as they could.

[Janet Buchanan]

I really found it valuable to learn about the developmental stages and some of the milestones that children should be hitting–I don’t have any experience with children under 3 so this is very important to know! It is so helpful for anyone who works with kids to know what types of behaviors to expect, especially to reassure concerned parents that yes, your child behaving in a totally normal way. Also, looking specifically at the motor development will help in planning music activities, since some types of actions may be way beyond the children’s developmental levels.

[Janet Buchanan]

Hello, my name is Janet Buchanan! I am currently a music therapy intern at Orchard Manor in Lancaster, WI, which is a facility that serves older adults and people with intellectual disabilities. My early childhood experience started in college when I had multiple practicum placements working with preschoolers. After finishing college, I took a year off and taught 3K full time before beginning my internship. I have absolutely fallen in love with this age group and I’m interested in learning as much as I can. However, at this point I do not have experience with the caregiver-child classes or with very young children. I am looking forward to learning the Sprouting Melodies material and eventually add it to my practice!

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