Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
Keymaster
Welcome! I am always so excited to get to know music therapists from around the world through this Sprouting Melodies forum. You will be seeing and hearing a lot about music and music therapy from me in the next ten weeks, but here are some other things about me and the rest of my life. I am still working, after 26 years, at a wonderful facility on Long Island, New York called Alternatives for Children. We service families and children birth-5 through special education, therapeutic services, day care, nursery school and family groups. I also have the pleasure of teaching music therapy at Molloy College here on Long Island. We have over 100 students in the program, both graduate and undergraduate. Our teaching faculty reads like a ‘Who’s Who” in music therapy and I am honored to be a part of it.
My other job as a mother has changed quite a bit since my three children are all grown and out on their own. Even though I spent a lot of their formative years traveling and working on behalf of music therapy, they seemed to have turned out just fine! I didn’t always have dinner on the table or clean clothes in their drawers, but I did give them all a life of learning and music which I am proud to say they still value and remember.
Meredith and I are committed to music therapy and to music therapists and to you. We look forward to getting to know you and to supporting your journey in music therapy and early childhood music.
KeymasterMeredith, Erika and I look forward to talking to many of you tomorrow night at 8 pm EST for our SMT conference call. Call-in information is on your Week 9 Agenda.
KeymasterI love that several of you have used words such as ‘centered’ or ‘in the moment’. This understanding of the need to ‘be present’ with our children and families is a quality that is unique to music therapists and why we are so valuable to our communities and our families.
KeymasterThank you for all the suggestions on instruments. This is certainly a topic we can discuss more during our Sprouting Melodies Training conference call tomorrow night, Monday March 9 at 8 pm EST. Hope you can join us!
KeymasterAnother great one, Sarah Jane. I didn’t know this song, but I do now. Thank you!
KeymasterThis video blog is amazing, Sarah Jane. Thank you! I loved how engaging and natural you are and that must make parents feel so welcome. It is also great to see Wiggly Jiggly done with a real life child- yours!
Providers, please feel free to use any of my songs on along with your Sprouting Melodies marketing. Sarah Jane, maybe you could share some of your video blog planning ideas on one of our next Provider calls?KeymasterHi, all. I am putting together the next RH newsletter and would love to include information on any presentations you are doing at your regional MT conferences. Let me know so we can celebrate your success!
KeymasterGood day to all! The snow here just doesn’t stop…but it is comfy to sit at my kitchen table and write. Here is the newest blog on the RH website. It was sparked by a number of things, but one was hearing from young music therapists about their confusion with the idea of Evidence Based Practice. Please enjoy and consider sharing with others.
KeymasterHere is a brand new “Sprouting Melodies Sing at Home” blog and a brand new song! Please share with your families – or record it yourself for your families! Enjoy!
February 10, 2015 at 9:12 pm
in reply to: How have you used these four music experiences in your practice?
KeymasterHi, colleagues and friends. In case you do not know, I post new songs each month on the Sprouting Melodies web site. (www.sproutingmelodies.com/blog).
I just put a fun song up that you might really, really like. Check it out!KeymasterI love the idea of bringing Sprouting Melodies to military families. My husband is retired Air Force, and I still remember clearly how difficult deployment could be and how I would have loved a community of people who gathered together around music.
February 10, 2015 at 9:04 pmKeymasterWhat great answers! I hope that you are keeping copies of all your responses. I can guarantee that you will use that information for a long time!
January 28, 2015 at 4:49 pm
in reply to: Discuss with the board the traditional and cultural music in your home community.
KeymasterThanks for sharing your ‘Desert Jingle Bells’Michelle. So cute! We would love to hear more created songs from anyone who is willing to share!
January 28, 2015 at 4:45 pm
in reply to: Sing and learn some of the songs presented in the video. Share with the board your experiences using these songs.
KeymasterSo glad that you are enjoying and using this music. Just a reminder, in case you were not aware, that I do a monthly blog for parents and educators with new songs called “Sprouting Melodies Sing at Home”. You can find them at http://www.SproutingMelodies.com/blog. Enjoy!
January 28, 2015 at 4:40 pmKeymasterThank you to all for your thoughtful answers and meaningful stories. Natalie had a question that I would like to try and answer and then I’d like to speak for a little bit about ‘independence’ and ‘control’.
Natalie asked – Can a child reach a limited number of markers for one stage, but not all? Would this mean a child could be Independent in self-care, but in a stage of Trust musically?
The Musical Levels of Development were created to give MTs an idea about how music skills are naturally developed. It is meant to be a flexible template, and children will often slide between levels or in and out of levels. So, yes, there are many times when you will see skills from more than one level. If you are looking at older children with developmental disabilities, there are often times when they have learned and practiced functional skills, but are missing a number of skills in other areas ( for example, children who are toilet trained but only speak in one word sentences). We can use the Levels to figure out how their musical responses fit into their overall response and work to fill in those parts that are missing musically. I have noticed that for children with ASD, they sometimes exhibit gaps or one or two skills from higher levels musically. These can be equated with ‘splinter skills’ where a child might be able to decode words, but not know their own name. So think of the Levels as just being a series of guideposts, where individual differences are expected.
When thinking about and looking for the levels of independence and control, we also have to be aware of how a child’s disability impacts their actions. If a child is refusing to play an instrument, it might be a developmental step. Or it might be an indication of the disability. Children with cognitive impairments as well as ASD will often exhibit behavior that looks ‘independent’ because it is ‘independent’ from us as adults. However, it might be that the disability is driving the action and the child is not able to exert true independence or control in a mindful, meaningful way because their disability (for example rigidity, confusion, lack of problem solving skills) is forcing them to respond in certain ways. They then struggle to be ‘independent’ of the disability and in ‘control’ of its symptoms in order to make true and full choices.
Does this make sense? Beth -
AuthorPosts
