[Megan Goddu]

I haven’t had an opportunity to work with this age group in a music based setting. For the past 5-6 summers, I have working within a day care program which provides for infants up to preschool age children. The time I have spent in the infant/toddler room has definitely been a great learning experience. I have been working in the infant/toddler room on Fridays now and while the children in there are all about 1; I have been trying out some musical things with them. One little boy who is about 1 and 1/2 years old loves to be held (especially since he has a new baby sister at home) and will copy some of the sounds I make to him. It’s cute when I buzz my lips at him with different pitches. He tries to copy me and does a pretty good job doing it without pitches.

[Megan Goddu]

I agree with all that was talked about above. In my understanding, I would say that even though the majority of community based music therapy does not require extensive documentation on written goals/objectives, IEPs, treatment plans, etc; I believe that on a basic level community based music therapy is still have goals. However, those goals are just subconsciously being accomplished. For example, I think the main goals for SM 1 is: 1. giving parents an opportunity to bond with their infants. 2. for infants to explore their environment in a musical way. The goals/community based music therapy purpose is to help the community build healthy relationships with all while enhancing everyone’s development (infant and adult/parent).

[Megan Goddu]

Don’t be afraid to sing! Your baby is looking to hear your voice. Did you hear that? Your baby was cooing. That’s his/her way to sing along with us. It’s ok if your baby puts the instrument in his mouth, that’s his way of exploring it right now. She may not be able to see your scarf very well, why don’t you try shortening it a little bit while waving it over her? Your baby seems to get very relaxed when you rock him, maybe turn swaying to the music while you sing to him?

[Megan Goddu]

Settling in to Class: soft prerecorded music playing in the background while everyone is getting settled.
Hello/Gathering: Good Morning (EKS)
Body Percussion: Sit down with Me (EKS)
Lap Ride: Row It Faster (EKS)
Instrument Play: I Like This Song (EKS)
Gross Motor Movement: I Can Feel the Beat
Cool Down: Where, oh where is? with scraves
Goodbye: Thank you for the Music (Thank you, thank you, thank you for the music. I’ll see you again next time. I’ll se you again next time. Bye bye, bye bye, bye bye. Can be adapted to add in names/saying goodbye to individuals)

[Megan Goddu]

Soothing, relaxing, loving, connecting, supportive

[Megan Goddu]

I have found that the families I work with are looking for support in any way they can get it, even if it’s just a friendly ear to help them process what is happening with their child. In the school I work at, while my main job is to provide music therapy services, as a case manager, I am being the voice of the parents at school when they are not there. In my home town (where I am currently living, but really work an hour away), I am not really aware of any community based music programs at the libraries or if music therapy is an option within the school setting for special education students. I have just recently received an inquiry about conducting a music therapy evaluation for a student in the town right next to mine…I am hoping that this inquiry may grow into a possible contract. (keeping my fingers crossed)

[Megan Goddu]

I was agree with all of the above responses. We music therapists bring a lot of skills to the table…and we KNOW how to use those skills. I also think that a huge benefit to families is that we are very aware of them and their needs. The families aren’t left in the dark. They can be (and are encouraged to be) an active member in the whole process of a music therapy session.
Being a music therapist, I feel that our work tends to become more personal to each therapist. We each develop a connection with our clients and families, but also the actual music we make. The music then holds more value to us (the music therapists) as well as the families, young children, whoever we work with.

[Megan Goddu]

I have always used singing, playing instruments and movement in every session I have done with all my clients. Regardless of age, I feel that all my clients respond to all three in varying levels of engagement; however they are still engaged. Working in school settings, I find that in the classroom a lot of the time, teachers try to get the students to do what they want the students to do and that can be as simple as having that student sit in a chair for the full class time. With that in mind, I like let my students (within reason) make as many choices as possible within music. All of my clients right now are above the age of 5; however I still can see the different levels of development in their singing, instrument playing, movement and listening.

Making sure there are listening experiences in my sessions is hard. I think part of that is a result of being a musician..you sometimes feel that you have to be making music all the time. Even though, the importance of listening was taught multiple times to me as a student, I have had a hard time explaining the importance of it to others. With some of my older clients, I use music listening as a means to help calm and center that student. She is able to lay down with all the lights off and shades closed and able to listen and breathe along with the music in order to help process her emotions. A thought I just had is that, while she is listening…I am listening as well, however I am not necessarily doing anything or actively listening to the music. Most of the time, we listen to prerecorded music; however I am played music for her to listen too in the past. We both get something different out of the music listening. I’m not sure if I am explaining this very well; however I believe that out of the 4 categories (singing, playing instruments, moving and listening), Listening is the hardest to do, because as a therapist, you have less control over it than the others. It is harder to see the outcome of a listening experience than say a singing experience.

[Megan Goddu]

SINGING: Awareness: makes pitched vocalizations / Trust: can match familiar pitches 1/2 of the time / Independence: makes up own melody / Control: can sing along to a familiar song / Responsibility: can independently sing a familiar song

PLAYING INSTRUMENTS: Awareness: watches and listens to instruments played by others / Trust: Learns/explores an instrument with mouth, hands, eyes / Independence: Learns/explores a variety of instruments with hands, eyes (less with mouth) / Control: purposefully plays with the music by starting, stopping and waiting. / Responsibility: can match a steady beat being played by another (can copy)

MOVING: Awareness: natural full body movements /d Trust: purposefully full body movement that begins and ends with music / Indpendence: “I am moving my body”; moving different parts / Control: imitates others’ movements / Responsibility: can move in a learned sequence (beginning to be more “dance-like”)

LISTENING: Awareness: recognizes familiar vocal timbre; will watch reaction to unfamiliar/unexpected timbres / Trust: remembers familiar melodies / Independence: actively attending to music; showing an equal reaction to the music / Control: able to make the choice to stop and listen to music / Responsibility: respects and understands music created by others and able to listen to it; knows its anothers’ music, not their own.

[Megan Goddu]

I particularly liked the bonding and transition songs shared in this week’s material. I had the opportunity to use the “Wiggly Jiggly Car” song in my internship last year with a 4 year old child. I remember the child really enjoying the song (myself included) especially the part where we would lean from side to side. He would hold on to my arms (his seatbelt) while laughing so hard. For the “Good Morning to You”, when I was learning how to sing it I immediately got an idea to use it with one of my students tomorrow, thinking that he would really enjoy hearing the opening octave. It’s something I think would really get his attention (and I hope to try it out tomorrow to see if it does.)

[Megan Goddu]

The community I live in has a large population of Portuguese people in it and has during the summer there are popular portuguese festivals that people can attend. Some of these festivals are put on by churches and more “progressive” clubs. Naturally there is a lot of Portuguese music there. However, this is also a decent amount of community summer wind ensembles and portuguese marching bands. I play in a summer wind ensemble where we play a range of concert music from the 1812 Overture to songs from movies. The 4th of the July is usually very celebrated in this area as well especially being close to Bristol, RI and their 4th of July parade. So the ensemble I am in plays a lot of patriotic songs as well.

[Megan Goddu]

I am currently running a group that has 4 six year old children as part of an 8 week class. We have one more session before it is done. Three out of the four children are in the responsibility level. There are a couple of songs that we do where all three children are able to sing them independently with little support from me. Between the three of them, they are able to sing, move/dance, play and encourage each other in the music. One student in particular will try to convince the fourth member of the group to join in the music.
To be honest, I have had a hard time trying to convince him to join in the music. He currently is undiagnosed, however I believe he presents on the autism spectrum. Usually his mother has to carry him into the room. If sitting with the group (usually on Mom’s lap) and asked a question or present with an instrument choice, he will usually answer with a crying, defiant sound. This past week, he took to running around the circle. In support of this, I changed to a song called Play a little which used the handdrum, an instrument he has shown interest in. While he was running, I would hold the drum out in his “running path” where he had the choice to either hit the drum or run around the drum. Sometimes he was run by, or stop and hit the drum with either his head or hand. I would say that this child represents at the trust level of development.

[Megan Goddu]

In my music therapy work, I center my music activities around a lot of dramatic play, especially with my facial expressions and use of my voice. I feel that these abilities will be a strong asset to an early childhood music therapy based program. By using dramatic play, I found that I have an easier time connecting with my clients and that they in turn respond more and “get” more out of the session.

Luckily for me, I have a pretty constant opportunity to see children from 6 months to about 5 years old in a daycare/preschool setting where I work as a preschool teacher. The information explained through the videos were very helpful and while it is not the first time I have learned about each developmental level and what to expect…it is always great to relook at and relearn what it is all about. In the process, I always remember more information than I did the last time I had the opportunity to review the information. While this definitely supports my work as a preschool teacher; it also supports my work as a music therapist, because even though I am not currently working in early childhood music therapy, I am better able to understand my students who present at a more developmental age of 3 to 5.

[Megan Goddu]

My most valuable takeaway from this week’s content was being reminded/asked to look at the development from the child’s viewpoint, especially when we were asking to lay down and see how limited our range of motion is when doing that and thinking how an infant feels when laying down. I also liked using the word “Trade” instead of share and that it is not realistic to ask a 3 year old to say sorry and actually understand why they are saying it and what it actually means. These are things I will be keeping in mind when I go to the daycare/preschool I work at on Fridays.

[Megan Goddu]

Hi All!

My name is Megan Goddu. I graduated from Anna Maria College in May 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy and officially became a MT – BC in August 2012! Currently, I live in Somerset, MA with my parents. (saving as much money as I can to help pay those student loans back)

For work, I am the music therapist/case manager at the Mercy Centre which is a special education school in Worcester, MA. I work with students ages 6 – 22; with our youngest student right now being 10. The students there all have development disabilities that range from autism to down syndrome to auditory processing disorders and CP. The work allows me to use a wide range of skills with the many differences in the students abilities. I have students who are non verbal to students who I am currently teaching basic music reading to help support her guitar playing. In addition to the Mercy Centre, I am also a MT contractor with the Seven Hills Foundation. Overall the Seven Hill Foundation offers children and adult services. I work within the recreation department and offer 3 music therapy groups (kids group, young adult group and adult/elderly group). The age range total for those 3 groups are ages 6 – 60.

Most of my experiences have been with school aged children with developmental disabilities. I worked with my practicum and internship supervisor, Renee Coro for two years while I was in school and learned a lot of her. I am glad to say that we are now good friends since moving away from the supervisor/student relationship. Renee actually referred me to this online training. She had completed one of the first online trainings offered and said that I would learn a lot from it. Since Renee worked with Beth as a student, Renee passed some of her experiences (songs, such) on to me while I worked with her.

I am also a certified preschool teacher and work at a private preschool/daycare mostly during the summer. There I work with typical infants and toddlers and children up to the age of about 8. Currently, I don’t do music therapy at the preschool; however I am hoping with this training that I will be able to incorporate more “music therapy” and music with the children I work with there.

While I don’t necessarily work with infants/toddlers in a music therapy setting; some of the individuals I currently work with present more at the 3 – 5 age level in their abilities. I am hoping that this course will give me a better understanding on how to use songs to their best ability as well as hoping it will help me be able to write my own clinical songs to use in my work.

I am looking forward to this training!

Thanks! Megan

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