[Katelyn Caruso]

While other music programs are still valuable and can teach great skills, the benefit of having a music group facilitated by a music therapist is that the music will always be developmentally appropriate to the child. As music therapists, we are trained to look for and respond to developmental milestones through music. We also are here to be a resource for parent and caregivers to best support their child’s development at home, and have songs and ideas to share with you and your family. Wherever your child is at in their development, we are here to encourage and support their needs and growth. As we are trained to respond and react to each individual musically, these music groups are tailored to fit each child in the group rather than following a set curriculum or song list, as some other programs do. We also are able to detect signs of overstimulation or understimulation, and change what we are doing with the music or offer support to the parent and child to regulate and participate again.

[Katelyn Caruso]

I agree that this course sets you up for success in working with the caregivers of the children, which is so important for the young ages in particular.

[Katelyn Caruso]

What are your key takeaways from this course?
My key takeaways from the course are how each stage in child development matches up with a phase of musical development, and the songs and musical elements to use with each stage to support their learning and growth. The types of songs (transition song, embedded song, movement song etc.) are also a key takeaway for session planning of all ages, and put many ideas in my head about what each person needs, as well as ideas of writing these types of songs with musical elements appropriate to developmental levels but with lyrics geared towards adults. The content of this course was all so relevant and applicable that I almost feel like the whole course was the key takeaway.

How has this learning changed your perspective on development, your approach to the work, or the way you use music in your sessions?
This training has really impacted my day to day work! I work primarily with individuals with dementia and developmentally disabled adults, and honestly when I started this training, I didn’t think I would be able to use the information I leaned with my adult clients. However, it has already improved my sessions and deepened my understanding of my clients. With my dementia clients, it seems that every day they are in a different developmental phase with the music, and now I better understand how they are interacting with the music as I have learned to be a closer observer and what to look for. Also, it reminded me about how repeating a song or experience can be beneficial and through repeating a song more times than I usually would, I have gotten big responses from my clients. It has helped me to see my work through a developmental lens which has already led to some important client moments and strong interactions within the music.

How will you share this information with colleagues, administrators and families?
First of all, this training gave me an important reminder to continue to educate and advocate about music therapy in general. It has reminded me that sharing psychoeducational information for caregivers in a session can be easy and quick, and that I am an expert in what I do. I think my goal will be to share easy and understandable bits of information to the caregivers of my clients that will help them understand what I do, as well as how their loved one is being successful and interactive in a session. I do keep endorsing this course among music therapist peers as I have found it so helpful for all ages, which I didn’t realize before I took the course. Thanks for all you put into this course, I really enjoyed it and learned so much!

[Katelyn Caruso]

One strategy of making sure each child is successful is to get to know each child and their caregiver. I find that having a relationship of trust will make the whole group more successful, and give the opportunity for each family to feel safe and comfortable to be exactly who they are, interact together, and ask questions. I also love the strategy that is mentioned in the videos about narrating what a child is doing within the music. It seems that there are many times when a person “appears” to not be interacting with the music and that they “should” be doing something different, but we as music therapists can see the subtle and developmentally appropriate ways that they are interacting with the music. I think that letting the caregivers know what specifically their child is doing helps to alleviate confusion and the pressure that everyone is supposed to react and interact in the same way.

[Katelyn Caruso]

So many things about this training excite me! First of all, having a deeper understanding and a musical framework to work within regarding developmental stages and interactions with music has already been so helpful in my work, particularly with developmentally disabled adults. It has given me ideas about songs and types of songs to incorporate in my sessions which have elicited some unique and interactive responses. I also just find work with young children and families exciting in general, and it is so meaningful to be able to offer support at that stage of life. I hope that more work with young children is in my future as I now feel well- equipped to support them and their individual needs.

[Katelyn Caruso]

5 Words: Busy, Differentiation, Togetherness, Acceptance, Connection

Plan: Gathering Song “Come On Let’s Make Some Music” – Bonding Song “Wiggly, Jiggly Car” and “Hold On Tight” – Song about Me “Watch Me Go” – Movement Song “Can You Follow?” – Instrument Song “I Like This Song” “Dancing In the Middle”– Goodbye – “It’s Time to Say Goodbye”

[Katelyn Caruso]

5 words: Intentional, Active, Collaboration, Create, Joy

Plan:

Greeting: “Sit Down and Join My Circle”- Bonding Song “Swimming Together” – Instrument Song “Music Is The Way” – Movement Song “I Can Move Around” – Song about Me “I’m Glad You’re Here Today”– Goodbye: “Time to Go”

[Katelyn Caruso]

I see one challenge in having multi-age groups in how mobile (or not!) each child is! From being held or laying on the ground, to sitting up, all the way to walking and running around is quite a wide range of needs and abilities. Another challenge I see is supporting the parents as they connect with and manage multiple children in multiple stages of development. Additionally, each child is unique and has a different tolerance level or need for stimulation, and a group where some children are seeking stimulation and others are easily overstimulated would be particularly challenging with children at different developmental levels.

All the being said, I think a family group could be so fun and beneficial for the whole family, but particularly the parents as they see their kids thrive and interact with each other in a meaningful manner.

[Katelyn Caruso]

Absolutely! It is easy to forget what a person who hasn’t studied music/played an instrument/ etc. does and doesn’t know about music, and as experts in both music and development we have the ability to point out developmental milestones as they relate to music as well as outside of music. For those of us who aren’t parents its helpful to remember that we do have our own area of expertise even though we haven’t been in the position of parenting.

[Katelyn Caruso]

Great point about music and movement! I love how music can support movement, and vice versa.

[Katelyn Caruso]

Hi Kimberly, it sounds like you are making great observations in your sessions! Your story about the Spanish language speaking child reminded me of my experience while teaching! I taught in a bilingual English/Spanish school, and many of the Spanish speaking kindergartners didn’t have a lot of experience speaking English. When I taught them songs in English they would be reserved and timid, but when learning songs in Spanish they were confident, silly, and let their personalities shine through! Language is such an important piece of someone’s identity and I love that you are able to bring in songs that are familiar to a child’s culture. I wonder if there are any Sprouting Melodies grads with a class in a language other than English out there!

[Katelyn Caruso]

5 Words: Discovery, play, repetition, bond, silly

5 Sentences: Watch what I’m doing so you can do this at home with your family! – Feel free to play around and explore. – It’s okay to be silly and have fun while we play. – All of us are musical, you don’t need an instrument to do this in your home. – Your children are free and safe to explore in this room.

SM2 Plan: 1. Day Like Today -Gathering Song 2. “Hello Friends” greeting song 3. Row Your Boat/Row Your Boat a Little Bit Faster – scarves and start/stop 4. Popcorn In the Popper – shakers and movements OR lap ride song 5. “March With My Baby” – drum and marching 6. “I Like This Song” with drums/instrument exploration 7. “Clap Your Hands Together” 8. Goodbye song

[Katelyn Caruso]

5 Words: Gentle, presence, connection, joy, bonding

5 Sentences: Do what is most comfortable for you and your baby. – Singing to your baby will strengthen your connection, they know your voice and want to hear it! – Take as much time as you need to get settled and feel comfortable. – Thank you for taking the time to connect through music – Your baby is listening and taking it all in, you can tell by these slight changes in body movement/facial expression/sighs/ etc.

SM1 Plan: 1. Welcome/gathering song – 2. “Good Morning” – gathering song #2- 3.”Just Like Me” – touching and interacting with baby – 4. “I Like this song” – shakers and bells 5. Wiggly Jiggly car – bonding/lap ride song(I used to do this one at the preschool, I didn’t know it was a music therapist’s song! No wonder the kids loved it!) – 6. “Twinkle Twinkle” with scarves 7. “I Like Blowing Bubbles” Sing/listen while watching bubbles – 8. Goodbye Song

[Katelyn Caruso]

This is a huge part of our job as music therapists, to determine if our music experiences are stimulating enough or too stimulating. Being stimulating enough might mean that the child is watching, participating, creating, or acting independently or in the group. Overstimulating might be crying, retreating to the caregiver, physically going somewhere else in the room, or zoning out. As a person who is easily overstimulated by noise and physical sensations myself, I know there is a fine line between just the right amount of stimulation and being pushed over the edge. Every child will be different and interact with stimulation and overstimulation in their own way. Things like starting slow and building on a song or music experience can allow us to watch each child’s reaction and visually check in with how they are doing before adding another element. I also think it is important to note that being overstimulated by one thing on one day doesn’t mean it will always be overstimulating and that factors outside the music room might play into what they are or aren’t interested in that day.

[Katelyn Caruso]

I don’t currently work with children so I would love recommendations! I suppose the things that are most important to consider are safety, sound quality, and instruments that are the correct size for small hands/bodies. Many instruments I currently use that might be appropriate are my small Remo ocean drum, sound shapes, and the last two weeks I have been using an easycussion pentatonic glockenspiel that I saw in one of the videos this week! My clients have really been enjoying that one! It seems like a bunch of different timbres could be important to incorporate, but not any instruments that would be too brash or sound scary to little ones.

[Author]

Posts