[Lysa Wright]

This knowledge will help me in my current practice at daycares and the early childhood scene. Becoming a SM provider is very appealing to me. It would be nice to incorporate this into the business I work for and fill the void of family music making in this area.

[Lysa Wright]

This knowledge is definitely applicable to my current practice. I know I’ll be able to use the knowledge and refreshers I’ve gained about child development both musically and non musically. Becoming a SM provider is definitely appealing to me, I believe there is a gap in this type of family experience in my area that could be filled by SM! It will be great to discuss this business option with my current contracting business.

[Lysa Wright]

I think an important thing is to recognize the needs of each individual child, and from there, create your session. Keeping yourself as organized as possible is also important; knowing your session plan, having adaptations in the back of your mind, making adjustments in the moment have all seemed to work for me in order to keep everyone engaged and benefitting. I work with groups from 6-20 kids at times, so knowing how to react and how to keep the session moving along depending on the “busyness” of the group is a great skill to have.

[Lysa Wright]

I am very excited about Sprouting Melodies! I’ve been working with this age group for about 3 years now, but in the setting of daycare centers. I typically don’t get to meet most parents, however, I’ve had the experience of having the daycare provider telling me via the parent how much their child loves music and that they have learned things from what I’m currently doing. I am most excited about the great information on child development and musical development, it will be great to be able to educate and support families with this new knowledge.

[Lysa Wright]

To me, thinking of development, I think of music being used to address developmental milestones: gross motor movements, development of speech, social-emotional skills, and other child developments a child may experience when growing within his/her self. Thinking of skill building, I agree with Shonda that it is using music to develop skills to be related to other aspects of life, like handling books (I too loved this incorporation!), appropriately interacting with peers, taking turns, as well as specific academic skills.

[Lysa Wright]

It is a challenge to keep everyone engaged. On one hand, you want to provide simple, low stimulation music for any infants that may be in the group, but in the other you need to keep it interesting enough so the older ones don’t get too antsy. And THEN you still don’t want things to be over the heads of the little ones. I like the thought of having the older ones being “helpers” for the group or encouraging them to help and show the younger ones what to do, how to play instruments, etc.

[Lysa Wright]

SM3: creative, active, personality, accepting, strong.
Family Sprouts: helping, cooperation, support, connections, sharing.

SM3 session plan: hello/gathering- Sit Down With Me. Bonding song- My Brand New Friend with scarves to share with peers. Songs about me- Where is the Music. Instrument song- You Play A Little with drums to take turns playing with parent/caregiver. Movement song- Will You Come marching, jumping, spinning to drum beat. Goodbye song.

Family Sprouts session plan: Hello- Come And Join the Circle. Bonding Song- Hold on Tight, encourage parent to have older sibling closer to the parent’s body and younger sibling in front of older, so the older one can help provide support. Songs about me- All of this is Me. Instrument Songs- I Like This Song. Movement song- I Can Move Around. Goodbye Song.

[Lysa Wright]

It is interesting to find a happy medium with a mixture of ages and stages! I think too much or not enough stimulation is a different thing for every child, depending on personality and developmental level. I think that there needs to be a balance of doing an activity or a song that is engaging enough for the older ones but still isn’t too difficult that a younger one. I too have done things to make the older ones the “helpers”, whether to help collect the instruments/clean up or even as simple as having them select songs we could use during instrument play.

[Lysa Wright]

1. Exploration, observation, energy, free movement, surprise.
2. It’s ok for your child to explore, they aren’t expected to sit and attend for the whole time. At this stage, It’s not so much about following directions as it is making choices. It’s ok if your child is sitting and just listening, they may not be excitedly participating at all times, just think of all the info they are absorbing by listening! Music encourages fee movement from your child. You helping them stomp their feet on the floor helps them organize movement.
3.a) Gathering/greeting song at beginning like Hey! Hey! Come and Play! b) bonding song like Wiggly, Jiggly Car c) Songs about me like Just Like Me d) instrument songs Sit with me and Shake-with maracas, or Dancing in the Middle- gathering drum e) movement song As Big As Can Be f) goodbye song followed by a thank you song and shaking hands with children

[Lysa Wright]

I actually have a lot of the same instruments seen in this video! I really like jumbo Chiquitas and maracas, making sure they are of appropriate size. I don’t discourage the 18 month and younger kids to not mouth, but it makes me feel safer when they don’t put the entire maraca head in their mouth! I also have used a Remo gathering drum, bells, triangular shakers, or small tambourines. I also have other children’s instruments that make unique sounds, they seem to be very intrigued by those! I facilitate many sessions every day at multiple locations, so I definitely prefer plastic instruments. My instruments are sanitized more than 10 times some days. I have my own little rotation of instrument sanitization. 🙂

[Lysa Wright]

I love working with babies! Right now, I have several infant rooms I go to at various daycare centers. These rooms are typically ages from as little as 6 weeks to around a year old. What I’ve learned and always encourage the daycare provider is that babies are on their own schedules, and it’s ok if they need to be held and fed, it’s ok if they need to be changed during music, and it’s ok if they start crying! It was nice to have this reiterated in this section. It’s always so interesting to me when working with children this young how much developing takes place in only a few months. Sometimes there are changes and growths occurring from week to week! It’s so interesting seeing their different levels of engagement and different means of participation, whether it’s grasping a shaker during instrument time, making vocalizations during songs, or clapping when cued. Babies are amazing!

[Lysa Wright]

Calm, bonding, engaging, interactive, educational.

1. A parent’s voice is preferred over another person. 2. Babies love repetition and are able to recognize familiar melodies. 3. Higher pitches or voices are calming to your baby. 4. Babies use different pitches in their vocalizations, we can imitate these pitches to encourage more sounds and interactions. 5. Babies can be startled easily by loud or abrupt songs, they prefer more calming, soothing melodies and rhythms.

Begin the group with a gathering/hello song, something to include each baby’s name. Bonding songs like Row It Faster work well for interaction. Songs about me- Just Like Me song for interaction, body part identification. Instrument song- calm, quiet instruments like a soft-sounding shaker. In My Little Hand is good for small movements/visual tracking of the instrument. Babies can also grasp or reach out to instruments. Movement songs- small movements, making sure to be aware of baby’s tolerance for movement. Last is the goodbye song!

[Lysa Wright]

Being a music therapist is definitely a unique benefit. We are not only able to provide quality music, but we have training in child development, sensitivity, and the effects music has on others. We are more observant and aware of the needs of not only the children and parents separately, but their needs for bonding. Because of our music therapy training, we tend to pick up on the needs of others more, and this gives us a strong advantage in this market.

[Lysa Wright]

I’m primarily working directly with the children, and typically don’t get to meet their parents/families (I subcontract). However, the parents I meet, particularly the ones of children with special needs, tell me how much their children love music time with me and how much their child’s language is developing and how engaged they are when they hear music.

In the past, when providing child/caregiver music, typically in the summer, it seems that time was a big issue for parents. Everyone’s lives are very busy! Another is maybe lack of advertising/unclear advertising for the services. There are sometimes multiple different kinds of music groups available (maybe Kindermusic or Music Together) and parents may not know the differences, they all probably seem the same!

[Lysa Wright]

Great responses from everyone! I agree, we as music therapists are able to provide a great quality of music. We have had extensive training in the different instruments we play, so much so that we are able to make the music as somewhat of a background to the therapy and teaching we are doing! This was a great exercise to remind us of how valuable we rarely are and how special our services can be to this audience.

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