[Katherine Sestrick]

I try to use each of these four music experiences in my practice during each session. I must admit however, that the one area I could focus more on is listening. I am inherently providing opportunities to listen to and experience music, but I could be doing much more to point out the child’s listening responses to the parents. I think that I focus more on the more concrete, directly observable actions of moving, playing instruments, and singing when pointing things out to parents because parents tend to relate better to these things and get excited when they can “see” their child preforming a desired action. It is my job to be more aware of the listening experiences the children are displaying and point these out to the parents, so that parents can understand that these skills are just as important as the other, more observable skills.

[Katherine Sestrick]

Singing:
Awareness: child makes cooing sounds when familiar lullaby is sung to him. Trust: child begins to match last pitch of familiar lullaby, after caregiver waits 3-5 seconds. Independence: child fills in last note of familiar lullaby. Control: child begins to sing familiar lullaby to self and to doll while playing; song is recognizable to caregivers. Responsibility: child sings familiar lullaby to self, turning it into a play song while running and jumping.

Playing Instruments:
Awareness: child holds maraca in one or two hands for short time. Trust: child shakes maraca 2-3 times in a row to steady beat of music. Independence: child holds mallet and plays various notes on xylophone. Control: child shakes maracas both fast and slow. Responsibility: child waits for his turn to play instrument in group activity.

Moving:
Awareness: child kicks legs excitedly in response to lively music being played near him. Trust: child pats legs for short time in response to steady beat. Independence: child runs to fast music. Control: child is able to change from walking to slow music to running to fast music. Responsibility: child coordinates his movement to movements of others during group music games.

Listening:
Awareness: child turns head towards caregiver’s voice when familiar lullaby is sung. Trust: child calms when familiar lullaby is sung. Independence: child runs when he hears music with a strong, fast steady beat. Control: child is beginning to play group games and listen to directions in music (i.e. “If You’re Happy and You Know It”). Responsibility: child changes his tone of voice to match others in a group singing experience.

[Katherine Sestrick]

I see a set of two year old twins whose goals include expressive language and following directions. The song, “Will You Come” was perfect for them because I have been working on action words, specifically -ing words, for a couple of weeks. This song worked perfectly because there is also a 4 year old and a 5 1/2 year old in the family. I had the older kids demonstrate the movements then had the twins name the action. Then of course we sang and performed the actions of the song. The whole family loved this activity.

[Katherine Sestrick]

I’m going to refer again to the set of two year old twins that I work with. These kiddos are clearly in the “Independence” stage. I see these kids at their house and they immediately say “guitar” when I arrive. The boy twin will stand right next to me with his hands on the strings while the girl twin sits calmly on my other side, waiting for her turn. They use words to express their preferred instrument, with the boy twin preferring the drums and the girl twin preferring the sticks. They both use single words to make these request. They like to play along with the music and love start/stop games. The boy twin laughs and gets a huge smile on his face during these games. He also really loves sudden changes in dynamics/tempo and both kids can respond to these changes within a few beats. Since I am working on expressive language, we do a lot of leaving words off of endings of songs and phrases for them to fill in. Both kids are able to sing these words approximately on pitch, but are not yet singing full songs. Both kids also love songs that practice movement and following directions. Typically, both will imitate a movement when it is first sung/demonstrated, then move in to their own preferred movement (spinning or dancing).

[Katherine Sestrick]

I am just starting to get to know the culture of the area I live in now (suburban Philly). I work in 0-3, and I have found that most cultures still do the “traditional” baby/pre-school songs with “Twinkle, Twinkle” and “The Wheels on the Bus” being the favorites. This is a very diverse area and I currently have families from American, Indian, and Taiwanese cultures on my caseload. I have encouraged the mother of the Indian family that I work with to demonstrate Hindi songs that she sings to her daughter, but she prefers that I teach her “American” songs as she really wants her daughter to learn English and be a part of American culture. The Taiwanese family that I work with is just starting to teach me songs from their culture, but I am finding them hard to learn because of the dialect.

[Katherine Sestrick]

There was so much valuable information in this module, but the one part that really “struck a chord” (ha, ha) with me was the reminder that babies between the ages of 3-6 months are beginning to fear strangers and that we should wait for the primary caregiver to introduce the baby to us. I think that it is our natural instinct to go up to a baby of that age, get right in his/her face, and start making faces and cooing at him/her. I can imagine that this would be very overwhelming for any baby and that we need to show a little more restraint when approaching babies that are unfamiliar with us.

[Katherine Sestrick]

I think that the biggest thing that I will bring to my classes is my experience as a parent. I have been doing early intervention for 9 years, and one of the first things most families ask me is, “Do you have kids?” They want to know that you understand and can relate to their daily struggles with actual experience. This does not diminish the work of professionals who do not have kids, but I can honestly say, from experience, that my practice changed so much after I had my son, which happened after I was in the field of EI for 6 1/2 years. I feel that parents listen to me more and are more willing to try suggested strategies if I can relate them to something I have tried personally with my son. I have to admit that for every milestone mentioned in this section, I compared it to when my son achieved it. I think this will further enhance my work, because he hit some of them a little late, and I can honestly say to parents that I understand how anxious they are for their child to _______ (walk, talk, potty, etc.), but that published milestones really are a range and most children will develop at their own pace. I also appreciate the reminders about “red flags” and the fact that it is our responsibility, as early childhood professionals, to gently make parents aware of these, if they are not already.

[Katherine Sestrick]

Hi, my name is Kate Sestrick. I have my Bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy and Music Education from Nazareth College of Rochester and a Master’s in Early Childhood Education from SUNY Geneseo. I recently moved to Downingtown, PA (near Philly) after having lived in Hanover, PA for 9 1/2 years. I have been providing Special Instruction through PA’s early intervention system for the past 9 years and before that I taught music and practiced music therapy at a public elementary school in the Finger Lakes region of New York State for 5 years. I am hoping to get materials and information to use with families in my early intervention work and would also appreciate more tools for advocating for music therapy in early intervention. I am also open to the idea of starting my own Sprouting Melodies program, now that I live in a more metropolitan area. Looking forward to working with all of you!

[Katherine Sestrick]

I’m going to refer again to the the set of two year old twins that I work with. These kiddos are clearly in the “Independence” stage. I see these kids at their house and they immediately say “guitar” when I arrive. The boy twin will stand right next to me with his hands on the strings while the girl twin sits calmly on my other side, waiting for her turn. They use words to express their preferred instrument, with the boy twin preferring the drums and the girl twin preferring the sticks. They both use single words to make these request. They like to play along with the music and love start/stop games. The boy twin laughs and gets a huge smile on his face during these games. He also really loves sudden changes in dynamics/tempo and both kids can respond to these changes within a few beats. Since I am working on expressive language, we do a lot of leaving words off of endings of songs and phrases for them to fill in. Both kids are able to sing these words approximately on pitch, but are not yet singing full songs. Both kids also love songs that practice movement and following directions. Typically, both will imitate a movement when it is first sung/demonstrated, then move in to their own preferred movement (spinning or dancing).

[Katherine Sestrick]

I see a set of two year old twins whose goals include expressive language and following directions. The song, “Will You Come” was perfect for them because I have been working on action words, specifically -ing words, for a couple of weeks. This song worked perfectly because there is also a 4 year old and a 5 1/2 year old in the family. I had the older kids demonstrate the movements then had the twins name the action. Then of course we sang and performed the actions of the song. The whole family loved this activity.

[Katherine Sestrick]

I am just starting to get to know the culture of the area I live in now (suburban Philly). I work in 0-3, and I have found that most cultures still do the “traditional” baby/pre-school songs with “Twinkle, Twinkle” and “The Wheels on the Bus” being the favorites. This is a very diverse area and I currently have families from American, Indian, and Taiwanese cultures on my caseload. I have encouraged the mother of the Indian family that I work with to demonstrate Hindi songs that she sings to her daughter, but she prefers that I teach her “American” songs as she really wants her daughter to learn English and be a part of American culture. The Taiwanese family that I work with is just starting to teach me songs from their culture, but I am finding them hard to learn because of the dialect.

[Katherine Sestrick]

I think that the biggest thing that I will bring to my classes is my experience as a parent. I have been doing early intervention for 9 years, and one of the first things most families ask me is, “Do you have kids?” They want to know that you understand and can relate to their daily struggles with actual experience. This does not diminish the work of professionals who do not have kids, but I can honestly say, from experience, that my practice changed so much after I had my son, which happened after I was in the field of EI for 6 1/2 years. I feel that parents listen to me more and are more willing to try suggested strategies if I can relate them to something I have tried personally with my son. I have to admit that for every milestone mentioned in this section, I compared it to when my son achieved it. I think this will further enhance my work, because he hit some of them a little late, and I can honestly say to parents that I understand how anxious they are for their child to _______ (walk, talk, potty, etc.), but that published milestones really are a range and most children will develop at their own pace. I also appreciate the reminders about “red flags” and the fact that it is our responsibility, as early childhood professionals, to gently make parents aware of these, if they are not already.

[Katherine Sestrick]

There was so much valuable information in this module, but the one part that really “struck a chord” (ha, ha) with me was the reminder that babies between the ages of 3-6 months are beginning to fear strangers and that we should wait for the primary caregiver to introduce the baby to us. I think that it is our natural instinct to go up to a baby of that age, get right in his/her face, and start making faces and cooing at him/her. I can imagine that this would be very overwhelming for any baby and that we need to show a little more restraint when approaching babies that are unfamiliar with us.

[Katherine Sestrick]

Hi, my name is Kate Sestrick. I have my Bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy and Music Education from Nazareth College of Rochester and a Master’s in Early Childhood Education from SUNY Geneseo. I recently moved to Downingtown, PA (near Philly) after having lived in Hanover, PA for 9 1/2 years. I have been providing Special Instruction through PA’s early intervention system for the past 9 years and before that I taught music and practiced music therapy at a public elementary school in the Finger Lakes region of New York State for 5 years. I am hoping to get materials and information to use with families in my early intervention work and would also appreciate more tools for advocating for music therapy in early intervention. I am also open to the idea of starting my own Sprouting Melodies program, now that I live in a more metropolitan area. Looking forward to working with all of you!

[Author]

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