Who am I?
My name is Lynsey Taylor and I am based in Palmerston North, New Zealand. I gradated as an Occupational Therapist in 2004 from Canterbury Christ Church University in UK. After qualifying I worked for a Royal London Society for the Blind (RSLB) School and also at a Child Development Centre for the NHS. Prior to my training I worked in primary schools taking assemblies, lessons and holiday clubs.
I became involved in music for babies with my eldest son when we attended a local group in Palmerston North; I then inherited that group when the teacher moved on. I continued running these groups for a couple of years, but with a much larger focus on movement and the developmental stages.
For the past year I have been running “Move to Music” sessions for the local ABCD group (Aiming for the Best for our Children with Down Syndrome). My focus on this group is more therapeutic and with a focus on multi sensory experiences, encouraging active gross and fine motor function; communication is also a large part of the session so sign language is used for some songs.
It is a privilege to combine my therapy knowledge with the experience of being a mum and as a previous children’s worker to become “Move to Music”.
My aim for “Move to Music” is to encourage positive movement at the appropriate stage of development and enable parents, teachers and caregivers to be able to learn these skills to do at home, kindergarten or daycare.
What is “Move to Music”? It is a specially designed music playlist set to meet the needs of the group. I ensure that each song is meeting a specific aim such as encouraging body awareness, crossing the midline, visual tracking, isolating body movements, cross patterning etc. It is these skills that prepare us for a long life of learning about our bodies and the world around us; and through music we can begin this exciting journey.
I use a vast array of resources for my music sessions; the use of equipment very much depends on the age range of the group.
Resources include:
Parachutes
Ribbons
Instruments
Mirrors
Bubbles
Puppets
Lots of fine and gross motor movement, both passive and active.
Lynsey Taylor
Move To Music
027 487 3678