[Lauren Roberts]

Thanks Kristina, that is what I figured. I still just find myself wishing it was the parent too!

Kristen, I have had similar thoughts/questions about group times. I am looking to use Sprouting Melodies to help fill some of my morning time, since I can’t teach piano lessons then (during the school year at least!). Of course, if there isn’t interest in morning groups that wouldn’t be very helpful though, so it would be great to know how to find out this information.

[Lauren Roberts]

Music therapists bring great value to families of young children! We provide a way for the families to connect and interact with one another, whether it is parents learning how to interact with their first child, or parents wanting to develop and/or strengthen a bond between siblings. We can reassure parents when they are concerned. We can educate parents when they lack particular knowledge, or may have been misinformed in the past. We can even help parents see this value – the “why” of what we do – so they will be more likely to continue using music in the home, thereby increasing the value even further!

[Lauren Roberts]

The community in which I am looking to begin a Sprouting Melodies program/open a clinic space is one I am not too familiar with yet. My boyfriend, his family, and another close friend are all extremely familiar with the area though, having grown up there, and have been a valuable resource. I do already know that it is an area in which families tend to have a higher than average income, and therefore more disposable income that could be spent on programs for their children, such as Sprouting Melodies (Estimated median household income of $81,509 in 2011 while the state median was $46,007).

Going hand-in-hand with this disposable income is families’ ability to hire a full time nanny or au pair. Although I do not have any official data on this, from my personal experience already teaching piano lessons in the area, I can say that two of the four families I know have hired full time help. I can’t help but think that in these and similar families, it would be more likely that the nanny would be the one bringing the children to a Sprouting Melodies class than the parent. I am wondering then, and so perhaps others can speak to this as well, would the parent education aspect of Sprouting Melodies then be any different? Seeing how the nanny may be the primary provider of childcare, I am inclined to say it would not; I feel it would be important for her to be treated just like one would treat the parents, or any other family member who were to attend (grandparents, aunt, uncle, etc). At the same time, however, I feel like the parent attending Sprouting Melodies rather than the nanny would be a great opportunity for time with the child they probably don’t often get. Therefore, I view parent/child bonding as a potential need in the community.

The families in the area are somewhat unique in comparison to other areas around Atlanta, in that they are very well educated (of individuals age 25 or over, 96% have completed high school or higher, 51% hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, and 18.9% have a graduate or professional degree). Assuming then that most families would place a great importance on education, I believe one need in the area is more programming that will give children the biggest advantage(s) in school: helping them succeed and even exceed expectations. My boyfriend basically stated this himself in regards to his 18 month old son. He would be more likely to have him participate in a Sprouting Melodies program if I were to provide research/information on how it can help his brain, make him smarter, increase the likelihood that he’ll do well in school, etc. I know this will be very important when determining my program marketing strategy.

[Lauren Roberts]

Although I have not made any changes in these areas since beginning the course (I don’t currently work in early childhood), I definitely use singing, moving, playing instruments, and listening in my practice. I thought about my “song of the month” activities, specifically. This is where I choose one song that is included in each session for the entire month. This allows us to explore the song in a variety of ways, which will usually, by month’s end, mean that we have used each of the four music experiences. For example, I will often have students complete a fill-in-the-blank lyric worksheet as they LISTEN to the song. They all naturally just SING along with the recording, or me if I am playing it live. Depending on the song, we may change the instrumentation and PLAY our own version, or learn how to play it on boomwhackers. And, of course, we get up and MOVE to the song!

[Lauren Roberts]

Singing: Uses pitch in vocalization (Awareness), Makes purposeful, pitched vocalizations (Trust), Use vocal glissando/enjoys crescendo (Independence), Use different vocal timbres such as shouting or whispering (Control),Sing in varied dynamic ranges: loud, medium, and soft (Responsibility).

Playing Instruments: Track sound of moving instrument with eyes and/or head (Awareness), Reach out to touch instruments (Trust), Grasp maracas or jingle bells and shake (Independence), Shake instruments in variety of tempos (Control), Alternate hands to play shaking instruments (Responsibility).

Moving: Tolerate being rocked or bounced (Awareness), Move body parts with internal rhythmic beat (Trust), Pull to stand to bounce with music (Independence), Move through space (Control), Move and play a simple instrument simultaneously (Responsibility).

Listening: Turn eye gaze toward source of singing (Awareness), Look toward face of the singer (Trust), Follow simple directions set to familiar music (Independence), Demonstrate understanding of word and paired action (Control), Follow 2-3 step musical directions (Responsibility).

[Lauren Roberts]

Yes, Sarah, the link is there now. Thank you!

[Lauren Roberts]

Sounds interesting, Sarah, but I can’t seem to find the link you mentioned? Would love to learn more about this, as I have never heard of Joubert’s Syndrome. Thanks!

[Lauren Roberts]

Thinking about my own personal preferences, those of friends and family, clients I have worked with in various settings, and of course the general community, I hardly know where to begin with this one because it is so varied. There’s such truth behind our being a “melting pot” country. Just thinking of the south in general, I would say that country music is quite popular. Older populations would likely prefer hymns and/or southern gospel church music, as we are in the “Bible belt.” But then, as you get closer to Atlanta and other urban areas, rap and hip-hop are likely to be the most dominant genres.

[Lauren Roberts]

That’s a great point, Kristen! I think sometimes it’s easy to want or expect kids with ASD to behave their chronological age, not their developmental age. The whole point of the diagnosis though, of course, is that they’re delayed so if you really think about it why WOULD we expect that? Something to think about for sure!

[Lauren Roberts]

I loved getting song examples in this week’s videos! I don’t have any early childhood clients right now to be able to integrate them into my sessions, but enjoyed immediately putting them to use with my boyfriend’s 18 month old son.

There were already a couple of song/games we would play with him bouncing on my knees that could be best categorized as bonding songs, but it was fun being able to switch those up with “Hold on Tight.” Also, they live in Peachtree City, GA which is known around here for being a golf cart community, is filled with paths, and everyone goes everywhere on a golf cart. Parking lots even have specific areas designated for golf cart parking. He LOVES the golf cart, and sits in my lap whenever we go anywhere, so “Wiggly Jiggly Car” was especially perfect for those drives since I really am his seat belt!

“Just Like Me” was another good one, because we have already been working on body part identification, albeit usually more of a quiz than a game. And, since he is used to that style, there’s not a whole lot of interaction yet in the sense of “this is a song we’re singing TOGETHER.” Rather, he still seems to still be receiving and processing it as a quiz, but I’m just singing it now. Will keep working with this one!

Can’t wait to learn more of the music.

[Lauren Roberts]

This question actually fits perfectly with what I like to call my first music therapy “ah ha” moment…that first practicum experience where I saw that what I was learning to do is something special and can make a huge difference in people’s lives. I believe it is a pretty good example of the developmental stage of Trust.

I was in the special needs classroom of an early learning center. Children were 3 and 4 years old with significant developmental delays, and some having already received an official autism diagnosis. It just so happened that on one particular day when I showed up for music therapy that there was only one student, so he got to have a one-on-one session! During one activity my goal was for him to imitate rhythm patterns that I played on a drum. No luck. He was deep in his own world and didn’t even seem very interested in the drum at all. Then he began to play his own rhythms, but nowhere close to imitating mine, and he didn’t even seem to realize I was there. A thought occurred to me, and I began to imitate HIM. Immediately after I repeated his rhythm he looked up and locked eyes with me, and smiled this huge smile. He looked back down to the drum and began playing other patterns, even waiting after for me to repeat. He would stop suddenly, thinking he was tricking me, and then quickly begin again. His teacher was amazed to see the interaction; it was as if we were having a real conversation…something he had never done. When he had had enough he just stuck his arms out toward me with the drum and mallet as if to say “Okay, I’m done now.” And then another of those smiles that I like to think was him saying “Thank you for coming into MY world for a little bit, instead of trying to pull me out into yours.” It was such a simple game, but I know I had earned his trust because from then on, every time I arrived at the classroom he would greet me at the door, take me by the hand, and lead me over to the rug where we would have our sessions.

[Lauren Roberts]

I believe one of my biggest assets as a music therapist, and one that I will also be able to bring to an early childhood music therapy based program, is the ability to form a connection with my clients. Throughout each of my practicum experiences while working on my degree, each of my supervisors would comment on my ability to form such a connection, and would emphasize that this was not really something that could be taught. I feel like this natural ability will help me form an early bond with the children in my future Sprouting Melodies classes, which in turn will help me earn the trust of the parents and become a great source of information and encouragement for the whole family.

[Lauren Roberts]

As an MT-BC who is also recently NICU-MT, a large portion of this week’s material was a great review of previously learned information. My Type A personality loved having the milestones for each age group organized by domain as well. However, my Type A personality also had difficulty reading Music, Therapy, and Early Childhood: A Developmental Approach beginning with page 16. So, I started from the beginning, and my biggest take-away was actually in the earlier material! On page xii of the introduction it is stated that “in practice, these problems [physical ailments, cognitive deficits, emotional issues] are the outward surface of the real need of young children – the need to develop into a full person.” Then, as I was reading the developmental scales and checklists they became so much more than the to-do list of sorts that I had previously been viewing them as. Yes, it is important to achieve these milestones, but not merely for the sake of being able to say they have been achieved, but because they are the foundation of the full person who these young children are to become!

[Lauren Roberts]

Thank you! Best of all, the photographer is a friend too and she did it for free (well, in exchange for giving her a little free advertising on my page of course)!

[Lauren Roberts]

Test post to see if I successfully figured out gravatar 🙂

This is a picture from a photo shoot I had with some of my friends’ kids so that I could have some pictures for my marketing materials (brochures, website, etc) as I get my private practice up and running.

Lauren

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