After years of leading early childhood music groups, I noticed that educators kept asking me the same question:

"How are you able to keep children engaged for so long during music?"

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Many people assumed it was because I was a Board Certified Music Therapist or because I had more experience.

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But over time, I realized something important.

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It wasn't what I was doing. It was how I was doing it.

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The way I structured each music experience was intentional.

 

Every activity was designed around children's developmental needs, energy levels, and learning goals.

 

Rather than expecting children to adapt to the music, I learned how to adapt the music to meet children where they were.

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I intentionally alternated between movement activities and interventions that encouraged (not forced) students to sit, used familiar songs to create predictability, and designed each musical experience to support meaningful developmental goals while keeping children engaged.

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I continued working with educators, and I realized they didn't simply need more songs.

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They needed to understand the "why" behind the music.

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They wanted to know how to structure music experiences that supported engagement, learning, and development.

 

However, many educators I worked with shared they didn't feel comfortable or confident using music in their classrooms; because they didn't consider themselves "musically trained".

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This realization became the foundation of Lovely Little Melodies®.

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My goal has never been to simply create songs.

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My goal has always been to help educators feel confident using music intentionally throughout the school day.

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One of the biggest influences for my work came from my experience working as an MT-BC and Service Coordinator in Early Intervention.

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In Early Intervention, a common misconception is that therapists work with children directly; and the parents and caregivers watch the session. 

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However; the therapist actually works primarily with the child's parents, caregivers and core family unit. 

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While a child can benefit from one to two hours of therapy per week, children are with their families and caregivers all day. 

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Instead of parents watching the session, caregivers actively participate during the session, and the therapist coaches and supports the caregivers by providing them with strategies on how to support development. 

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The core goal of the therapist is to provide the caregivers with strategies each week that they can generalize into their daily routines.

 

Progress is not made from a one hour per week therapy session, progress is made because the therapist works directly with the caregivers to ensure they feel comfortable and confident using the strategies from the session with their little ones.

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I realized that this same philosophy could apply in early childhood classrooms.

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Rather than simply providing music activities, I wanted to provide educators with the knowledge, confidence, and resources to use intentional music experiences every day, throughout the entire day.

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That philosophy heavily shaped my work directly in the classroom as a Music Therapist and Music Teacher, and it also shaped the development of the Lovely Little Melodies® curriculum.

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As I planned music groups and circle times for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners, I found myself spending hours each week creating separate lesson plans and writing new songs for every age group.

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There had to be a way to work smarter, not harder; to support my student's needs.

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So I developed a curriculum framework that uses many of the same songs across multiple age groups while adapting the activities, learning objectives, and developmental goals to meet children where they are.

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This approach not only saves educators valuable planning time, it also gives children the opportunity to build familiarity and confidence through generalization while continuing to grow through developmentally appropriate, intentional music experiences.

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Today, every resource I create is guided by the same purpose that inspired Lovely Little Melodies® from the beginning:

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To help educators feel confident using intentional, music-based experiences that support children's learning, development, and love of music.

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To every educator, caregiver, school, and organization that has supported Lovely Little Melodies® over the years—thank you.

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It is truly an honor to know that these resources have found their way into thousands of classrooms and schools in more than 30 countries around the world.

 

I never imagined that something which began as a way to support the educators I worked alongside with each day would grow into a global community dedicated to bringing more intentional music into early childhood education.

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Whether you've been here since the beginning or you're just discovering Lovely Little Melodies®, thank you for being part of this journey.

 

I am incredibly grateful for your trust, your encouragement, and the opportunity to support the important work you do every day.

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With deep gratitude,

Jessica