Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
Participant
First of all, the course was amazing! I learned more than I had expected. Extra bonus to have your book,Beth, to review/reinforce and assimilate all the info you presented at my own pace. I agree with Cindy that a mp3 format of the songs would be very useful.
I would have liked a short clip of a “real” SM session demonstrating whatever points that week’s lesson was teaching.
The only “improvement” suggestion I have: Meredith, you talk very, very fast. When you are not facing the camera directly, the clarity of your voice becomes harder to understand every word your saying. By the end of the training, as I got used to your speaking, it became easier to follow you. I also used headphones on videos that were harder for me to understand, which helped me. (though that my be just my old age needs!!)
The videos often froze for me, I don’t know if that is on my end our a general happening.
I appreciate the flexibility and freedom to plan your own session and your encouragement to make Beth’s songs our own.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge so freely. All the best, Robin
ParticipantI’m weighing the pros and cons of using this info in my own private practice I plan to build in the next year (Every Buddy’s Music Time)and using the info as a Sprouting Melodies provider. I’m leaning strongly towards SMP as I love being a team player and exchanging ideas with peers. It will depend on being able to make it financially sustainable as a SPM, i.e. being able to pay the $400 membership fee, % fee of each class along with rent, insurance and buying instruments again. That said, it would be so exciting to be in on the “ground floor” of Beth’s and Meredith’s vision of growing this info throughout the MT-BC world.
ParticipantI presently do office work at a state Early Intervention site. I’m sharing this info, (made especially easy to do by sharing your book Beth)with the staff here. (pt, ot, speech, psych and medical team)
ParticipantI am grateful to have musical developmental guidelines correlated to developmental milestones. Not only for being a more effective music therapist but also being able to interact with other professionals that might be working with children in my groups in more of a medical jargon and have the confidence of what I’m saying is research based.
I’m not sure how I will implement these new groups yet!
ParticipantLaura, Where I live, in North Carolina, I too see a huge need for bilingual Englis/Spanish groups to bridge the gap between cultures. I do not know sign language, though I think being able to sign along with the music and instructions would be a way to create a higher rate of success for everyone..
Beth and Meredith, do you have any suggestions, books, videos? to study some basic/functional sign language that would be helpful in the groups?
ParticipantWhat wonderful ideas! I’m proud to be part of a group of professionals who are so very caring and tuned in to each individual child and the “whole child.” Sometimes life is so busy, children don’t get much of 1-1 eye contact from a calm adult there to acknowledge they have feelings and thoughts too, even if they can’t verbalize them, and meet them where They are.
The only other suggestion I have, Tamara, is to turn down the lights. I had one group where I only used two table lamps in order to decrease the sensory stimulation. That coupled with quiet/soothing music (at least to begin and end the class with)seemed to help the children And parents relax and participate a little more. I also put distance between a very loud child and a child who does not do well with loud noises and/or unexpected loud sounds.
ParticipantWow Cindy, beautifully said. Can I quote you on that?!?!
“In Sprouting Melodies we recognize that every child is musical. Music is a natural way for children to explore the world around them, and we are here to give them opportunities to reach their potential through music play. Along their journey they will achieve some musical skills, but our focus will be on individual development and not on teaching music. We are here to provide you and your child a fun, joyful and meaningful experience.”
The Only other thought I had to share was that if your child chooses to study music (instrument, singing)in the future they will have a large musical “vocabulary” foundation to draw on. Then draw the analogy of how long children hear all kinds of language before they begin speaking and how that made it possible for them to understand and speak their native language.
ParticipantThe 0-5 Music Together sessions I used to do did not often have siblings. If they had more than one child, maybe parents felt that music would be their special one-on-one time with that child. Having all the parents feel they and their child were getting what they wanted out of the class and keeping “control” through the music was a challenge. So glad I had years of doing music therapy and teaching Suzuki piano method with all ages and disabilites or learning differences before I started doing Music Together. I was used to adlibbing when I saw the need to veer from my session plan to create a positive,successful environment. I feel everyone came away with a positive experience and organically incorporated music into their daily lives that stemmed from the class. That being said, I think having the understanding of the SM Early Childhood developmental approach will help me create a much, much more rewarding and functionally musical experience than ever before!
ParticipantAs I’m not doing music therapy at the present time and haven’t work with the age group in many years, I’m finding it a bit harder to artificially create lesson plans each week. I especially liked Alyssa’s plan. I felt like it would flow easily through quiet, “wild”, independence and sharing/bonding times and I totally agree with her reasons for choosing the songs/chants for a SM3 group.
I just ordered your songbook Beth, and I am really looking forward to expanding my repertoire for the 0-3 age group with the Sprouting Melodies framework in mind.
ParticipantGreat Saying Beth! I think I’ll remind myself of that saying for my own use during stressful times or when I feel off-center!
ParticipantBy observing the interactions and attentiveness of the children you will know if you should add more stimulation, either by timbre, volume, movement or use of instruments or decrease the amount of stimulation in your sessions. This will be an ongoing assessment during the session.
Playful, energetic, exploring, independence, connecting
It’s perfectly fine for your child to “just’ observe. That is how they learn at this stage. It’s okay and safe for your child to move around this room. They will come back to you. This is how they are developing some independence. You will notice at times the end of a phrase is not sung/chanted right away. This is to give the child an opportunity to process the information and to respond. When your child is in your lap and kicking their feet to the music, help them to stamp the bottom of their feet firmly on the ground, to help organize the information/music coming in.
Hello song – Hey hey Come and Play – Can you see me? – instrument song changing tempo, dynamics, instruments in different spaces – move on with a standing movement song – bring energy back down with a bonding lullaby song on the floor and end with a goodbye song that includes each individual’s name and thanks them for making music today.
ParticipantI also use West Music for buying instruments and especially like the Remo/Lynn Kleiner line for this age group. Maracas, bells and drums are a great size for the kids to handle by themselves and jingle bells are closed in so they can’t get into the mouth. I especially like the drum mallet that has a head on each side.
ParticipantI have really enjoyed reading everyone’s posts this session. It’s wonderful to see how “tuned-in” everyone is to the process and how we each implement the program in a way that matches our own personalities and experiences while using the same framework to design a session.
Elizabeth, I loved how you explained in real terms what kinds of actions we could take to nurture focus between parent/caregiver and music source and less between the child and us. I bought your book quite a while ago and though I thought it was a good assessment tool I had no idea where to begin to implement a session based on these ideas. This week I am going to re-read the book with “new eyes” and think about in “real terms” how the info translates into a session.
-
AuthorPosts
