[Sabrina Stafford]

Penny- I liked that you used the word “personalized.” I think that word also describes what separates a music therapist from a non-music therapist lead early childhood group.

Jeanelle- I love love love transition songs. Especially ones that deal with cleaning up instruments. It can be so challenging for kids to put instruments away when the activity is over. Although it still may be challenging, I believe that song helps to transition away from the instruments.

[Sabrina Stafford]

Hilary- I like your strategy to come up with small goals for each kid to reach. Of course, it would be time consuming to come up with a full plan of intervention for each child, but to have one thing to focus on for each kid seems reasonable and helpful to keep myself focused as a therapist.

Amanda- I love that you said “trust the music.” I am definitely a big believer in that. Whenever I feel lost or out of control with a group, I go back to a song that I know will bring everyone together. The music can elicit so much change and we sometimes can forget that when we’re focused on other things such as kids screaming and throwing instruments.

[Sabrina Stafford]

Rylie- I am also a new professional! It’s nice to have taken this training with someone in the same place as myself.

Rebekah- I feel that the music groups in my area are similar to the ones you are describing: sing-along / concert types. If we decide to introduce SM to our community, it definitely will be new and exciting for our community to see how music can be used an in an interactive and therapeutic way to promote development in young childhood.

[Sabrina Stafford]

Hilary- Thank you for mentioning safety. I am a generally loud person, and this leads to some of the children in my music groups getting excited. It’s great that these children are excited, but these kids often take away from the children who don’t show excitement as outwardly. It’s also good to keep in mind the proximity of children, especially if they are at different ages (and sizes). The last thing you want is older kids accidentally stepping on the younger ones.

Rebekah- I also provide leadership roles to the older kids. Example: “Who wants to help me pass out instruments?” It’s one of my favorite ways to engage the older kids and also teach them the expectations of the group. For example, if I follow directions during the first song, I’ll get to help Ms. Sabrina in the second song.

[Sabrina Stafford]

Jeanelle & Penny: Thank you for the links; it’s always helpful to have new songs in my repertoire. Much appreciated!

Rylie: I appreciate that you stuck with using all of Beth’s songs. If I were initially starting a sprouting melodies program, I would probably use all of Beth’s songs due to them being tailored to the sprouting melodies program. I find it very helpful to have a guide. For some reason, I felt funny using all of Beth’s songs for these forum assignments. I appreciate that you went with it!

[Sabrina Stafford]

Laura-Maria: I like that you mentioned how music therapists tailor their interventions to where the child is at developmentally first before determining their goals. I think that’s a great point.

Penny: I enjoyed how you formatted your answer as if you were actually answering this question to a parent. You also mentioned something that I don’t think anybody else has: children may already have these skills, the music just helps to bring it out. Another great point.

[Sabrina Stafford]

Hilary- It sounds like we are in the same boat; I am too busy with my current caseload to open myself up to more groups. But it’s great to still have this information from SM to use at my current preschool!

Jeanelle- I totally agree that SM works best with a music therapist currently working in private practice. When I am in a point in my life where I want to start or join a private practice, I will be using the knowledge I gained from SM to help me.

[Sabrina Stafford]

Hilary & Rylie- I also have both Beth’s book on development and her songbook! When I was an intern, my supervisor asked me to read them and I plan on doing the same with the fieldwork students I have starting this fall.

Rebekah- That’s a great idea to make handouts to your families to share the knowledge you have learned. Especially the information that is specific to how children respond musically at different developmental stages. I found that portion of this training to be most helpful.

[Sabrina Stafford]

Truthfully, I won’t be starting a sprouting melodies program in my community just yet. I am still a novice music therapist and I am just beginning to take students at my current job. I think this supervisor role that I am approaching will be a growing opportunity for me and I want to focus on that.

In the future, I do see myself becoming a sprouting melodies provider in my area. I love my home town and I love seeing the children that are walking with their parents downtown. I think the parents in my area would be very excited to hear about sprouting melodies being provided. I’m honestly not worried about actually starting the program, such as finding a location and a client base. I am most worried about finding the time (and energy) as a therapist to fully provide the services as a sprouting melodies provider. For the time being, I am content with the full time job I have at a preschool. As I progress as a music therapist, I may look into private practice and this training and support system will be my first place to begin gathering information on where to go next.

[Sabrina Stafford]

I’ve actually already shared that I signed up for the sprouting melodies training. Without knowing too much information about it, I looked at the mission statement of the program and used that information to describe what I’d be doing. I am part of the monthly news letter that goes home to parents. I used my summer letter slot to describe the program and how it will assist in my work as the music therapist in the preschool I am currently at.

[Sabrina Stafford]

Jeanelle- Thanks for mentioning items used for musical play such as the squishy ball. I use lots of different items like this in my practice. They are often found on the same websites that I buy my instruments from too.

Amanda- I don’t think I’ve ever used colored ocean drums before. You might be interested in a set of see-through drums that come in a variety of shapes. Some of the children I work with love holding up the circular drum to see through it.

[Sabrina Stafford]

Rylie- I’m intrigued that you used the word “authentic” to describe these music experiences. I know that this comment is delayed, but if you happen to see this, I’d be interested to hear your rational for that.

Hilary- thanks for reminding me that “no lyrics” is a great tool to use in sessions! it reminds me of the “two word hello song” that Meredith uses. I find it easier as an adult to learn melodies without worrying about the words first. This is probably the case for infants as well!

[Sabrina Stafford]

Hilary- I agree with what you said about how the level of stimulation is determined by the group. There isn’t a black and white way to answer this question because of this. That’s why it’s important to have a clinical eye that comes with being a music therapist that will aid the MT in knowing how much or how little stimulation to use.

Rebekah- I think you may have been the only one to mention the parent. I am still new to involving parents in the session, but I didn’t even think to ask the parents to provide physical stimulation to specific kids if need be. This is a great way to involve both the parents and child in the music experience.

[Sabrina Stafford]

I think providing assistance in the form of visuals, verbal, or physical prompting is something I use heavily in my groups to assure every child in my group is successful. Some children may not need these prompting strategies, while others need visuals such as pictures to ensure they are staying engaged during the group. I also find that using the children themselves as models for their peers to be successful. Of course, this is something that may tailor to the older sprouting melody groups, but I think it’s important to provide positive reinforcement such as complimenting the children that are following directions. For example, “I love how Sally is tapping her stick on the drum.” This provides validation to Sally but also makes Sally a model for the other kids to understand what the expectation is.

[Sabrina Stafford]

I am most looking forward to being able to work with the parents/caregivers of the children I work with. In my current practice, I do not have a lot of contact with the parents. I’m excited to really get the full picture of my clients through involving their parents in the music therapy sessions. I think having a relationship with the parents of the children adds another layer of understanding of where the child is coming from. It’s also probably very rewarding to have the opportunity to see the reaction and enjoyment of the parent towards their own child’s success.

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