[Michelle Nettle]

As other participants have stated, this course has helped tremendously in “filling in the gaps” of our music therapy education when it comes to early childhood development and early childhood musical development. I have worked with children ages 3 and up with special needs for many years, but I really didn’t have a solid framework for the development of children ages 0-5. As others stated on the forum, I learned from other professionals like Speech Therapists, Occupational Therapist, ext. about particular development in certain areas, but I never had the ALL inclusive information that this Sprouting Melodies Course has provided. I feel so thankful to have this knowledge, although I have to admit that NOW I need to really dig in and re-read ALL of what has been taught so that I can FULLY assimilate it into my practice with confidence!

I also purchased Beth’s songbook and Meredith’s CD and look forward to digging in and really learning these songs so that they can be added into my repertoire of early childhood music that I already have.I LOVE all the “functional language” of their songs and I look forward to having these songs as part of both my music therapy practice with children with special needs AND in my Sprouting Melodies Classes, as I definitely plan to become a Sprouting Melodies Provider!

[Michelle Nettle]

I plan on doing some “target research” in my area to find well known and active early childhood groups in the area and contact them to see how I can connect and share how my expertise as a music therapist working in early childhood development is unique and needed in our community. I want to also contact local day cares/preschools to share that I am a Sprouting Melodies provider and share what this program is and to see if they would let me “advertise” by leaving flyers.I’m also going to look into becoming a “member” of local early childhood organizations to receive their newsletters, possibly do a presentation to the early childhood organizations about music and early childhood development. I already have business cards and a website, but I want to create a brochure that lists the various programs I offer including individual music therapy services, group music therapy services, piano lessons, early childhood classes (preschools, home school co-ops), and Sprouting Melodies Classes which are specifically designed classes that promote early childhood development and family connections. Once I create the brochures, I want to go around to preschools, day cares, pediatric clinics, indoor playground centers, ext. to ASK if I can leave my brochures with them so that I can become THE RESOURCE that parents, clinicians, teachers, ext. THINK of and give my information to parents seeking out such services.

[Michelle Nettle]

As many in the group have expressed, it is VITAL that you come in with a prepared session plan, BUT at the same time be able to stay “present” and “flexible” in making changes as needed within the session in response to the children in your group. Some strategies I use include setting up “clear” expectations and doing so in a “Positive way.” So instead of saying “no talking” or “no hitting”, ext., I like to use the strategy of “Whole Body Listening. So I start out by briefly explaining what this means at the first group session. 1. Use “Listening Ears” (to indicate following directions) 2. “Listening Eyes”(to indicate paying attention) 3.Listening Mouth ( to indicate no talking or to encourage singing during a song) 4. Listening Hands (to indicate hands to ourselves or to encourage doing the hand movements or playing the instruments during a given song)5. Listening Body (to indicate staying in their own body space/not hitting others and doing the movements that the particular song asks for)

The above strategy of “Whole Body Listening” is obviously for toddlers and not babies 🙂

[Michelle Nettle]

I am looking forward to becoming a Sprouting Melodies Provider for many reasons. As I’ve stated to you all previously, I have been providing music therapy to children with developmental disabilities for over 12 years. So I have a lot of experience in working with families and children. So by becoming a Sprouting Melodies Provider, I am thrilled that I can expand my practice to include a music therapy-based community program to “ALL” children and their families. I LOVE working with children and families, and I look forward to this opportunity as a Sprouting Melodies Provider, to “expand” my practice, as it will give me MORE opportunities to create a thriving music therapy practice that offers a “Variety” of services for both children that are “typical” and children with “developmental disabilities” and their families. Also, I have mostly provided “individual” music therapy services for the past 12 years, but I have loved the few opportunities I have had in leading groups. So I’m also excited that as a Sprouting Melodies Provider, I will have the opportunity to incorporate “groups” REGULARLY into my music therapy practice. It’s SUCH a different dynamic and different goals when working with individuals vs. groups, so I’m, thrilled to add continual opportunities to provide music-therapy based community group classes as a Sprouting Melodies Provider. When becoming a music therapist in 2002, I knew that working with children was the population that I wanted to specialize in. Many music therapists work with a variety of populations including Alzheimer’s, Psychiatric patients, Hospice, Hospitals, Stroke victims, ext. But I decided from the VERY beginning that after working with various populations in my practicums, my “calling” was to specialize and ONLY work with children(special needs and typical) in my practice as a music therapist. So having a variety of ways I can incorporate my expertise and knowledge as a music therapist specializing in working with children and their families into my practice is KEY to having a vibrant and sustainable practice. Sprouting Melodies will be another WONDERFUL addition to the services I can offer children and their families!

[Michelle Nettle]

5 Words for SM 3: – Intentional – Emotions – Creative – Active – Accepting

5 Words for Family Sprouts: – Sharing – Connections – Cooperation – Joyful – Helping

SM 3 Plan: – Hello Song – I’m Glad You’re Here Today –Bonding Song- My Brand New Friend – Songs About Me- Where is the Music?– Instrument Songs- You Play a Little-Movement Songs-Will You Come? – Goodbye Song-Time to Go

Family Sprouts Plan: – Hello Song – Hey Everybody- Bonding Song- Hold On Tight – Songs About Me- All of this is me-instrument Song- I like This Song -Movement Song-I can move around- Goodbye Song- It’s Time to Say Goodbye w/scarves

[Michelle Nettle]

Based on the Boards responses so far, it seems that this question is being interpreted in different ways. I may be wrong, but I think that the point of the question was to be able to explain the difference to a parent between using music to promote child development vs. teaching a child musical skills such as how to sing, how to play various instruments, ext.

So with this interpretation, I would tell the parents that “Sprouting Melodies is unique in its goal to utilize developmentally appropriate music to promote the development of a child, the development of positive relationships between child and caregiver, and the development of positive social interactions with their peers.” “While programs that are music-skilled based are using music to teach particular musical abilities such how to sing, pitch recognition, and how to play various instruments”

[Michelle Nettle]

I agree with the groups comments, that running a multi-age group can at times be challenging, but it also can be very rewarding to see siblings and families engaged in music making together. I agree that it is important to be very aware and deliberate about choosing music that will work for EVERYONE in the group, so not too stimulating for the babies, and enough stimulation to keep the interest of the older siblings. I also do what Melissa has said in her post about letting the “older” children be the “leaders,” which gives them a sense of responsibility and control they are looking for and allows them to work with their younger siblings in a cooperative manner.

[Michelle Nettle]

Like the previous comments from the group, I think it definitely depends on the group, so it will be important to use our “music therapy” skills to assess each individual groups needs at each session. That said, I think at this stage there are some general guidelines to keep in mind which are as follows: it is important to make sure you provide is a “variety” of varying amounts of stimulation from slow songs to fast and upbeat songs to keep the child’s interest and to prevent disengagement if under-stimulated and prevent feeling out of control from over-stimulation. And as was pointed out in the video, it’s important as music therapists that we continue to assess “throughout” each session to see how the children are responding and choose our song interventions accordingly by being flexible to the needs of the group.

[Michelle Nettle]

You need to use instruments that will allow the child as much independence as possible, so the instruments need to be easy for the child to grasp and not too heavy. I have always got my instruments for music therapy at West Music, but I do not currently have “Early Childhood” friendly instruments such as the maracas with the circle handle, or jumbo Chiquita’s. I do have a large remo gathering drum and the remo “tom-tom” drum that Elizabeth was playing . Like the rest of the group, I would LOVE to know what a good Sprouting Melodies Kit exactly entails and where to buy each of these instruments…Merideth or Elizabeth…could you provide the group with a list of instruments and where to buy them?

[Michelle Nettle]

Five words: Playful, Exploration, Surprise, Energy, Authentic

Five Sentences:1. It’s okay if your child is just observing, as they are taking it all in and will likely do it later at home. 2. Don’t worry if your child isn’t always in the circle- at this stage of development they are looking to explore and will often come “in and Out” of the activities in a session. 3. When they leave you to explore, they are not rejecting you, they are just forming their sense of identity. 4. Children learn a lot from the sensations on the bottom of their feet, so make sure when we do jumping or stamping movements, that you ensure your child’s entire foot is firmly planting on the ground. 5. When positioning your child on your lap, set them in the middle of your lap and wrap your arms under theirs so that the child’s arms and hands are freely able to touch the “outsides” of your arms or hands as you move them out and in to clap. This way your child can experience going to their midline or not, depending on how comfortable your child feels be choosing to hold onto your hands or not.

SMP2 Session Plan: Gathering Song: Hello Everybody. Bonding Song: Wiggly Jiggly Car. Songs About Me: Can You See Me? Instrument Song: Sit with Me and Shake. Movement Song: March with my Baby. Goodbye: Goodbye and Thank You Very Much

[Michelle Nettle]

I think expanding our music therapy clinical practice to also include community based groups is a wonderful opportunity to bring greater awareness of the music therapy profession to more people and it also allows us, as music therapists, to use our skills to not only help those with ” developmental needs”, but also to promote “wellness and healthy development” in typical children and their families. Our ability to meet the needs of ALL children and their families is something we as music therapists offer that is TRULY UNIQUE!

[Michelle Nettle]

Five Words: Bonding, Warmth, Acceptance, Wonder, Gentle

Five Sentences for Parents: – 1. “The timbre of your voice is most important.” 2.”It’s important that you use a calm and soothing voice when singing to your babies to help avoid startling them.” 3. If the child is sleeping, “That’s okay because it’s just as important for you to be here and learn the music so that you can go home and sing it to your child.” 4. “It’s okay that your child isn’t always looking right at you, as he/she may be looking to hear where the sound of the guitar or other voices are coming from.” 5. “Notice how your child responds differently to slow lullaby songs vs. faster play songs and practice both kinds of songs at home to allow your child to have varied experiences with you and also develop appropriate responses to both.”

Session Plan:
Gathering/Hello Song-The “Hello Song” that Merideth sang “Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello, He-llo” with the baby lying on the floor while the caregiver gently sings and pats a steady beat on the baby

Bonding Song – “Row it Faster”- I like how this starts with a “familiar song” and has an “unexpected” twist of going faster which allows parents and babies to feel secure at first and then challenges that with something “new” that the baby and parent aren’t expecting, allowing for a bit of excitement to be shared between both baby and caregiver.

Songs About Me – “Just like Me” – I like how this song really allows the caregiver and baby to share in matching body parts that they both have and ALSO how this song allows you to broaden the experience to those in the group who ALSO have the SAME things.

Instrument Song – “In My Little Hand” – I like this song a lot and love that it uses the soft sound of the maraca to exlore not only playing it with their hands, but also playing it “on” various parts of their body (tummy, leg, arm, ext.)

Movement Song – “As Big As Can Be” This song is really fun and I like how you can adapt it from having the baby cradled in the hands in front of the caregiver to holding the baby upright standing and moving up and down. This gives much opportunity for the baby to experience movement in different planes and from different perspectives.

Goodbye- Use the Sprouting melodies Goodbye Song- I enjoy the “sighs” at the end and how this gives everyone a sense of release and signals that this time is all done and the baby and caregiver can transition naturally to leaving.

[Michelle Nettle]

I have not professionally worked with children of this age yet, but I had the opportunity to spend several weeks visiting with my sister when my niece was only 3 months old. I was able o experience both how my sister felt (tired, and a bit overwhelmed) and how very dependent my baby niece was for EVERYTHING! These two weeks I spent with them really gave me a good understanding of how important it is to support the parents as they are going through this very difficult time adjusting to being a parent, hardly getting any sleep, and having to care for a child that at this stage is COMPLETELY dependent on their caregiver to meet all their needs. And at the same time, it showed me how important this “bonding” period is for both the infant and their parent/caregiver. I was also able to experience the complete and utter “wonder” that my baby niece demonstrated with her eyes wide open, taking everything in, responding to sounds, sights, cuddles, and all the people and things she was introduced to each day. This age period of 0-6 months is truly a unique, challenging, and wondrous experience for both baby and caregiver!

[Michelle Nettle]

As music therapists we bring not only our musicianship, but more importantly our training in working with a variety of populations, which allows us to be flexible and adaptable in both the music we choose and in how we respond to the children and parents in our sessions. Our training of using music as a “tool” to elicit responses and work on targeted goals also positions us in a unique way to provide the most appropriate music experiences for the specific needs of the age group we are working with. In addition, our training has given us skills to be able to council parents, being in tune with their needs, and the ability to comfort, advise, and educate them about the development of their child and how best to use music in promoting healthy relationships between them, their child, and their entire family.

[Michelle Nettle]

I live in Phoenix AZ which is a very large metropolitan area that has sprawling suburbs where most families live. I personally service the North Area Suburbs of the phoenix area, which has grown immensely in the past 10 years. Phoenix has drawn a lot of new families to the area due to the nice Winter weather, decent home prices, and a solid job market. In our community, families are always looking for “extracurricular” activities for their children. We have numerous libraries, community centers, and planned communities with their own community centers that I think will be very interested in adding Sprouting Melodies classes to their array of program offerings. There are other early childhood music classes like Kindermusic and Music Together widely available in the area, but as we all know, these classes are not run by Board Certified Music Therapists. So as a Sprouting Melodies Provider I would definitely have competition in getting parents to “choose” Sprouting Melodies over other well-known early childhood music programs in the area; however, I would have the advantage of my unique skills as a music therapist to provide a well rounded, developmentally based music program that is unique among the other music programs offered in the area.

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