[Vanessa Talbott]

Good Morning (EKS), Sit Down with me (EKS), Row it Faster (EKS), I like this song (EKS), Can you follow (EKS), My Eyes are on my Face (EKS), Goodbye (MRP)

[Vanessa Talbott]

Bonding, nurturing, connecting, developmentally appropriate, intimate

[Vanessa Talbott]

Repetition is the key to learning! Allow your baby time to respond to the music. Your baby loves to hear your voice above all others. Cuddle with your baby, your baby’s skin is his or her largest sense organ. This is an opportunity for you to get to know your baby’s cues through music.

[Vanessa Talbott]

I think we have unique skills that can bring families together in a community setting. Music is such a part of most people’s lives, what a great opportunity we have to invite families to share music together and in turn take that music home into their daily lives.

[Vanessa Talbott]

I have two children 15 and 12 so have been blessed to experience my girls through all levels. I have also been teaching infant classes both with parent/child groups and daycare groups for 15 years. I also teach infant massage classes with parents which I love. I love infants and watching them grow as the weeks progress. Their response to music is amazing! I did the NICU training as well and was amazed at their reaction to music. Infants are such musical beings!

[Vanessa Talbott]

I picked out some key words from everyone’s posts on our work as music therapists and what makes us unique; we are flexible, process oriented, have the expertise to foster a connection with the music we make and compose, and we are able to provide individualized music to meet a variety of needs. Everyone seems to have a strong sense of who they are as music therapists which is great to see!

[Vanessa Talbott]

Living in a metropolitan area with many highly paid professional women brings a unique set of needs that are different from what I have taught in different areas of the country. The biggest need is to foster connection which many times is with a nanny instead of a parent. For some children, I have only met the parent a couple of times so I focus on equipping the nanny with ways to use music with the child and I focus on fostering the child’s secondary attachment with their caregiver.
I also work in daycare centers and see the struggles for connection that the children, parents and staff have so I work on bringing everyone together and fostering an environment of love and acceptance.

[Vanessa Talbott]

I think working on each of the music continuums has increased my awareness and my observation of the children and pointing those continuums out to the adults. I had a wonderful moment last week explaining the mirror neurons to a group of parents in an infant class. I could feel the parents relax with the understanding that their infant did not need to be doing everything that by watching they were learning as well. I think it also emphasized the use of modeling for the parents and how important it is for their infant to see them singing, playing instruments, moving and listening.
I use focused listening with every age especially with the introduction of new sounds and instruments. It is a great way to get the attention of a busy classroom and focus attention.

[Vanessa Talbott]

Singing
Awareness- uses pitch instinctually
Trust- inward focus to lullaby style singing and outward focus to play style singing
Independence – “Secret singers” combine sounds, inflection and intonation to develop their own music
Control – “Show time” – enjoys sharing songs with melodic contour and understands the concept of a whole song
Responsibility – sings whole songs though with a shift in tonal center, enjoys playing with meter and pulse

Playing Instruments
Awareness – choose to look or not look at sounds source, reach for instruments
Trust – turn attention toward or away, explore instruments with hands and mouth, briefly use pulse and meter
Independence – purposeful when exploring instruments
Control – can match temp and dynamics
Responsibility – maintains a steady beat

Moving
Awareness – rhythmic movements are instinctual, moves with whole body
Trust – responds with purposeful, repetitive movement to music
Independence – can isolate body parts to move rhythmically
Control – dances spontaneously to music, imitates learned movements to music
Responsibility – follows directions, enjoys choices of ways to move

Listening
Awareness – recognizes changes in vocal timbre
Trust – get attention using familiar melodies
Independence – enjoys musical surprises such as glissandos, fermatas and silence
Control – stops action to listen to music, enjoys dynamics
Responsibility – listens to the music of others, listens for directions

[Vanessa Talbott]

I really enjoyed Elizabeth’s presentation of the different types of songs. I just loved the idea of the bonding songs with the play song embedded in the song. Brilliant! I have not learned any of the songs yet but I did buy the songbook and look forward to trying them!
I think the transition songs will be particularly of interest in my weekly daycare. :>)

[Vanessa Talbott]

I live in the DC metro area and this area is rich in culture with people from all over the world. There is so much diversity in my daily contact with people. I am constantly amazed to learn where people are from and how they came to the United States. I use music from different cultures in my classroom and I love to see a parent or nanny or grandparent light up when they recognize a song from their culture. It is very important to expose ourselves and families to music from other cultures.

[Vanessa Talbott]

I see children in each of the developmental stages. I especially see the stages playing out at the daycare I go to once a week. I see 5 different classrooms starting with little babies and going all the way up to five year olds. I love seeing how the children grow in these stages and how music grows with them. I love the contrast of being in the stage of awareness as a baby makes eye contact and vocalizes to a song all the way to the stage of responsibility as I experience vibrant independent singing with the five year olds.

Each developmental stage is a gift and a joy to watch unfold each week!

[Vanessa Talbott]

I think a challenge that I have had in early childhood is to provide developmental information to parents in a natural way instead of a scripted way. I think that the more that we can learn about development the more we can catch a child “in the moment” of development and point it out to the parent and other parents in the environment. I like how Beth kept bringing the child development back to how it impacts the parents. This makes for great family centered practice.

[Vanessa Talbott]

I thought the information was excellent and Elizabeth brought out key concepts for each age group which was helpful as there is so much detail in early childhood development. There were three comments that really resonated with me. 1. 12-18 months – the child needs people and objects to be part of themselves first before they can look outside themselves. 2. 18-24 months – is a time of a child’s development of self and a parent’s preservation of self. 3. 36-48 months – share with parents how to be child-like.
These comments made me think of my early childhood work and how these ideas can be communicated to families. I am very child like and love being in the world of the children I see each week. It was a good reminder though that I need to communicate that to the teachers and parents I see as well.

[Vanessa Talbott]

Hi, my name is Vanessa Talbott and I live in Alexandria, VA. I graduated from Colorado State University in 1996 and did my internship in Fairfax County, VA with EBD elementary school kids. I had my first daughter shortly after and have moved around the country with my husband who is in the Army.I have been active as an early childhood music and movement educator  for over 15 years. It has been perfect for staying home with my  two children and it is a very portable profession. I have worked a little in early intervention and private practice. I have a daughter with special needs so I have been on the other end of early intervention services as a parent and see the necessity for these services. I also am certified in infant massage and have gone through the NICU certification.

A large part of the training is about the importance of bonding and attachment which is fascinating. Music and touch is such an amazing combination with infants and their families.

I have read Beth’s book and her approach peaked my interest to take this course. I am looking forward to learning more about providing developmentally appropriate music from the expertise of a music therapy prospective.

 

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