•3:40 PM
February 3, 2010 4:32 p.m.
For many reasons, I have not been online all that much lately; therefore, no blogging. Not that my life is lacking in bloggability, because it isn't. I am forever thinking up bloggable things, only not to have time to bring them to life. Ah well..
Sweet Girl recently sent in her first real test to her first teacher at Calvert School. This was for lesson 20 of Second Grade. She seemed to have no problem taking the test, and was happy and proud to send in two or three compositions for feedback as well. We are looking forward to discovering who her teacher will be this year, as well as her reaction to Sweet Girl's work. Lessons are going well for her, although we do have some issues with motivation at times. When she is motivated, she can do amazing work; this frustrates me all the more on those days when she is not motivated, but it is a growing process... for Sweet Girl, and for me.
Chips is approaching his first test for Fifth Grade. He is not especially enthusiastic about any subject, although he does enjoy the Art History material, as well as the reading books. I am enjoying teaching him History the most.
I continue to be happy with Calvert, although I admit I do find the Science to be somewhat irritating at times. I can expand on that in another post, I suppose.
I think the most difficult adjustment for me this year has been the amount of time it takes us to get through a lesson day. There are some days where we get going around 9 or 9:30 a.m., only to find ourselves still at it at 5:30. These days bring out the grouch in me, for I feel resentful of any day that lessons drag beyond 2:30. Today went well, with both children wrapping it up around 1 o'clock. That's why I have time to post today! According to Calvert, lesson days should not exceed four hours. That means no later than 1:00 or 1:30. So I get very impatient with those days when things drag out all day. It is not that there is so much material on those days, but rather that the work to be produced requires a little more effort, more higher order thinking skills, or is not among the "favorite things" to do on the part of the student(s).
So every day, when we pray together in the morning, I ask for the Lord's help for our attitudes toward the tasks He places before us on that day. So when things go south, I can at least remind my children of that prayer we prayed in the morning. **smile and wink**
Another reason the days are busy is that it is violin competition time. We have the following events to look forward to....
Feb 5 - a recital in our local area, which turns out to be an opportunity for me to try out my new digital Camc*rder. The children are pretty well prepared for this, and they will be playing their competition pieces (at least some of them). I will try to upload the videos if all works out with the new camera.
Feb 13 - audition for state Federation of Music Clubs annual competition. Chips is still part of a chamber trio, and they will perform two pieces.
It has been a frustrating season with this group, because one of the pieces selected by the director has been exceptionally difficult to learn. It is very contemporary, and not at all intuitive to our ears, and I have no ability, myself, to distinguish correct from incorrect notes, even after hearing it played correctly immediately beforehand. Chips has been very challenged by this piece, and I have had to bolster up his motivation to keep on keeping on, at least for the next three months, when the trio will officially break up. It will be time for these boys to move on to other things.
Another thing -- we just learned this week that this audition is scheduled for the 13th, which means we have to miss a campout with 12 other families from church. It was so disappointing to us, but there is nothing we can do about it.
Feb 20 - auditions for Sweet Girl and Chips for various solo and concerto entries with the state Federation of Music Clubs again. This will be Chips' first chance to play Accolay violin concerto before a judge. I think he is doing wonderfully with this piece, and our teacher, Miss S, appears to be quite satisfied, too, at this point in time.
Mar 21 - "Otown" Music Club scholarship competition. Another chance to play Accolay. Chips especially likes this competition because the prize is $$money$$ and he won some of it last year.
Mar 27 - Music Teachers' Nat'l Assoc division concerto competition. You guessed it - Chips will play Accolay again. He'll be getting a lot of mileage out of this piece!
April 30- May 1 - State Federation competition three hours away in another city. But we aren't focusing on that one yet.
Practicing in front of the Yule Log
For many reasons, I have not been online all that much lately; therefore, no blogging. Not that my life is lacking in bloggability, because it isn't. I am forever thinking up bloggable things, only not to have time to bring them to life. Ah well..
Sweet Girl recently sent in her first real test to her first teacher at Calvert School. This was for lesson 20 of Second Grade. She seemed to have no problem taking the test, and was happy and proud to send in two or three compositions for feedback as well. We are looking forward to discovering who her teacher will be this year, as well as her reaction to Sweet Girl's work. Lessons are going well for her, although we do have some issues with motivation at times. When she is motivated, she can do amazing work; this frustrates me all the more on those days when she is not motivated, but it is a growing process... for Sweet Girl, and for me.
Chips is approaching his first test for Fifth Grade. He is not especially enthusiastic about any subject, although he does enjoy the Art History material, as well as the reading books. I am enjoying teaching him History the most.
I continue to be happy with Calvert, although I admit I do find the Science to be somewhat irritating at times. I can expand on that in another post, I suppose.
I think the most difficult adjustment for me this year has been the amount of time it takes us to get through a lesson day. There are some days where we get going around 9 or 9:30 a.m., only to find ourselves still at it at 5:30. These days bring out the grouch in me, for I feel resentful of any day that lessons drag beyond 2:30. Today went well, with both children wrapping it up around 1 o'clock. That's why I have time to post today! According to Calvert, lesson days should not exceed four hours. That means no later than 1:00 or 1:30. So I get very impatient with those days when things drag out all day. It is not that there is so much material on those days, but rather that the work to be produced requires a little more effort, more higher order thinking skills, or is not among the "favorite things" to do on the part of the student(s).
So every day, when we pray together in the morning, I ask for the Lord's help for our attitudes toward the tasks He places before us on that day. So when things go south, I can at least remind my children of that prayer we prayed in the morning. **smile and wink**
Another reason the days are busy is that it is violin competition time. We have the following events to look forward to....
Feb 5 - a recital in our local area, which turns out to be an opportunity for me to try out my new digital Camc*rder. The children are pretty well prepared for this, and they will be playing their competition pieces (at least some of them). I will try to upload the videos if all works out with the new camera.
Feb 13 - audition for state Federation of Music Clubs annual competition. Chips is still part of a chamber trio, and they will perform two pieces.
It has been a frustrating season with this group, because one of the pieces selected by the director has been exceptionally difficult to learn. It is very contemporary, and not at all intuitive to our ears, and I have no ability, myself, to distinguish correct from incorrect notes, even after hearing it played correctly immediately beforehand. Chips has been very challenged by this piece, and I have had to bolster up his motivation to keep on keeping on, at least for the next three months, when the trio will officially break up. It will be time for these boys to move on to other things.
Another thing -- we just learned this week that this audition is scheduled for the 13th, which means we have to miss a campout with 12 other families from church. It was so disappointing to us, but there is nothing we can do about it.
Feb 20 - auditions for Sweet Girl and Chips for various solo and concerto entries with the state Federation of Music Clubs again. This will be Chips' first chance to play Accolay violin concerto before a judge. I think he is doing wonderfully with this piece, and our teacher, Miss S, appears to be quite satisfied, too, at this point in time.
Mar 21 - "Otown" Music Club scholarship competition. Another chance to play Accolay. Chips especially likes this competition because the prize is $$money$$ and he won some of it last year.
Mar 27 - Music Teachers' Nat'l Assoc division concerto competition. You guessed it - Chips will play Accolay again. He'll be getting a lot of mileage out of this piece!
April 30- May 1 - State Federation competition three hours away in another city. But we aren't focusing on that one yet.
So that's our life in a nutshell these days. There is plenty of reason to be thankful. Fortunately, everybody is healthy and happy, and that is reason to rejoice. As time goes on, I find myself more and more thankful for every single day that is peaceful and basically uneventful, you know what I mean?
Practice AFTER pizza (can you tell?)
Practice AFTER pizza (can you tell?)
Practicing in front of the Yule Log
3 comments:
Oh, I understand the motivation factor all too well! Our son always had (and still does) problems getting going and sticking with it. Our daughter used to have good motivation, but I've found lately I'm having to prod her more and more. We pray about it every day, too. What's a mother to do? Enjoy your busy weeks coming up. Your schedule looks a lot like ours ;)
The boys surprised me this week by getting their schoolwork done before lunch. We even added some history and writing after science, since they were getting more efficient with the other subjects. We'll see how long this lasts. :)
Sounds like you and the kids have been busy. It's nice to have those uneventful days.
That's quite some music schedule! I know what you mean about contemporary music. Our Suzuki kids are tuned into Baroque.
My daughter has some complex chords and arpeggios to play in her clarsach pieces. If she gets a note wrong and it sounds odd, her teacher just arches an eyebrow and comments, 'that was a very MODERN chord'.