[Katherine Sestrick]

My current facility has a music therapist and unfortunately, I am not that person (I fill another role as a Special Instructor). The music therapist at my facility does programmatic music therapy as well as individual sessions. Also unfortunately, the facility and the music therapist just started their own early childhood music program (without my knowledge) that the music therapist is developing herself. I don’t see the music therapist very often, but when I do, I plan to talk to her about SM and let her know how good the training was and that it would be a good program to offer at our facility and that I would be available to lead additional classes if the need arose. I plan to use the information and some of the songs in my existing work as an Early Intervention Special Instructor and to share all of the valuable information about child development and musical development with the families that I currently work with.

[Katherine Sestrick]

I do not have any immediate plans to become a Sprouting Melodies provider, but rather I will use the information and resources in my current work as an Early Intervention Special Instructor. The songs fit right in with my work with home-based teaching. In addition, we follow a coaching model, which also fits perfectly with the information learned from Sprouting Melodies. I already had a good foundation in child development, but now I have concrete information about musical development that I can share with the families. I think that if I were to become a provider, I would first try to form partnerships with child care facilities in my area. I see some kiddos in day care centers and therefore I see the need for a high quality early childhood music program in most of the centers I work in, not only for the children, but also for the staff. The staff needs training on musical development and a wider breadth of songs to share with the children. In my mind, Sprouting Melodies would be the perfect program to fulfill this need.

[Katherine Sestrick]

I am most excited about offering my community a program that uses music to foster the development of the whole child. We have Kindermusik and Music Together, which focus largely on music skill building, but we have nothing like Sprouting Melodies. I am excited about the idea of putting all of my training and experience as a music therapist into practice to help families use music to learn and support the development of their children. I am also excited to learn more of the music and to share it with families. It is the quality of the music in this program that drew me to it and I think it is the quality of the music that makes it so popular with families. I am excited to offer the program and see it grow in popularity and see families fall in love with the music like I have.

[Katherine Sestrick]

Many of the strategies that I use for success have been covered in the course material and in the answers supplied above. I think having structure, but allowing that structure to be flexible is the most important criteria for success. Having structure gives the families and the children a sense of what to expect and thus, they are more comfortable within the sessions. One must be flexible, however, to adapt to the changing needs of the class. In addition, the choice of music is critical for ensuring success. Keeping in mind the up and down flow of the class, the music will stimulate when needed and calm when needed as well. Strategies that have been discussed for engaging all children are also very useful. I use choices often to foster a sense of control and independence within the group and to give children a feeling of ownership. They may not necessarily be engaged with scarves during a particular song, but by choosing their own color scarf, they are demonstrating some amount of investment in the activity. I also use a lot of talking “through” the child to the parent. For a kiddo who is off in the marching around in a circle, when everyone else is sitting, I may engage him by saying some thing such as, “Looks like Jimmy wants to march. Let’s sing this song, and then we can all try some marching with Jimmy.” This might encourage Jimmy to come to the circle and sing the song if he knows that he is going to get the chance to march later.

[Katherine Sestrick]

I would explain that the goals for music for development and music for skill building are very different. In classes which focus on music for skill building, the goal is for the child to develop specific music skills (I.e. Pitch matching and steady beat keeping). In SM classes, the goal is for music to aid in the development of the whole child; we are addressing communication skills, social emotional interaction, motor skills, and cognitive skills and through these musical activities, children are inherently developing their music skills as well.

[Katherine Sestrick]

The challenges of multi-age groups involve keeping everyone engaged at the same time, which comes down to selecting the right music. The music has to be stimulating enough for the older children, but simple enough for the younger children. As demonstrated by Beth on the video, it is okay to do a quick more sophisticated version of a song to address the needs of the older children. Since we put out a wider variety of instruments at this level, it is also important to make sure that the children are playing instruments appropriate for their developmental levels. This involves educating the parents on the instruments appropriate for each level. M

[Katherine Sestrick]

5 words for Sprouting Melodies 3: self-control; independence; give and take; reciprocal; interdependent

5 words for SM Family Sprouts: active; independence; turn-taking; reciprocal; togetherness

Plan for SM 3: 1. Instrument exploration with recorded music; 2. Sit Down with Me (EKS); gathering. 3. Swimming Together(EKS): bonding song. 4. You Play a Little(EKS) instrument songs. 5. The Leaves Go Down (EKS)-movement songs 5. Where is the Music? (EKS) songs about me. 6. Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb (book)- cool down. 7. Goodbye to Everyone, good-bye.

Plan for SM Family Sprouts: 1. Hey Everybody (EKS)- gathering song. 2. Wiggly, Jiggly Car (EKS): lap ride. 3. I Like this Song (EKS): instrument play. 4. I Can Move Around (EKS) movement. 5. All of this is Me (EKS): cool down. 6. Goodbye to Everyone.

[Katherine Sestrick]

5 words: safety, freedom, activity, real, discovery.

5 sentences:
1. The pauses that we use in our songs create the opportunity for your child to give a response; watch and listen for a vocal and/or physical response during these pauses.
2. We help kids move their feet with a full foot on the ground so that they can get full input and be as organized as possible.
3. Make sure that both of your child’s feet are landing firmly on the ground when you are helping him jump.
4. Songs About Me give children the ability to develop a sense of self and be separate from his caregiver. They also provide a safe place for the child to come back to the caregiver to continue to develop that bond.
5. We use scarves to encourage the children to really use their bodies to explore and expand their movements.

Plan:
1. Instrument exploration with recorded music.
2. Hey, Hey (composed by my internship supervisor)
3. Hey! Hey! Come and Play! (EKS)
4. Wiggle, Jiggly Car (EKS)
5. The Noble Duke of York (traditional): lap game with “up” and “down”
6. Dancing in the Middle (EKS)
7. Shake and Stop (Lynn Kleiner)
8. Gonna Do a Little….(movement song adapted from Ken Medema’s “Gonna Do a Little Singing)
9. March With My Baby (MRP)
10. Can You See Me? (EKS)
11. Five Little Ducks (traditional) with book
12. Thank You Very Much (EKS)
13. Goodbye to Everyone

[Katherine Sestrick]

I use mostly the jumbo chiquitas and hand drums at this age. I actually use the same size hand drums so the older children don’t fight over different sizes, but I like the nesting drums and I appreciate Meredith’s suggestion of giving the younger children the bigger ones for more sensory input and the older children the smaller ones so that they can hold the drums by themselves with one hand and play it with another. I also use a classical guitar as I prefer the gentler sound and the capacity of the instrument to be more subtle than a steel string guitar.

[Katherine Sestrick]

This is a hard question to answer as it depends on the needs of the group and the individuals, which vary with each session. Typically, I like to try to balance my sessions by alternating active and calming songs. After the Hello Song, I typically do one or two active or movement songs to get the children stimulated and involved. I then try to bring the group back together with seated songs such as lap rides or tickles. I bring the group back up with instrument songs and I try to put these towards the end as I know the instruments are very motivating to the children and usually will get them involved and interested. Finally, I like to bring the energy back down with a focus activity such as a calm movement song with scarves or a book. I find this flow works really well and kids are ready for the focus activity at the end to help indicate imminent closure of the session and to help the children regulate and find their internal calm state again.

[Katherine Sestrick]

It has been a while since I’ve worked with babies in this age group, but I have some distinct memories from my work in early intervention. I remember one particular mom who was just barely holding it together because she had a colicky baby. According to the mom, the only time the baby didn’t cry was when she held her and swayed with her. We paired this swaying with singing and the mom noticed that the baby looked at her more often. Through this music therapy intervention, the mom was able to begin to bond with her child.

[Katherine Sestrick]

The role of community music therapy depends on the needs of the communities we are all in. If one practices in an area that can support private pay music therapy groups for young children and their caregivers, there is an excellent opportunity to provide quality programs that use high-quality music to promote healthy development of all children. In other words, we are promoting much more than just musical development and we are providing experiences for all children together, regardless of developmental needs. If one does not practice in an area that supports private pay groups, the opportunity arises for community involvement through libraries, community centers, and other locations. This provides us the chance to reach many more people and educate me about the positive role of music in their child’s development.

[Katherine Sestrick]

Five words: comforting, developmentally appropriate, unique, predictable, structured.

Five sentences: 1. By pausing in a song and waiting for eye contact; you’re promoting bonding and communication.
2. Don’t be afraid to sing. Research shows the your baby prefers your voice and is comforted by it, no matter the quality.
3. Swaying and rocking to the beat helps your child really feel and begin to internalize the steady beat in his body.
4. Twelve to eighteen inches is the perfect distance between your face and your baby’s face.
5. Listen for spontaneous focalization a while you are singing. That’s you’re child’s way of singing back to you.

Plan
Hey, Hey (composed by my internship supervisor): gathering/greeting. Let’s Make Music (self-composed): gathering/greeting.
Little Red Wagon (traditional): bonding song. The Noble Duke of York (traditional): bonding song. I’ve Got Two Eyes: songs about me. Just Like Me (EKS): songs about me. In My Little Hand (EKS): instrument songs. I like this Song (EKS): instrument songs. I Am So Big (self-composed): movement songs. Pick Your Hands Up High (EKS): movement songs. Goodbye (self-composed).

[Katherine Sestrick]

Since I work in early intervention, the needs of the families I work with are very diverse. We are a state funded program, so we see kiddos from families of all ethnic, socio-economic, and religious backgrounds. For some families, the biggest need I face is getting them to “buy in” to the value of learning new songs and practicing them with their children, when their biggest priorities are getting food on the table. As a student, I always swore I would never use “piggy back” songs, but now, I use them more than anything else. I find that families are more willing to try to sing the songs if they already know the tune. Another challenge for the families is finding appropriate materials for music making. We use a lot of pots and pans and wooden spoons and make our own shakers and tambourines.

I moved to this community about 6 months ago, so I don’t yet have a good handle on what the needs of the community are and what types of music therapy services are being offered. We are close enough to Philly that music therapy services are present, but far enough that it’s not huge. I know of one private practice in my area, but I believe they service mostly children. I think that there is a need for more community based music therapy services that are not private pay. This of course, means that there is a need for funding for music therapy in our area.

[Katherine Sestrick]

As everyone before me has mentioned, music therapists bring such unique and diverse knowledge and experiences to the families of young children. We are musicians, counselors, human development experts, teachers, and so much more. Another thing that we as music therapists are able to bring to families who participate in Sprouting Melodies classes is the ability to determine the needs of the children and the parents in our classes and to adjust the classes accordingly. Because it’s not a set curriculum, we are free to adapt current material and create our own material to meet the needs of everybody in the class. Unlike other programs, we also bring the goal to encourage the development of the whole child, rather than just focusing on the musical skills. The parents education component is such a large part of this because we are able to point out to parents how the music activities are helping their children develop non-musical skills. Without our unique background and training as music therapists, this would not be possible.

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