[Tracy Wanamaker]

Moving forward, I plan to start looking for time in my schedule to start working with young children in my community. This sounds like a small first step, but for me (I currently teach full time, while also devoting about 20 – 25 hours per week to my private practice) this is a huge hurdle, but it’s something that I really want to do! I know that I will have the support of the Arts Council where I offer most of my community classes, so I will also begin discussing options with them for the fall, including finding the right location for the classes. In the meantime, I plan to use all of this information in my current work (I do have a few preschool age private clients) and sharing these ideas with my college students.

I have really enjoyed taking this class! The training has given me a greater understanding of music and development with young children which is exactly what I hoped it would do, and the resources that you provided will be very helpful in my future work. Meredith and Beth – Thank you for sharing your expertise!

[Tracy Wanamaker]

As a university professor, I am already sharing some of these ideas with my students that plan to continue their education to become music therapists. While I’m not planning to start working with preschool groups in the immediate future, I do plan to share this information with the Arts Council where I already provide classes for adults and teens as we develop ideas for expanding our program into working with younger children. Once I am ready to start these classes, I will begin sharing this information with parents/families in my community.

[Tracy Wanamaker]

Honestly – I’m simply looking forward to the possibility of working with young children again (it’s been almost 20 years since I worked with preschoolers routinely in a group setting!) and sharing with them and their parents all the wonderful things I learned in this course. I really look forward to applying and sharing the things that I have learned (especially all of the new music!) with groups in the future!

[Tracy Wanamaker]

I find that the best strategy is to try to meet every student where they are at that moment. This means always being observant and in the moment with the children, so that you can change what you are doing based on the needs of the group. This requires flexibility in everything that you do. Creating a warm, comfortable, accepting, non-judgemental, and safe environment is also crucial to the success of each child. It’s not only important that the children feel this, but also the parents. If parents don’t feel that the group is welcoming and accepting, they will often hold their child back and try to control what they are doing to avoid negative feelings. If the parents feel safe, this gives them the opportunity to let their child explore and grow. I often feel that when working with parents and children – it’s often the parents that need more “tending” than the students. It reminds me of the saying “If Momma ain’t happy, then no one is happy”. If the parents don’t feel welcome, then they are likely to keep the child close and not allow them to explore and experience the wonderful things the experience has to offer!

[Tracy Wanamaker]

Sprouting Melodies 3 – Active, Intentional, Creative, Self-Determining, Creative

Gathering: Shake Hands with Me – encourages everyone to come to the circle and interact with others
Bonding: My Brand New Friend – encourages interaction with others and independence from parent.
Songs About Me: All of the is Me – encourages children to identify self vs. everyone else.
Instrument Song: You Play A little – encourages turn taking.
Movement Song: Can You Follow? – encourages children to pay attention and do what others are doing.
Goodbye: Goodbye /Thank You Very Much – acknowledges everyone and brings everything to a close.

Family Sprouts – Flexible, Inclusive, Sharing, Busy, Challenging
Gathering: Hey! Hey! Come and Play! – Is very flexible and accessible to all ages while encouraging interaction and community.
Bonding: Hold On Tight – it can be a bonding family experience with everyone on Mom’s lap.
Songs About Me: Just Like Me – Can make comparisons between older/younger children and older students can be the “teacher”
Instrument Song: You Play A little – encourages interaction and the opportunity for older children to demonstrate and encourage younger children.
Movement Song: I Feel the Beat – the beat can be tapped with younger children, while older children can walk, jump and move around.
Goodbye: Goodbye /Thank You Very Much – acknowledges everyone and brings everything to a close.

[Tracy Wanamaker]

I agree with the rest of you – the biggest challenge with multi-age groups is creating a warm, welcoming, and engaging environment for everyone where all of the children will be included and successful. This requires choosing activities that are flexible and allow for a wide range of responses, that can also be easily and quickly adapted as needed based on the current needs of the students in the group. Activities that allow you to stop and start, to add surprise, or change tempo (to add excitement or calm the group down) as needed are very useful. I also feel that it is important to choose a few activities each week that allow the older children a chance to interact with the younger children. This gives them an opportunity to bond with the younger child (while showing off their new skills) and inspires the younger child to try new things that they haven’t mastered yet. While this situation can be challenging – it can be a lot of fun too!

[Tracy Wanamaker]

Music for development is using music to support and encourage children to explore, practice and demonstrate developmental skills they are gaining naturally. I agree with Sarah – these are musical experiences that are designed for the “whole child”. Music for skill building targets a specific skill and encourages development in that one area. The skills targeted tend to be social skills or specific musical skills.

[Tracy Wanamaker]

Playful, Energetic, Discovery, Surprise, Adventurous.

It’s okay if your child is exploring the instruments and playing them in unusual ways – All instruments are sanitized between sessions. Kids want to explore at this age, so it’s okay if he moves around the room – he doesn’t have to sit still! Sometimes your child needs to practice being independent, so he may wander away from you – he likes that he can come back to you when he needs to! ! It’s great that your child is singing at home – often they will listen to and learn a song here but won’t sing it until later. There is no right or wrong way to participate – you can tell she is participating by the way she is…(exploring that instrument, stopping and looking when the music stops, etc).

Gathering – Good morning – good way to welcome everyone to the room and enables you to sing to each child/parent.
Bonding – Row, Row followed by “Row A Little Faster” – This is a good song that parents are familiar with so hopefully they will feel comfortable singing which works into more stimulation as the children are ready.
Songs About Me – Just Like Me – allows opportunities for response and for parents to connect with children.
Inst. Song – I like This Song – a simple structure that gives lots of opportunity for free instrument play/exploration.
Movement – I feel the Beat – encourages children to move
Cool Down – Rainbow Song – can use scarves to slow movements and return to quieter environment
Goodbye

[Tracy Wanamaker]

Bonding, supportive, nurturing, exploring, child-centered

5 things to say: I love to hear you sing and so does your baby – it’s your voice that they recognize and will respond to most! Every child is different and will do new things when they are ready. It’s great to see you! I know how hard it can be to get here some days! Notice how your baby is reacting to sounds and turning towards the sound source – this is how he participates right now. Your baby doesn’t need to “play” an instrument all the time – give her a chance to explore the instrument in her own way.

Session Plan:
Gathering – Have calm yet inviting music playing while parents get settled with babies and we do the “housework” of the session.
Welcome – “Good morning” – encourage parents to sing to their children and acknowledge each other.
Bonding – “Row, Row, Row, Your Boat” going into “Row A Little Bit Faster”. This starts slowly but has the flexibility to provide more stimulation if the babies are ready for it. Good to start with because the parents are familiar with it.
Song About Me – “Just Like Me” – encourage parents to tap on babies bodies as indicated. If babies are older – have parents indicate that other babies/parents also have these things by singing specific babies name.
Instrument Song – “I Like This Song” – use maracas and give babies chance to explore the instrument. This song encourages play while providing flexibility for babies to react in their own time.
Movement – “I Feel The Beat” – another flexible song that parents can tap the beat on the baby or bounce them depending on their needs.
Cool Down – “Rainbow Song” – a good song to bring the group back “down” using scarves that allows for interaction with others in the group.
Goodbye – I have a goodbye song that it an adaptation of the Jamaican Farewell that I like to use. It is simple and easily adaptable to say bye to each child and then to the group as a whole.

[Tracy Wanamaker]

I meant to include this link too – http://mic.com/articles/116300/science-may-finally-have-found-out-why-music-is-so-important-to-humans#.hV0zovQTj – it’s much more reader friendly!

[Tracy Wanamaker]

I think that the role of music therapy in community based settings is to provide opportunities for people to connect and interact in a nonjudgmental environment using a medium where everyone can participate and be successful. Music therapists are key in this because we are trained in how to provide these experiences and adapt them as needed in such a way that everyone actually can participate fully in the experience.

I read some research not long ago by where Leonid Perlovsky, a physics and cognition researcher, stated his theory that the reason the human race “created” music is because “music is an evolutionary adaptation, one that helps us navigate a world rife with contradictions”. He goes on to say that “music’s power comes from its ability to help human beings overcome cognitive dissonance, the feeling of emotional discomfort we feel when we learn novel information that contradicts existing beliefs.” This research really spoke to me and helped me realize that as a music therapist, my role is to help people engage in music as a community to help them overcome this emotional discomfort. For young children this is giving them a safe place where they can use music to explore and sort out the world around them. If you are interested here is a link to one of his articles – http://www.leonid-perlovsky.com/8%20-%20ESM%2015%20Music%20E.pdf – it really gives you something to think about!

[Tracy Wanamaker]

This is a tough question because as many of you have already mentioned it really depends on the group! A smaller group of older children may need much more stimulation than a large group of younger children (where even I can get overwhelmed by all the movement!). I always start off low-key, then assess the energy needs of the group and match it. With this age group though, I always try to keep my voice soft and soothing, but put energy in it as needed. As Laetitia described – it’s “low-key” enthusiasm. Stimulation should be comfortable but encouraging so that you don’t overwhelm these little ones. To me, the perfect amount of stimulation is when the kids are engaged and feel comfortable interacting with the music and the instruments, but not so much that they start to appear overwhelmed and nervous by the activity in the room.

[Tracy Wanamaker]

I don’t have any groups yet, but with my private clients that are this age, I use chiquitas, the large yellow maracas (that Meredith showed in the podcast), Fisher Price/Little Tykes xylophones that are designed for this age group (they don’t come apart and have large mallets), and a variety of drums. My favorite drums are the flat nesting drums and the small floor drums from Remo. I also have a few tambourines and rainsticks (plastic) designed for preschoolers, but I tend to use these with slightly older children.

[Tracy Wanamaker]

Honestly, I don’t have any music making experience with children this age outside of my own daughter (almost 19 years ago!) and occasionally the children of a few friends, so I’m feeling very rusty! When singing with my own daughter, I found that she preferred quieter songs at this age with simple melodies. While she liked some movement, she had to work up to it so I’d start slower and then work her into more active play (just as you describe in the video). She also liked very simple songs with visuals (such as a toy or puppet)and towards the end of this stage she would hand these toys to you and wait for the song. My husband and I still occasionally sing the silly songs that we made up to go along with her favorite toys to her when she needs cheering up (they still make her laugh!). I was also surprised by the recorded music that she liked at this stage. She was very drawn to world music that had a good beat but was relatively simple and she really didn’t like the traditional kids songs (like Wheels on the Bus) until she was older. We quickly learned that bath time went much smoother if we played music that she liked which was helpful for everyone! Now that I’m thinking about working with little ones again, I can’t wait to see these types of interactions between the children and parents that I’m working with!

[Tracy Wanamaker]

I live in a small rural community and like Tiffany – we basically need everything!! There are very few activities for preschoolers and most of those are provided by the local university so they only happen when the college is in session. This means that groups probably happen only 20 – 25 weeks per year. They also are only offered during the school day, and many parents would like evening and Saturday morning classes. Classes also need to be offered in several locations in the surrounding area. The towns are all spread out, so many parents find themselves traveling 20 – 30 miles for an activity, which is never easy with a toddler!

I also agree with Katy that affordable options are also important. We are one of the poorest counties in NY State, so parents really need to know that their money and time will be well spent. One of the first questions I always get from many parents that participate in my other programs is if there are scholarships available. Money is certainly on their minds, so it’s important to think about how to address this.

The last thing my parents and families need is knowledge. Again – there aren’t many support groups or activities for children and parents of this age group in the area, so many parents don’t know if what their children is doing is typical. While we have lots of very educated parents in our area (due to 4 universities is a 15 mile radius!), as Meredith said – this doesn’t mean that they know much about child development. Many of these parents also don’t have much support, because they move to the area for an academic position and have no family and few friends with small children, so support groups become critical for them. A class like Sprouting Melodies may be just what they need to fill this need!

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