[Steve Sullivan]

I am really excited to have this training moving forward working with children and families. I’ll be working for Melissa at Living Spirit Therapy Services with Megan and its awesome that we all took this training together. I’m sure there will be many opportunities for groups in the future, but even in my 1:1 work with children, a lot of these ideas have already helped me better understand and serve the clients.

[Steve Sullivan]

I have been thinking about places in my community that could benefit from these services, and there is a family homeless shelter near my home, as well as various ECFC programs. My son is starting 1st grade next week, and his school actually has a pre-k program so they could possibly be a partner in the future.

@Megan I think we have a lot of early childhood music in our immediate futures! Looking forward to working with you!

@Kristen That is such a good idea about attending business networking events! Since I’ve started as an MTBC, people have been very curious about what it is that I do, and I feel excited to advocate for music therapy and related services in my community!

[Steve Sullivan]

I think that the first step is defining and being clear about what “success” can look like for parents and caregivers is helpful. Coming at this as music therapists, we are already in tune with a process oriented rather than product oriented mindset, and I think our openness and willingness to be flexible in the moment and adapt as necessary will help show parents that whatever their child’s reaction is, its the perfect place to start from. As far as the actual children, planning with this system regarding developmental levels and ages, instrument choices, environment setup, and session structure are all great preparations to make, and to also be able to adapt and modify what we are doing in the moment in response to what the children and families are bringing in. Recognizes all levels of successes, big and small, as well as emphasizing that no one needs to perform or sing or move a certain way to have our approval.

@Megan That sounds awesome! I’m looking forward to hearing more about your internship. That’s so great that you were making adaptations in the moment with the goal of empowerment, engagement, and success for the students!

@Emma That is awesome about the day camp! I love the alien mallet antenna idea! Giving children choices is also so powerful.

[Steve Sullivan]

I have learned a lot, and it’s already helped in my 1:1 work with children, especially thinking about developmental levels and music responses within. I’m excited to work with my boss Melissa and coworker Megan building early childhood music education here in the twin cities!

@Megan Definitely!

@Elizabeth That’s great to think about whatever community you end up in and their needs! I definitely see some of this framework working with different populations and age groups as well.

[Steve Sullivan]

Sprouting Melodies 3: Building Independence, Curiosity, Connection, Joy, Community
Plan: Hello/Gathering: “Hello Everybody” “Sit Down With Me. Bonding: “Swimming Together”, “My Brand New Friend”. Songs about Me: “Where is the music?” Instrument Songs: “All Night! All Day!” “I Can Move Around”, Movement: “The Leaves Are Falling” “Jumping Up and Down”, Goodbye: “Time To Go”

Family Sprouts: Teamwork, Bonding, Experimentation, Safety, Community
Plan: Hello/Gathering “Come on Lets Make Some Music” “Come and Join the Circle” Bonding Songs: “Wiggly Jiggly Car” “Hold On Tight”, Songs About Me “Can You See Me?” “Who’s That?” Instrument songs: “You and Me Makes We” “I Like This Song”, Movement Songs: “Can You follow?” “I Really Gotta Jump”, Goodbye: “Thank You Very Much”

[Steve Sullivan]

Like others have said, there are many challenges to running any group with a wide age range, but that kind of gets exaggerated 0-12 years old because the changes are so much more drastic month to month or year to year than say, a group of 30 and 40 year olds. I think having the variety of instruments is a great idea, having the older ones who can make choices get to make some, and empowering them to be “special helpers” to siblings or other younger or less developed kids. I think one key is to not play down to the younger kids. Music can be predictable and repetitive without being “childish” or embarrassing for a 7 year old to be involved with. My son had very little interest in “kids songs” even when he was very little. Of course every child is different, but I found that with young children and school age children with special needs, there isn’t as great a need to dumb down the music as often as it is perceived and executed. To me it’s a matter of respect for kids and families to provide music that is engaging, beautiful, fun, and that still provides the dopamine rush when the musical expectation is fulfilled.

@Elizabeth – Yes that will be a lot to keep track of, as far as each child’s particular developmental path and assuring each caregiver that the way their child is responding is okay for now. Maybe it could be a situation where quicker, broader supportive statements could be made to the group, but if we see a family or two really struggling or being frustrated with their child, we can take them aside afterwards and reframe that for them so they come in next time with a better understanding of the purpose of the group.

@Jessica Wow 4-12 is a big range!! It sounds like you got to exercise a lot of creative problem solving to engage everyone!

[Steve Sullivan]

Great to read everyone’s replies. Maybe a way to phrase it would be that Sprouting Melodies isn’t looking for metrics as far as assessments, goal setting, and each child/family doesn’t have a Sprouting Melodies IEP, its more that Sprouting Melodies is run by a music therapist who understands all those things and could do them, but in this framework the music therapist is utilizing the skillful employment of music and movement to help stimulate and support whatever each child’s natural development may be. Its a safe place without assessments or scores, where the meta goal is to bring children and families together for a positive shared experience where any level of participation, skill, or development is accepted and celebrated. Let me know if I am misunderstanding that!

@Elizabeth I love mirror neurons and have been so fascinated to learn more about that!

@Emma I think with this information we are going to be set up for helping alleviate parent’s anxiety about their children, and possibly to teach them patience and acceptance towards their children.

[Steve Sullivan]

@Elizabeth Yes, it’s tricky because we want to be clear that we are music therapists, but many people might be reticent to sign up for something that says it is explicitly “therapy”. For me, the emphasis is always on client’s strengths, so I don’t really operate in a deficit based mindset, and I feel like that’s a good attitude to have with these kids and their families.

[Steve Sullivan]

@Megan I’d love to hear more about your experience working in St Paul Schools! That sounds like an interesting mix of music from another culture mixed with the hits of today and how that all combines. I like that you went through the process so thoughtfully, attending to new cultural information while also getting to know student’s personally and not assuming anything about them.

[Steve Sullivan]

@Megan Thanks for noticing! I am patient most of the time! You have a really wonderful way with people too, though, in a way that I admire. I’m looking forward to working with you!

[Steve Sullivan]

Hi Emma, Yes I am the one! I remember meeting you at the big anniversary event.

[Steve Sullivan]

I haven’t started working with groups of kids this age yet, but I love all of these ideas and the options of the instrument packs. One thing I have noticed working with older kids is that even though they are very young, a lot of “kid” instruments either don’t make much of a sound, or the sound they make is horrible. I think even babies respond differently to something that can be actually musical vs a toy. We are also starting to build the neural circuitry for aesthetics, sound, texture, and all of these other things that will affect them for the rest of their lives, so its not trivial which instruments or what sounds to use. I think everyone deserves good sounding, quality instruments.

@Kristen I love the paddle drums working with kids or older adults! Its such a great way to encourage use of both hands, balancing the different weights of paddle drum and mallet, and coordination.

@Jessica That is true that while many of the fruit or weird shaped shakers can be fun and intriguing, for this age group, a lot of them are hard to grasp or manipulate.

[Steve Sullivan]

The beautiful thing about being a music therapist is that we can not only contour the whole session, but contour each song spontaneously in the moment based on responses we see. Sometimes I’ve started a song and immediately it became clear that it was too loud, or too fast, or overstimulating in some way. If you’re using a recording or are just performing the song, you are pretty stuck, but as a music therapist you can recognize this and instantly change the song to back way off, lower dynamics, simplify rhythmic density, hold out a longer note and then come back in with a slower tempo, and generally find the right match of energy to the client. From there, once that trust and comfort has been established we can experiment with gradually bringing the energy up. That process of adapting in the moment is one of my favorite parts of creative problem solving during sessions.

@Emma I like that idea of a “contour” to a session. That highlights that the structure and intensity of stimulation can be more fluid and can be adapted in the moment according to the responses we see. Thanks!

@Elizabeth That’s great when you can have a client be honest with you and let you know they are bored!

[Steve Sullivan]

As a father, I know I often wasn’t sure what it was I was supposed to be doing! Mom definitely did all the breastfeeding, but I really enjoyed holding my son, showing him different things to investigate, and since I’m a musician it was natural for me to sing a lot to him. Once he could talk a little bit, I’d try to sing him to sleep, and just when I thought he was asleep, he’d raise up a finger and whisper “One more tune”. This would go on for quite some time.
But I think Dads in general are stepping up their game and becoming more motivated and involved than their father’s were. Sprouting melodies is a great way to give them something specific and structured to do. We went to some ECFC classes, and they seemed really unorganized and just sort of random. There wasn’t a clear structure or directions. We as music therapists have such a great way to structure time together with specific music with specific interventions or parts of a session in mind. That structure gives parents and kids the safety and space to explore, connect, and be creative.

@Kristen Wow that is so awesome what your boss is working on! I feel like there are many places in communities, schools, and businesses where music therapy could be helpful.
@Elizabeth Yes, I definitely agree about the ability of an MT to individualize experiences, and we can respond in the moment and adapt as necessary!

[Steve Sullivan]

Five Words: Safe, Acceptance, Joy, Synchronicity, Trust

Five Sentences:
1.This is a wonderful opportunity for you and your baby to bond.
2.When we move in synchronous movement with others we feel more connected and develop empathy.
3.There isn’t a perfect way to move or to sing, just doing it is what counts.
4.This isn’t a place to do things right, perform, or prove anything, this is a place where we can come together to try things out, to experiment, to be curious, and to be together.
5. Your voice is so comforting to your baby. Singing to them at home or in the car is a great way to let them know that they are safe.

Gathering/Greeting: Gather ‘Round Babies, let parents get situated, keep instrumental music going to verbally direct late parents where to sit and to welcome them. Hello (NR) to each family/child, Bonding Songs: Little Red Wagon, Wiggly Jiggly car, Songs about me: Just Like Me, Instrument songs: I Like This Song (EKS), Movement song: “Pony Boy/Girl” (Pony girl, pony girl / won’t you be my pony girl / Don’t say no, here we go / come away with me / marry me, carry me / right away with you / Giddy up, Giddy Up, giddy up, Woah! / My pony girl. Goodbye sound: SM Goodbye Song.

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