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In this course, I have really learned that we have the ability to be an excellent resource for these families and that we should value ourselves as music therapists with this expertise. We have learned so much about young children’s musical behaviors and how they align with development, and now we can share it. This course has changed my perspective by giving so much information on what development looks like and how we can use music to encourage that development. I recently took a new job, and I have been dubbed “The Early Childhood Music Therapist” and “The Developmental Music Therapist,” as the company I work for tends to serve older adults with IDD or in assisted living. I think it’s cool that I get to bring a different perspective and skill-set to a long-standing agency, and help to expand their services for the kiddos in the community, as well as being a resource for my colleagues.
ParticipantI am very excited to bring this information to the program that the company I work for is considering launching in January, this is something they had wanted to do but they had an agreement with the “Music Together” program that was in the same building that we would not have a similar program, this is no longer the case. I am excited to fill a need in our community, as all the “Music Together” courses in Portland are full, and provide a service that is more geared towards development, we’re also working on a partnership with a service for NICU families so that graduates have an opportunity to have music while having their development encouraged.
ParticipantI have worked in a preschool setting before, and some strategies I have used there is use of space, and being mindful of the personal space of each child and room to be successful and safe throughout the music session. This was a group of 20+ children with 4 adults in the room. Also, when I passed out instruments and it would take a moment, to grab the kiddos attention, I would raise up the instrument and sing “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANDDDDDDDD” (wait for eyes) “On the ground.” This was highly effective in this setting.
Participant5 words: Support, busy, cooperation, joyful, and sharing
Session plan: Come and join me in the circle, wiggly jiggly car, all of this is me, I like this song, Will you come?, Music time is over.
ParticipantA challenge is the choice of music, on any given day you could have any range of ages and developmental levels walk in. Another challenge is providing a high-quality service for everyone, regardless of age/development, as ‘group management’ can be difficult as all children may be at different levels.
ParticipantThis group is designed to promote child development through music, even though making music and joy is a large and important goal, we specifically design these interventions to target and encourage developmental milestones with music, while encouraging the intrinsic need for your child to make music. Also, because we are music therapists, we are aware of these milestones and what they look like in a musical context.
ParticipantSigns that there is enough stimulation are any sort of musical behavior. When stimuli become too much, a child may hold onto their caregiver, cry or scream. I think something we have to take into consideration is that as music therapists, we work with varying levels of neurodiversity, over/under-stimulation can look a lot of different ways, including children engaging in stimming behaviors to regulate themselves. This is just something we have to be mindful of as we gear sessions to the child’s needs.
ParticipantCurrently, I am not working with groups at this level, however, I have a Remo “Clean and Green” big gathering drum that I can disinfect, I have a couple of larger shakers from Nino, not enough for a group yet. I have some wrist bells and scarves that I would like to use. However, I do worry about wrist bells as the bells tend to fall off after some time and that’s no good for mouthing.
ParticipantFive words to describe SM 2 are Spontaneous, exploration, free, expressive, and playful.
Five Sentences: “After a certain amount of time, we’re looking for an anticipatory response to music and movement, this is a marker for typical development.” “It is totally okay that they are running around, exploration is fine and this is developmentally appropriate!” “Its okay that your kiddo is sitting on someone else’s lap, or on my lap, it’s part of exploration.” “For any activity involving their feet, make sure the bottom of their feet is being touched or on the floor, this is especially important for ‘marching’ so the action matches the words” “Although they may not be singing or dancing along with their peers, you may see that at home instead, they begin singing or dancing.”
Session Plan: Join me in the circle (to gather everyone) Hello, Wiggly, Jiggly Car, Just Like me, I like this song (with tempo changes), March with my baby, Goodbye.
October 29, 2021 at 12:06 pm
in reply to: Share some of your experiences with children of this age and level.
ParticipantI do not have experience with children of this age chronologically, however, I work with one child who is chronologically twelve, but is at the developmental level of an infant. For the longest time, I didn’t know how to session plan or what goals to set being that this is a level I was not trained in. A big goal for her is just engagement, I am currently working with her virtually. Her previous MT was mostly singing nursery rhymes to her and asking mom to provide hand-over-hand for playing and movement activities. Using some of the songs and interventions learned in this training, I’ve been working with her to locate sounds and encourage bonding and engagement with her mom. I’ve noticed I’ve been able to increase her eye contact and engagement by around 50% recently, and LOTS of vocalization that was not present when I started to work with her. The youngest child I was worked with previously was maybe 3 years old in a preschool/daycare setting during practicum.
ParticipantThe role of music therapy in communities can be so large, as this course is about Early Childhood, and in this community, we are looking to create a community of children and parents to be social, ask questions, and be developmentally healthy. However, in other roles community-based music therapy is used, it can very so different, for example, I’ve done work in a community-based mental health center, and their goals included wellness, processing experiences, and group cohesion.
Music is so very ingrained in our lives and can lead us to meet all kinds of people with different experiences, as we all may have experienced in our education, and these different experiences allow us to learn from other perspectives, which I think is truly the role of community in music.ParticipantI think music therapist can see development milestones in action through music, a medium that is fun and motivating for kiddos. The value for young families is that they get to see and truly understand these milestones in a different environment, one that is social and highly-motivating, and also be able to ask questions. Another value is the bonding and social component of music, bonding and trust building with the parent, while the kiddo is also discovering how to socialize with peers and where they fit in that social dynamic.
October 18, 2021 at 12:31 pm
in reply to: What are the needs of the families and communities that you work with?
ParticipantThe families that I work with are mostly IDD pre-teens and teens, most with an ASD diagnosis. A lot of these parents are incredibly overwhelmed with how many therapies they see on any given day, along with the regular duties of daily activities, working and raising other siblings. The needs of the kids themselves are usually expressive and receptive communication skills.
In my community, there is not a lot of knowledge regarding ASD and what services are available to families other than ABA therapy, I think there is a large need, there is also not a ton of services aimed at parent and child connection, like “Mommy (Daddy or Caregiver) and Me,” most services here are “drop your kid off and go.”
Music can address the first concern with families by helping encourage expressive communication through creative music making, while addressing receptive communication through songs with strict structure and built in prompts as discussed in the modules. The second issue can be addressed through the creation of a early learning music center as discussed in the module, and advocating for more music within our community.
October 8, 2021 at 8:34 pm
in reply to: How have you used these four music experiences in your practice?
ParticipantI have not used these music experiences yet, however I will be using the transition songs later this week to help my kiddos with transition anxiety, I have one older child with ASD who is going to be moving homes and I will be finding a transition song for him as well. Gathering songs could be useful in some of my sessions, but I actually don’t see groups right now and the kids I see that need that structure are being seen virtually, I will be using these gathering songs for them and see how it goes!
ParticipantBecause we have a specific understanding of musical and childhood development, we can catch onto musical behaviors that those without our training may not. Through this understanding of musicality, we can encourage music making for the kiddo and help them to develop and follow through the developmental steps presented prior.
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