[Meredith Pizzi]

Welcome, Amy. Meredith and I are both mothers, and we think all the time of other music therapists who are parents and want to keep working while being with their family in those precious years. We hope that Sprouting Melodies can keep talented valuable music therapists in the field while raising a family.

[Meredith Pizzi]

Welcome, Tammy. It’s great that you have had such a wide range of experiences. I think the developmental approach in the SM training will help put a new layer of understanding on all your other work. Looking forward to getting to know you better.

[Meredith Pizzi]

So great to have you in this training, Laura. You will have much to offer from the SLP perspective. It will also be great to explore and create more literature in other languages. Do you have Spanish resources to share?

[Meredith Pizzi]

Your mis-spelling was actually interesting, Meghan. Many parents tell me that the transition songs from group DO become family traditions!

[Meredith Pizzi]

I like to take multi-age groups into consideration when I compose. Many of the songs in “You and Me Makes…We” are what I call ‘songs about nothing’. I try and use lyrics and musical elements (such as rhythmic patterns) that can be adapted to many different ages and that do not indicate use by only a certain developmental level. For instance, I know many therapists who have used “I Like This Song” (one of the free downloads) with populations from early childhood up to the elderly.

[Meredith Pizzi]

Thanks for these great tips. Again it is one reason that we feel so strongly that music therapists have the perfect skill set to be providing music groups in the community. One other tip with older children in a mixed age group is to find time before the session begins to have a chat with them. I ask them to help me with the younger children because they know so much and are so much more experienced. ;-)And yes, I include the wink during group as a kind of secret signal that I recognize their maturity!

[Meredith Pizzi]

We are so excited to have you join us on this brand new adventure. It was just over a year ago that Meredith and I sat at dinner during the AMTA conference and made the decision to create an early childhood music site by music therapists for music therapists. And here we are! The seeds are sown, the ground is fertile and its time to grow.

I have had the pleasure of being a music therapist with young children since the early 1980s. Each day I go to work excited about being in the music with the children and their families. I primarily work at at center based program called Alternatives for Children on Long Island New York. I also am an adjunct professor in music therapy at Molloy College. You can learn a lot more about me by reading the blog postings on https://raisingharmony.com. Now, tell me about you….

[Meredith Pizzi]

Welcome, Cindy! We are so glad you are hear to join us! You will find that this training will definitely support your work in the school district and in creating a music play group within your early childhood program. When we speak about parents and caregivers in the training, you can can substitute the words “teacher” and “paraprofessional” and think about how this applies to them. Thanks for posting! Be sure to come back and read other’s posts and feel free to contribute to the conversation again.

[Meredith Pizzi]

I’m thrilled to be on this online course with all of you! I am Meredith Pizzi, proud to be a Board Certified Music Therapist and excited to see the course finally launch online after a year of planning, research, design and development! Here we are about to embark on a 10 week journey together and I am sure we are all going to learn a lot together.

I am a graduate of Duquesne University’s Music Therapy Program and I had the joy and honor of working with Beth Schwartz as my internship supervisor. I learned so much from her in my internship and really developed a love for working in early childhood. After my internship, I had a very successful private practice on Long Island, NY before moving to Boston in 2006. Once settled into Boston, I founded Roman Music Therapy Services, and in 2009 Sprouting Melodies was born! Since 2009, we have seen our revenues at Roman Music Therapy Services skyrocket, more than tripling in 3 years and a lot of that has to do with the growth of Sprouting Melodies and how well it has been received in our community. What brings me here is the desire to share with others what I have learned about early childhood and music making. And with all of the effort that has gone into growing Sprouting Melodies, I want to give other music therapists the opportunity to now make it part of their practices. I’ve learned so much, and the branding and program development is done! I just want to get it out there to music therapists and families all around the country! So what brings you here??

[Meredith Pizzi]

Hi Stacey, Are you still on the board?

[Meredith Pizzi]

I love these songs! You will be able to hear more songs in the sessions to come as well relating to specific Sprouting Melodies age groupings.

[Meredith Pizzi]

The comments in this thread remind me of a presentation Clive Robbins gave speaking about the Peek-a-boo qualities of working with children in music. They want to step out, just a little bit from behind their curtain, enough to say peek-a-boo, and test the waters of being in the music with you. And then they retreat. After watching from afar for a little bit, they will again peek out to engage for a moment, as long as they are able. I believe we see this peek-a-boo game at the various levels of development, and it may go on throughout a session, or for many, many sessions. Either way, we can provide a consistent, trusting environment that they want to keep revisiting until the feel safe and comfortable enough to remain in the open and stay in the music space with you.
Thanks for all of your thoughtful comments everyone!

[Meredith Pizzi]

I’m here at 8:00pm on Thursday. Is anyone else on here now?

[Meredith Pizzi]

Becky, Good point about teaching traditional american children’s songs for the purpose of having those familiar tunes when they enter into school. Have one or two safety nets could be very helpful in transitioning to a classroom setting. It would also be important to somehow let that child’s teacher know what familiar songs are in the child’s repertoire.

[Meredith Pizzi]

I love that we are all so authentic, genuine and fun!! 🙂 I feel very strongly about the importance of family based music therapy at all ages and stages, and I love when we as clinicians can recognize that we are not only working with the child, but every interaction with the family is also informing the parents, grandparents and other close caregivers on how to interact in meaningful ways that support healthy development.
I will keep reading your posts and hope you can all take a few minutes to reach each others comments and respond. There are amazing conversations going on here in the forum. Keep the thoughts and comments coming!!

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