[Megan Dewing]

I enjoyed that Beth went in depth through all the developmental stages. This was very helpful for me to re-learn some of the information, and have some holes filled in. As I have worked with mostly older children, it was good to learn at what age you begin to see things. Learning when they will start to grasp, when they can really follow directions in songs, and what the red flags are was just what I needed. Knowing this will help me to better help my clients, client’s parents, and future Sprouting Melodies parents. This was my biggest take away.

[Megan Dewing]

INSTRUMENT PLAY – Awareness: Move arms to touch the sound source. Trust: Play or grasp instrument for a short period of time. Independence: Grasp an instrument and shake. Control: Shake instrument in a variety of tempos. Responsibility: Transfer a shaking instrument between both hands to play.

MOVING – Awareness: Move body in repetitive, rhythmic movements. Trust: Move rhythmically in response to the music. Independence: Alter the rhythmic movements in response to the music. Control: Isolate body parts and move them rhythmically. Responsibility: Sequence body movements.

SINGING – Awareness: Vocalize with a non-specific pitch. Trust: Change vocal pitch in response to others pitch changes. Independence: Sing two pitches together to form an interval. Control: Use three or more pitches to sing a phrase. Responsibility: Sing in varied pitch ranges (high, medium, and low).

LISTENING – Awareness: Turn attention toward the source of the sound. Trust: Look toward the source of sound in response to the silence. Independence: Seek out the source of the music. Control: Anticipate the beginning of a song and the end of a familiar song. Responsibility: Remain attentive when listening to both the leader and peers.

[Megan Dewing]

This part of the training I enjoyed a lot. I use singing a lot in my sessions to. Although I incorporate singing, instrument play, and movement into my sessions, I realized that I do not give enough time to just simply listen. When going over the listening sequence, I became aware of how often I cut a song or chant short and don’t allow enough time to just listen to the music. This is something that I look forward to incorporating more into my sessions with my clients.

Movement is something that I have always tried to incorporate into each of my sessions, but I have had some of the same experience in the past with teachers or aids in the preschool classroom not wanting it to become too “crazy”. I found the more structured the song was with what they were doing (following a leader, or freeze dancing) to be helpful in large group situations.

[Megan Dewing]

I learned and used a bonding song in on of my sessions this week. The client that I was working with has some sensory needs and enjoys the feeling of deep pressure, but also likes the feeling of safety from being held during interventions. Using these experiences was great for him. I loved the talk about using intentional silences as well. When we were singing the bonding songs, I would leave space for him to prepare for the more “play” part of the song, and have him initiate the play part of the song through tapping or vocalizing.

[Megan Dewing]

One of my clients that I have been working with for a few months enjoys a variety of music experiences. When we first began working together she didn’t like to sing along with songs and would sometimes not play along with the therapist. She will now play along with the therapist, can locate the instrument she was previously playing to go back to them, and gets excited by the changes in the music. She is also able to use some of the more “exciting” musical stimuli, such as a glissando and/or crescendo, in musical play. I would say that she is in the “Control” level.

[Megan Dewing]

I grew up in the Southern Tier of New York, in a small town. The music I sang growing up was traditional nursery rhyme songs. My family has always gone to church, and my parents would listen to and sing hymns and praise songs around the house. Whenever I got together with my friends we would always be singing or playing music in some way. Although my family didn’t listen to it, country music was a big part of our towns culture, with a country band playing at every town event.

I enjoy learning about other’s cultural music and having them share it during sessions. I remember in college that I had a young boy from India in one of our practicum groups at school. He loved when we would bring in music from his culture, and enjoyed sharing it with the other children in the group. I have moved around a lot since working with this client, but seeing excitement from others sharing their music with me has been something I have enjoyed about working in different places.

[Megan Dewing]

I was excited to watch this weeks videos, as it has been a while since I first learned early childhood development. I hope to bring creativity and fun to early childhood groups. While children are growing they are learning things so quickly and have lots of new experiences. I hope to be able to bring music experiences that parents and children can do together that are fun and creative to aid this development. Not having many young children that I interact with every day, and most of my experience being with school aged children, this module was very helpful in working with some of my current clients, as well. I am excited to share this information with parents, and continue to learn more about the Sprouting Melodies approach.

[Megan Dewing]

Hello everyone! My name is Megan Dewing and I have been a Board Certified Music Therapist for almost a year now! I graduated from Marywood University in 2013 and then went on to complete my internship at a private practice in Colorado Springs, CO. There I worked with school aged children (and a few adults) with autism and other developmental disabilities and neurological challenges. After completing my internship, I got a job working at Noteable Progressions Music Therapy Services, a private practice in Maryland.

I first heard about Sprouting Melodies during my internship, when I attended a presentation that Meredith and Beth gave at the AMTA National Conference in Jacksonville. I was so excited when I left the presentation, I decided that I wanted to take the CMTE as soon as I could. I am excited to grow in my knowledge of early childhood and musical development, and incorporate in into both my current sessions and soon Sprouting Melodies groups!

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