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May 19, 2019 at 5:01 pm
in reply to: Share your thoughts with the board members on the role of music therapy in community based settings.
ParticipantMusic therapist offer unique insight to different topics, especially music with child development. We offer support to parents and caregivers in the community and also offer education about their children. We offer more opportunities for parents and their children to get out of the house and interact with other parents and children. We create a space for people in our communities to connect and connect with music! -Billie
May 19, 2019 at 3:58 pm
in reply to: Use 5 words to describe the music experiences in Sprouting Melodies 1.
Participant5 words: comfort, support, bonding, growing, and community
1. You child may have cried when we cleaned up the instruments, but we can sing songs and use replacement to make transitions smoother. 2. Even if you are not the parent of the child, you can still bond and cuddle with the child so they know they are loved. 3. The more singing and modeling that you do, the more your child and you will get out of this experience. 4. Try to sing in class so you can learn the songs and use them as tools at home and outside of class. 5. It’s great that you are here and I want you to feel comfortable in this class and bring all the tools you need to care for baby, they are the priority!
Gathering/hello: Today Is A Beautiful Day, address each child by name within song. Gathering/body percussion: Just Like Me, focus on simple body parts and repeat multiple times, introduce child to themselves but also others. Lap Ride: Row It Faster, support bonding and instruct caregivers how to properly hold the child during this experience. Instrument Play: Sit With Me And Shake, leave spaces in verses to allow child to initiate the play. Movement: Will You Come?, have caregivers hold children and bond through the movements. Cool Down: I See Colors/Where Is My Face, manipulate scarves. GBS: address each child by name and wave goodbye.
-BillieParticipantRoman Music Therapy offers sprouting melodies classes at our office and also in other parts of Massachusetts. There are also concerts that are put on at local libraries or with kids groups in the area. I am lucky to be a part of a team that offers sprouting melodies classes and also to be able to lead some of those sessions! I think the kid’s concerts are a great way to get other children in the community together if they do not attend sprouting melodies classes, and having these experiences more often would reach more and more of the community as people spread the word about the programs. – Billie
May 18, 2019 at 2:11 pm
in reply to: What value do music therapists bring to families of young children?
ParticipantMusic therapists bring many tools and value to families with young children. This topic has been something I’ve been thinking about more and more lately. I am not a parent myself, so I thought that I may not have the same insight as other music therapists who are parents. However, with the training and knowledge I have about music and child development, I am able to lead a session and bring that knowledge to parents. We understand children’s responses to music from a different perspective than other’s who are not musically/psychologically trained. Our music experiences promote bonding between children and caregivers and also allows them to have fun with their kids in a safe environment! We can adapt and change our practice as the children grow and develop. We also offer more support for the families of young children which can be really helpful to a parent. -Billie
May 17, 2019 at 9:13 pmParticipantSinging: Awareness: babbling/vocalizing to music. Trust: Vocalize during spaces in music. Independence:Vocalizations may be recognizable as familiar songs. Control: Singing with pitched intervals. Responsibility: Sing along to songs using lyrics and melody.
Instrument Play: Awareness: May reach for instruments and briefly play. Trust: Play without entraining to rhythms. Independence: Holds mallets and drums and plays. Control: Play a sustained rhythm. Responsibility: Entrain to rhythms and play with rhythmic freedom.
Listening: Awareness: May look in the direction of the source of sound. Trust: Vocalize during pauses in music. Independence: Affect brightens when listening to a preferred song. Control: Maintains interest in music by listening even when they’re not playing. Responsibility: May communicate likes and dislikes of songs played.
Movement: Awareness: May move in response to music starting. Trust: Change movements during pauses in music. Independence: start and stop movements when song starts and stops. Control: Adjusts movements to tempo shifts in songs. Responsibility: Can follow movement directions embedded in lyrics.
-BillieMay 17, 2019 at 8:51 pm
in reply to: How have you used these four music experiences in your practice?
ParticipantI have used singing, playing instruments, movement, and listening within my music therapy sessions. I think when I fist started leading music therapy sessions, my perception of “singing” was that clients who sing with verbal lyrics were the ones singing. It wasn’t until I started my internship when I began to shift my perspective on singing and realized that children (or any clients) who vocalize without lyrics are also singing! I’ve been working on improvisation with singing, and not relying so much on precomposed songs, to meet clients who may not be singing lyrics. In sprouting melodies classes, I have done movement songs with directions embedded in lyrics, but also without movement instructions such as lap rides. Playing instruments is a larger portion of the music therapy sessions and usually start the sprouting melodies sessions with a familiar song for the kids to play instruments to in order to gather everyone and begin the session with making music together. Instrument exploration is also apart of this opening song and it gives them an opportunity to try all different instruments in an environment that supports their instrument playing and exploration. – Billie
May 7, 2019 at 8:47 pm
in reply to: Discuss with the board the traditional and cultural music in your home community.
ParticipantGrowing up, my family and teachers sang a lot of traditional folk songs at home and at school. My family is also Irish so we also sang a lot of Irish folk songs like When Irish Eyes Are Smiling and Danny Boy. My extended family also sang these songs. I also grew up with a lot of Rock and Roll and 80s/90s Pop music from being around my parents. -Billie
May 7, 2019 at 8:40 pm
in reply to: Sing and learn some of the songs presented in the video. Share with the board your experiences using these songs.
ParticipantI really enjoyed this video and was able to add new songs to my rep, which is always exciting! I have used “In My Little Hands” in a session before but sang it in A major as opposed to A minor. I like the minor version sung in the video and plan to sing it in that key the next time I use the song in a session.
May 7, 2019 at 8:36 pmParticipantTabatha- That reminds me of one of the kiddos I work with. He will sometimes shake his head “yes” and “no” but most of his communication is with eye gaze. He often tells me “all done” and he doesn’t want to sit and do that experience. Kind of like you said your client doesn’t have many things they’ll want to do. Sometimes just being a part of the group is enough for them because they are still participating just by being there.
May 7, 2019 at 8:29 pmParticipantMost recently, I have seen a child start to show independence. I’ve been seeing him once a week for about 8 weeks and at the beginning he usually stayed close to Mom. Now he crawls to the middle of the circle and is moving away from Mom more often. I think it’s pretty neat to see kids “come out of their shells” as time goes by and as they grow up. – Billie
April 17, 2019 at 5:41 pm
in reply to: What was your most valuable takeaway from this weeks’ content?
ParticipantI think some of the most valuable takeaways from this weeks’ content was about parent education. It’s very important, as a clinician, to understand what behaviors are observed in children depending on their age and how to communicate these observations to parents and caregivers. There were some examples of how to educate parents throughout the videos and I felt as though I could see myself communicating the same information to parents in my sessions. – Billie
ParticipantI think this information was very helpful in understanding where my clients are developmentally. Understanding these concepts will allow me to better educate parents in the Sprouting Melodies courses that I’ve been co-leading. I’m looking forward to putting the information I learned this week to use within sessions. It’s so amazing how much information young children are absorbing everyday. They grow and change quickly and are constantly learning. I am really glad that I can provide a safe environment for kids and support their development while making music with them. – Billie
ParticipantHi everyone! My name is Billie Junget and I’m from Newburyport, Massachusetts. I am currently a music therapy intern at Roman Music Therapy Services. I currently have services in early childhood and also co-lead Sprouting Melodies courses at Roman Music Therapy. I’ve observed some of Meredith’s Sprouting Melodies 1 classes as well! I’ve learned many things about Sprouting Melodies while practicing hands on, but I am excited to learn more about what it means to work with childhood development in a class setting!
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