[Kimberly Rodgers-Melnick]

Claudia and Alison, thank you for sharing your insights, I would agree with your comments, and especially the emphasis that as a music therapist we take on many roles in our sessions and bringing our expertise in multiple roles into the early childhood music class environment can really impact the experience of the children and families we work with. I think that as music therapists we have many advantages in leading early childhood groups, in no particular order 1. We often play an accompaniment instrument such as piano or guitar that adds value to the experience 2. We are able to adapt experiences in the moment to fit the needs of families and children 3. We have knowledge of child development and development in music that we can share with families 4. We are able to provide specific strategies for parents to use outside of the session so that they are paying for more than an hour a week, they are paying for tools that they can implement in daily life.

[Kimberly Rodgers-Melnick]

Thank you both, that does makes sense, here is my response.

MOVING: Awareness: alters movement in response to silence in music Trust: moves entire body rhythmically in response to music Independence: moves legs rhythmically Control: engages in movement with others Responsibility: Child can hop on one foot and move backwards and forwards

LISTENING: Awareness:shows decreased attention towards dissonant pitches Trust: displays affect changes in response to emotional content of music Independence: enjoys changes in dynamics, tempo or timbre Control: has ability to actively stop body and choose to listen Responsibility: adjusts quality of singing to blend with the group

SINGING: Awareness: uses varied dynamics in vocalizing and crying Trust: sings descending intervals Independence: Enjoys experimenting with melodic sounds Control: Sings two or three word phrases Responsibility: can coordinate breath, posture and muscle tone to sustain sound

PLAYING INSTRUMENTS: Awareness: Uses hands to touch the source of the sound Trust: plays simple, short, repeated phrases Independence: Initiates play Control: uses index finger to play keyboard or chimes Responsibility: alternates hands to play shaking instruments

[Kimberly Rodgers-Melnick]

My response is very similar to Alison’s. I incorporate all of these into all of my sessions and there are times that are more structured where everyone is modeling for the children and then there are times when everyone, parents included, is exploring with instruments and movement. I think that i could incorporate more silence into my sessions, leave more space for response from the children, and also incorporate more opportunities for listening, although, really the whole session is an opportunity to listen, whether or not the children are listening and to what extent, will depend on the stage that they are in, but there are certainly opportunities. I think the lullaby at the end of every session often encourages listening, the parent is generally singing to the child and the child is receiving the music or if there aren’t parents I usually end with a slower relaxation that encourages listening, and I also think Hello and goodbye encourage listening because kids are waiting to hear their names.

[Kimberly Rodgers-Melnick]

I second Alison’s question. I’m not quite sure what I’m supposed to be doing for this one.

[Kimberly Rodgers-Melnick]

Elena, I would agree with you that most of the children I work with respond well to the “standards”, many seem to especially love the ABCs 🙂 At the same time, I have learned to not be so assuming when introducing these songs, saying ‘here’s a familiar song that everyone knows’ is not always a guarantee. I met a 40 yo lady who had never heard ‘my bonny lies over the ocean’, and another of my colleagues led a group with a family from, I think it was Japan, and they have different traditional songs there, so she was not familiar with some of the traditional kids songs that I often associated with familiarity and comfort. I have a mix of families in my classes, most of the families that come to my particular Music Together class are caucasian, but it’s not the case for all of the classes. Cleveland is a major hub for medicine and the arts and there are people here from all over the world. I try to incorporate music from different cultures into my sessions on a regular basis. I also love the book ‘Around the World We Go’ by Margaret WiseBrown, it introduces cultures from all over the world, has adorable illustrations and Rachel Rambach actually wrote a song to go with! Highly recommend checking it out if you haven’t already. 🙂

[Kimberly Rodgers-Melnick]

Jen Hinton- I agree that hearing Elizabeth demonstrate her interpretations of the songs was really helpful! It’s the small nuances in timbre, timing and articulation as you mentioned, that for me as well, really make the song come alive– and Elizabeth does such a great job of demonstrating. I use bonding songs in every session of music together (they call them lap songs, or dyad songs there). These are some great principles that I will be able to apply when planning my sessions. The qualities that especially stuck out to me were the clear structure and a sedative lullaby followed by a play song, I will try modifying some of the songs in the Music Together curriculum in the following weeks to comply with these suggestions. I also really like your transition songs, especially ‘Are you ready for music?’ I could see myself using this in my non-music together groups and inserting names in this song as well (i.e. nathan’s ready for music, yes he’s ready for music, yes, he wants to ______) etc. I’ve used the movement song ‘I Can Move Around’ with some of my classes and they enjoy it, they like making up their own movements, we’ve done it both seated and standing, with instruments and without. 🙂

[Kimberly Rodgers-Melnick]

How cool to see these changes right in your sessions with her! Thanks for sharing. ???? —This was supposed to be a reply to Elana… I guess it doesn’t let me reply to individual posts?– and after reading all the posts, thank you all for sharing, it’s really helpful to have insight into the work and experiences of others and I agree with Erika, sounds like you are doing wonderful work–glad to have the opportunity to collaborate through this training!

[Kimberly Rodgers-Melnick]

There is a 4 month old baby in one of my family classes who is in the awareness stage. She shows awareness of the music by turning her attention towards or away from the circle and making simple movements and vocalizations, can grasp some instruments but is more into mouthing them than playing them. There are a lot of 1.5 year olds in my classes, many in the Trust stage, they choose how to explore an instrument, they can grasp and shake, there is some movement synchrony and they do love those musical suprises and often respond with laughing or wanting to do it again and again. There is a 2 year old who I believe is somewhere between independence and control- probably closer to control. He is getting close to matching vocals on pitch, he can repeat rhythms fairly accurately, he definitely can choose which instrument to play, he does a lot of spontaneous dancing and LOVES to pound and bang. ☺ There is also a 3 year old in one of my classes who is in the control stage, he brings full songs to me sometimes that he’s learned at daycare or from his grandparents and wants to sing them for me, he has functional communication and understands turn-taking and often is a leader in cleaning up instruments.

[Kimberly Rodgers-Melnick]

As an early childhood music therapist I bring silliness and a child-like spirit to my groups. I always take my shoes off in my groups, I get on the floor with the kids, I jump up and down, make funny sounds and noises and have a lot of genuine fun and excitement doing it that I like to think shines through. Being able to see a child’s behaviors and actions through the lens of development will help me to better understand their needs and motives and craft music interventions that will meet those needs and enhance their development.

[Kimberly Rodgers-Melnick]

This week I really loved having a review of the developmental levels and the added knowledge and experiences that Beth brought to the training. I am someone who learns through doing, and so the use of the scarf, although it felt silly, will most likely prove to be significant in my retention of the material. I also appreciated the occasional ‘red flags” that Beth pointed out as possible signs of developmental delays.

[Kimberly Rodgers-Melnick]

Hi Alison! I’m looking forward to learning with you and hearing more about your experiences as a music therapist in the UK!

[Kimberly Rodgers-Melnick]

I love what you said here about our society having become more music consumers than music makers– so true. I also am inspired by the ways that music can bring families together, which is why part of my mission statement of my business to create ‘connection’– it’s always been one of my favorite parts of the work we do as music therapists. 🙂 I look forward to learning with you!

[Kimberly Rodgers-Melnick]

Hello! I’m Kim Rodgers-Melnick, music therapist in Cleveland, Ohio. I have been a music therapist for a little over 3 years and have spent that time working in Iowa and Ohio with a variety of populations including long-term care, adult medical and typically developing children aged 3-5 in head start programs. I recently started a private practice, Create Music, LLC (www.createmusicllc.com) 🙂 and became a Music Together teacher in October 2016. I currently teach 3 Music Together family classes, 1 general music and movement class for 3-5 year olds at Life Time Fitness, teach private piano lessons and work with 3-5 year olds in head start programs at a program called ‘Toddler Rock’ that is led by music therapists and hosted by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’ve really enjoyed my work thus far with Music Together and after dialoguing with our colleague Carol Ann Blank, recently applied for the Music Together Within Therapy license to be able to use their materials in a clinical setting with individuals and small groups of children 0-5 and their families. As I’ve started my private practice I am realizing that I really enjoy working with children and am also working with another of our colleagues, Rachelle Norman in her ‘Rock that Contract’ program to hopefully begin a contract at a daycare or pre-school working with young children.

I was motivated to take this training because I was the winner of the training at AMTA National Conference in Sandusky! I had also considered the training at the time I considered Music Together training and chose Music Together at the time because of an immediate opportunity for teaching classes that was made available to me and a need for income as I started my private practice. That said, I have come to really like Music Together and am looking forward to the opportunities that the Within Therapy license will provide.

I am hoping to begin using the Music Together Within Therapy materials to lead a few small groups starting in the fall and so I am really looking forward to the knowledge that this training will provide/refresh for me related to early childhood and development, parent education and classroom management. I also purchased the You and Me Makes We song book at conference and have successfully implemented some of the songs with my groups at Toddler Rock and Life Time Fitness (used Like a Lion Like a Lamb for introducing Letter L last week 🙂 ) I have really enjoyed all discussions I have had with Meredith and Beth and any materials that they have written and feel so fortunate to have received this training! I can’t wait to dive in!!! 🙂

[Author]

Posts