[Stephanie H Morris]

Thanks for sharing your story! I am the oldest of 5 and clearly remember standing by my mother and singing while she played “Tea For Two” on the piano!

[Stephanie H Morris]

What a sweet story about your son’s Kindergarten teacher! Those songs will stay with him for a lifetime.

[Stephanie H Morris]

I too have lived in a number of places…South Carolina (where I was born), south Georgia, Virginia, Texas and now Ohio (to name a few). I am in the heart of Appalachia and am interested to see what kinds of musical experiences my families are enjoying as I get to know them. I perform with the community band every summer and see many families with young children bringing them to these family friendly concerts. We also sport a variety of local bands who showcase their talents in the form of summer music festivals. While I don’t always get to attend these events, I see pictures from the local paper who photograph adults and children enjoying the music.
I too hope, like Shannon, hope to have some kind of form to glean information from my families about their music preferences. I know our boys (now 33 and 28) love a lot of the music my husband and I listened to because we played it in our home. Since my husband is a professional bassoonist, we’ve had a big variety of music from Mauler to the Beach Boys! I certainly agree with Maureen – the music we know is what we grew up with!
I also look forward to seeing the reactions on the faces of the children and families as they participate in my groups. Since we are in a university town, I expect to have a variety of cultures represented, but am not sure what to expect. I am taking over the responsibility of running these groups from a former colleague who have moved to another state.

[Stephanie H Morris]

Currently, I am not running groups with young ones at this time. My goal is to become so familiar with these songs, concepts and teachings, that I will start providing groups in the fall. Having taught elementary music some years ago, I can see how different this music is to what we currently have in the educational setting. I can’t wait to share my experiences with these little ones and see if I can identify the different levels as clearly as Shannon and Maureen have described above. This is going to be so much fun!

[Stephanie H Morris]

Maureen & Shannon,
I too have not had the opportunity to use these songs, but I have the songbook “You and Me Makes…We: A Growing Together Songbook” and have been listening to the songs in my car as I drive from place to place. I look forward to using them in groups starting in the fall.

[Stephanie H Morris]

My biggest takeaway for this week was the emphasis on answering the questions that children have in simple terms. So many times I think we get busy as adults and just don’t take the time to answer their list of questions. I hope as a Sprouting Melodies Provider, I can not only answer questions that the children have, but also be a resource as several of you have mentioned, to the parents and caregivers of the children that participate in my groups.

Elizabeth’s detail on childhood development was thorough and thought provoking. Thanks!

[Stephanie H Morris]

Caroline,
I agree with you…guidelines are just that, but we definitely have a keen eye on those red flags. Just a few years ago, a young family in our church had a second son and when the mother brought him to church for the first time, I knew something was not quite right. I watched over the next several months his inability to hold his head, the lack of eye tracking and his overall body development and knew something was just not right. Turns out he had CP. The parents are working very hard with the Early Childhood Intervention Team here and I am super excited about this little one’s victories.

[Stephanie H Morris]

I feel what I have to bring to my music therapy groups with young children will be 1) having raised two boys and 2) having taught K – 5 grade music for 7 years. Interestingly enough, the part about raising my two sons, is the oldest one is on the autism spectrum. Since he was born in the mid-80’s, there wasn’t nearly the amount of information then about the spectrum as we have today. He was always on the edge of the bell-curve in terms of development. Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t until I had my second son that I really saw the difference!
While teaching music in the early 2000’s, I had such a GREAT time with the younger ones (Kinder and 1st grade). We did so many play-parties and just experienced the music. I see Sprouting Melodies as having the same concept in many ways. That’s why I am so excited about this program!

[Stephanie H Morris]

Hi, Erika,
Thanks for moderating this class. I acted as a facilitator for an online class for nurses getting their BSN taking a music appreciation class. It was interesting.
Looking forward to working with you.
Stephanie

[Stephanie H Morris]

Elizabeth,
Congratulations on being a grandmother! How exciting! Thanks for offering this class.
Stephanie

[Stephanie H Morris]

Hi, Joe,
Nice to have a guy in the class! Sounds like you do some traveling when you work which is what I do also.
Stephanie

[Stephanie H Morris]

Hi, Caroline!
Welcome to the class. I hope I haven’t left anyone out! Glad you are joining us from up north!
Stephanie

[Stephanie H Morris]

Hi, Madeleine,
I just love your name! Is it a family name? Welcome to the class.
Stephanie

[Stephanie H Morris]

Thanks!

[Stephanie H Morris]

Hi! Marcie!
Welcome to the class.
Stephanie

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