[Susan Gannon]

Wow, Alexis, you have a lot on your plate. How interesting that you and I are in the same boat. Perhaps we can stay in touch and support each other. I don’t know what a CTRS is. Can you explain those credentials? Also, to our moderators, can we share our email addresses with everyone so we can stay in touch with our classmates? And, Alexis, you have my best wishes for your business and for your surgery going well.

[Susan Gannon]

Julia, I so appreciate your kind words and will definitely look into those cmte courses.

[Susan Gannon]

I have been talking with some fellow music therapists that I know in my area. I have the idea of starting a rather informal collection of music therapists in the Southeastern part of Michigan. This would encompass Detroit, Ann Arbor, and surrounding areas. I envision that we could meet perhaps once a month and share ideas on songs, music therapy experiences, how to get the word out, who knows of any organizations in our area that could support us, etc. I want to try to set up a table at some local festivals and art fairs, but I may have missed the deadline for this summer. But I know that I can at least check on that. I also have some clients who want to follow me to my new location. Even if they can’t, they may be a good source for referrals. I think I will brainstorm a list of administrators of any thing I can think of: Administrators of hospitals, children’s private schools, preschools, school boards, nursing homes, autism awareness programs, and anything else I can think of. Now I’m getting overwhelmed just thinking of this.

[Susan Gannon]

Well, I am hoping that this training will impact my work considerably since today is my last day at my place of work. I am so relieved to be leaving a place that I worked at for 8.5 years that I never felt really “got” me or music therapy. There are probably 40 or so therapists working there of different disciplines: ABA, speech, OT, PT, academics, tutoring, etc. but I was the only music therapist. I think that is why I was so isolated and everyone was touting their own practices and if I tried to collaborate it was only what they were working on, and they didn’t want to or couldn’t accept my insight into the child’s needs.
After all this time, I feel very uneasy about going out on my own, finding enough clients to make my business viable, and taking care of the business aspect of my profession. I feel strongly that this program (Sprouting Melodies) which sort of fell into my lap, may be the solution I need to get started. It allows me the use of a national branded program that I can refer to and will support me. I am going to start slow and follow the path you took in starting Sprouting Melodies. I am going to check with libraries and community education, and even the local boards of education. I will get an attractive business card (my DBA is Sound Expressions which I may or may not change) set up an LLC, and start looking for a space. But I think before I do any of this, I will make my business plan and write up my vision. I will include a slow but steady pace for growth. Thanks for inspiring me.
Susan

[Susan Gannon]

Although as others have said before me, I am excited and honored to be working with children. But what I really want out of this opportunity to be a provider is the help in establishing the groups, the national branding, and other cooperation and knowledge that I will need to succeed. In the past, before I found the clinic that I have just left, I tried working on my own. I would get an hour here and an hour there in nursing/rehab homes, preschools for at risk children, and some subbing for people on maternity leave. Michigan isn’t known for being a state which provides a lot of opportunities for music therapists. I want to help change that. So I am excited about the opportunity to use a program which I feel is very good and supportive to develop connections, networks, and get the word out about music therapy.

[Susan Gannon]

I think Daniel hit it on the hit when he said to “use the music to engage the children.” I also think that just having the understanding that each child may participate differently is important; some participate just by watching. Sometimes I have experienced parents wanting to encourage their child too much and this just discourages the child. I think the most important thing I have learned from this training is that I need to communicate with and educate my parents more so that they understand what should and can be expected from a child at different developmental stages. Another strategy could be to continuously be observant and visually and aurally checking in with each child during the Sprouting Melodies groups. Through this information one gains perspective on each child which then helps the therapist engage the child, note red flags, and encourage the parent/child relationship.

[Susan Gannon]

Erika, Either Meredith or Elizabeth says in one of the videos for this week that we can post our questions on the forum. It would be good if questions are answered so everyone can benefit instead of setting up an individual email or phone call.

[Susan Gannon]

Although multi-age groupings may provide much satisfaction, there are also many challenges involved. Music must be considered that is not too stimulating for some and not too boring for others. There must be a variety of instruments set out to satisfy different interests. While some children are satisfied to remain held in arms, other children will be roaming about the room. Some children may be old enough to want to help or provide guidance to younger children, which may not always be welcomed. With single age groupings, there will probably be only one caregiver to a child, where with multi-age groupings there may be two or more children to a single caregiver. There may be a feel of more disorganization to the group and the music therapist may feel she is spread too thin to connect with each child.

[Susan Gannon]

I looked back into my notes on the video and don’t see where this was directly discussed. I think, however, that it was indirectly referred to. I think music for development can be music that anyone can use, but a music therapist can use it more effectively. Music for development is music that is age appropriate and general. It covers many different abilities and shares many different musical elements. Music is processed in all areas of the brain, encourages the building of neural networks, and is motor priming so the use of music will foster development. Music for skill building is more specific and will probably be used by a music therapist, although a music educator may also develop skills. A skill which is determined to be in need of building will first be assessed as such. Then a thoughtful evaluation of a child’s musical development and how the child responds to music will be made. Creative musical experiences to motivate, prime, and develop skills will then be made and applied to the child. The experiences will be monitored to show if the musical experiences are working to build the skill. Music experiences will then be modified to address progress or lack of progress.

[Susan Gannon]

5 words for music experiences in Sprouting Melodies 3 – independence, self-control, emotions, intentional, active

5 words for music experiences in Family Sprouts – joyful, wide range, cooperation, making connections, individuality

Plan for Sprouting Melodies 3:
1) Gathering/greeting – As the children come in, I currently use a song that begins “Come and join my circle” it repeats, and then I sing “Sit right down” or “It’s round like a ball” and make up other things that a circle is like. The children love this song and it gets them ready to listen. 2)Gathering/greeting – I then use a hello song such as Hello Everybody. 3) Now that the children are a little older and more able to make friends, I think the song “My Brand New Friend” will work really well to encourage bonding with those they know and making new friends. 4) Songs about Me – I have several songs about me already, but I am definitely going to try the song titled “Where is the Music?” I think I will then try to fit in a book that I can set to music. So many books for young ones are so simple and repetitive that it should be easy to make up a tune. 5) Instrument Songs – There are so many songs to use for playing instruments that this is one place where I won’t be too repetitive. I have songs about playing rhythm sticks, shakers, drums, and more and there are songs that aren’t about any one instrument but have a steady beat and are just encouraging you to play along. I will try “I Like this Song” in the Sprouting Melodies literature. 6) Movement songs – I can’t wait until Fall to try “The Leaves Go Down” but now I use a song about flowers growing and bunnies hopping. 7) Goodbye – I use a very simple “Time to Go, Say Goodbye” chant.

Plan for Family Sprouts:
1) I would set out a greater variety of instruments for the larger age range and play some cheery children’s music. 2) Gathering/greeting – A simple song like “Hey Everybody” would interest the older children but be tolerable to the infants. 3) Bonding Songs – Any of the bouncing, lap songs would be good because babies could be held and bounced and older children could sit on laps or legs and be able to get off and on by themselves. 4) I think “Can You See Me?” or “All of This is Me” would be great because older children would have fun showing babies about themselves. I also have some peek-a-boo songs that would work well getting older children to cooperate and have fun with younger siblings. 5) Instrument Songs – “I Like This Song” played with maracas. 6) Movement Songs – Again, a song like “Can You Follow?” would foster cooperation and have the siblings doing things together. 7) Goodbye – Most goodbye songs would work here as long as they weren’t too complicated.

[Susan Gannon]

5 words – trust, independence, playful, surprise, and exploration.

5 sentences: Sprouting Melodies 2 is where children learn and develop more independence. They are developing a sense of their own identity and can do and explore things with a sense that they are separate of each other. Allow your children to move about the room if that is what they want to do and be ready to accept them back and comfort them when they are ready to return. It is developmentally appropriate if they tentatively seek out another parent or the therapist. They are also developing greater musical sense and abilities such as listening, moving to music, briefly shaking a maraca, and even matching pitches part of the time.

Session Plan: 1) Set up a safe area with safe instruments to explore. Greet everyone with a smile and have soft music playing. 2) Gathering song – I like the “Hey, Everybody” song because it is so simple. 3) Bonding Songs – I am really going to try some of the suggested songs. Right now, I use a song from Kindermusik called “Jingle, Jingle, Jingle Go the Car Keys and use it more as a bonding song than it is intended. 4) Songs about Me – I actually have written a song called “Amazing Me” that I can use for this, but I like the suggested songs too. 5) Instrument Songs – I thought the “In My Little Hand” song will be very useful for this. 6) Movement songs – Can You Follow? and Pick Your Hands Up High are two choices I will probably alternate. 7) Goodbye. I often use very simple songs for goodbye.

[Susan Gannon]

Erika, how do you save the responses that we find helpful for the future?

[Susan Gannon]

My clinic does not provide me with any instruments, so over the last 9 years I have invested in probably thousands of dollars of instruments. But I do work with an age range of babies to over 20 year olds. I have always depended on egg shakers for little ones, but after seeing the mini-maracas used in the videos, I think I am going to invest in those. I was a Kindermusik educator for many years so I have a large selection of instruments from that company. I have a lot of Remo drums, tambourines, different kinds of shakers, and bells that I use with this age group. Now, I get most of my instruments from the West Music booth at the music therapy conferences. There is usually a 20% show discount.

[Susan Gannon]

I have a couple of thoughts on this. One thought is that we do need to listen to parents more. I liked that Alexis referenced this. One of the reasons that I have been late on responding to the last two weeks is that I am leaving my position as sole music therapist at a clinic I have worked for for years. I am spending a lot of time transitioning another music therapist and getting caught up on my paperwork. I think that the OTs, PT, SLPs, and BCBAs have a different value system than I have. Most everything about each child is considered “behavior” and by that I mean bad behavior. So if a child is overstimulated they tend to think the child is acting out, even if the parent points out to them that something is overstimulating them. Many of the children cling to me because they can trust that I will understand and I think this annoys many of the other therapists. I am also the oldest person in the clinic, and I feel there may be some ageism going on.
My other thought on overstimulation is that some things we think may not be overstimulating are actually just that. For a while, I was using the music from an OT program that focused on self-regulation. The song “How Does Your Engine Run?” has lyrics that address getting your internal “engine” just right. So the song gets us all revved up, but the too low part of the song and the just right part of the song never does bring the children down, and they would leave my sessions so revved up that parents were actually questioning what we were doing. I really like that song, so I’m going to re-write that song using some elements of it, but making it my own.

[Susan Gannon]

I hope I can figure out how to print this page so I have it forever. I was so impressed by everyone’s responses and I am actually a little glad that I am working on Week 6 late. (I had some work issues and also was on vacation where I did not have access to a computer). I loved the definitions involving connection and memories. And when Kristina said that the groups were run by the child, and not by the book,I knew I had the start for an elevator speech. Although I totally agree with those who say we use music to address non-musical goals, I think we have to look at these other roles when we provide community based music programs.

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