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Hi Amy, I love the idea of giving children a “job” while they are waiting to take their turn! Such an easy and effective way to engage all of the children while secretly working on the important goal of impulse control.
ParticipantHi Anne, I love your point about fostering confidence in young mothers/ caregivers. It is so important to give them the necessary resources to help them be the best advocate that they can be for their child!
ParticipantHi Amy, I love how you shed light on the education and level of experience we have as music therapists when we do early childhood music programs. Many other programs do not require a musical background to complete the training, nor do they require a vast amount of knowledge about early childhood development. Wonderful insight!
ParticipantHi Hannah, I love what you said about allowing our music to match a child’s stimulation level, but also our energy and presence that we are bringing into the therapy space!
March 20, 2022 at 12:01 pm
in reply to: Share some of your experiences with children of this age and level.
ParticipantHi Emily, it is great to hear that you are utilizing some of these strategies with older children! While I have some experience with younger children in this age range, I also have more experience with children who are a bit older. The instrument scavenger hunt sounds so fun! Thanks for the idea!
ParticipantHi Hannah, I loved your point about how a community based program fosters a less intimidating environment for families. It is often so hard for family members to come out of their shell if they are not confident in their musical skills, and I think being around other parents and caregivers can be really helpful!
March 20, 2022 at 11:55 am
in reply to: What are the needs of the families and communities that you work with?
ParticipantHi Aliza, I also work in EI and completely agree that there are not enough opportunities for social engagement for young children, especially children who are not preschool age. Music therapy groups are certainly a way to help support the families in our community.
ParticipantHi Maggie, I loved your point about how important our job is as music therapists to offer a space for parents of children with special needs. Many parents often tell myself as well as other clinicians that the groups we offer at our center are just as valuable (if not more valuable) for them , as well as their children! I love being able to provide support for families and using the power of music to do that.
ParticipantThe biggest takeaway from this course was how to effectively and appropriately recognize different musical developmental responses. Working with young children for several years and taking early childhood education courses allowed me to have vast knowledge about developmental milestones for young children, but taking this class allowed me to understand appropriate musical responses. Before taking this class I wanted to know more specific musical milestones to point out to families and other team members on my interdisciplinary team at work, and this course certainly provided that knowledge as well as an abundance of resources! This has changed my perspective as a clinician because now I can further advocate to other team members about different ways we can tell a child is engaged with music, even if they are not actively participating in the circle or the music space. It has also changed my perspective to let children explore instruments and the music in different ways, whether that means picking up instruments and just holding them, or sitting in the circle and watching the music therapist lead the group. I will share this information with team members by sharing and communicating information about musical developmental milestones, and how these milestones may look different than other milestones such as speech or social milestones.
ParticipantSome strategies I have used and will continue to utilize are: ensuring a child’s physical needs are met, checking in with parents about sensory needs and emphasizing small victories. I always check in with each parent before music time to ask how each child is feeling that day. If a parent says their child is still tired from being sick or is cranky that day, I make sure to take this into consideration. If a child is craving more sensory input, I may offer a pillow or sensory toy that vibrates, or offer a fidget toy to play with during the music group. I also make sure to emphasize small victories and wins throughout the group. Example: Bobby did a wonderful job maintaining eye contact during our instrument song! That was so wonderful to see that prolonged sustained attention.
ParticipantThe thing I am most excited about as I complete this training is how music therapists can facilitate how to use music through a parent coaching model. It is great that children will have a music group to attend once a week. But what is really fantastic is that they will be able to hear these songs and benefit from music all week through generalization and carryover into the home! I love this model of group work because it emphasizes how we can educate parents on the beneficial effects of the music. I am excited and looking forward to providing parents with this knowledge.
ParticipantExperiences in Family Sprouts are busy, supportive, joyful, cooperative and individual.
Plan for Family Sprouts:
Gathering: Allow for instrument play and exploration. Set the room up for success, and make sure there are instruments that will appeal to all ages.
Bonding: Sing Wiggly Jiggly Car. Encourage parents/ caregivers to sit younger children on their lap. Encourage older children/ siblings to model bouncing a stuffed animal or doll on their lap!
Songs About Me: Sing All of Me. Encourage children to point to body parts and themselves throughout the song. Encourage older children to help younger siblings point to their body parts and model this.
Instrument: Sing Dancing In the Middle while dancing with scarves. Call on each child to come to the middle to choose a scarf color, and then dance.
Movement: Sing I Can Move Around with wrist bells. Allow children to make choices with the bells placing them on their wrists, ankles or holding the bells.
Goodbye: Sing It’s Time to Say Goodbye to group members.ParticipantWhile I have lead circle time in a preschool setting for children ages 2-4 years old, I believe that leading multi age groups may present some different challenges. One challenge would be finding the balance between stimulation within the group. Younger children would most likely need less stimulation, and older children would most likely need more. It may be challenging to balance the music in a way where all children are actively engaged/ enthusiastic. I think the most challenging part would be making sure that children who are easily over stimulated do not get overwhelmed during the group, and ensuring that children who need more stimulation do not become bored.
ParticipantWhen explaining the difference between other early childhood music programs to Sprouting Melodies, I would tell families that Sprouting Melodies is based on the child, not the curriculum. While there is a structure to the session, music therapists leading the group can tailor the elements of the songs to meet the needs of the children in the group. It is about the child being in the music and experiencing the music in their own way, opposed to the child “learning” how to play music in the correct way.
ParticipantExperiences in Sprouting Melodies 3 are active, strong, intentional, accepting and creative.
Plan for SM 3:
Gathering: Set up the room for instrument play and exploration. Allow children to move freely around the room. Then sing a Hello Song, singing each child’s name during the song.
Bonding: Sing Hold On Tight, and encourage parents and caregivers to use musical cues and silly play to encourage parent bonding.
Songs About Me: Sing Sit Down With Me. As you are singing this song, encourage each parent or caregiver to give their child a gentle squeeze during the lyric “me” to reinforce the concept of self.
Instrument: Sing I Like This Song while using a drum in the middle of the group. Encourage children to come to the middle of the circle, and play the drum.
Movement: Sing Jumping Up and Jumping Down as children jump.
Goodbye: Sing Thank You Very Much as children leave the room. This is a nice opportunity to encourage multimodal learning, and model sign language as children exit the room. -
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