Today at fiddle lessons, Haley "surprised" her teacher by having figured out the second half of her new song. I am beginning to wonder why she always seems so surprised since this has been the "status quo" since she started lessons but then, to me, it is status quo. To her, it may be rare with her other students.
Her teacher played a new hornpipe for her tape and Haley danced while she played then picked up her own violin and started to play the first line or so. Her teacher looked confused then asked, "Did we do this one already?"
I shook my head "no." We started talking about Kevin Burke whose CD was recently nominated for a Grammy award, a rare honor for a Celtic fiddler. Haley then said something like, "I am going to learn all of Kevin Burke's songs."
To which Kathy answered, "Haley, I imagine you will be able to play anything you want to play in a few years. You are have the Perfect Storm for a violin/fiddle player...a wonderful ear, great rhythm, and great tone."
Monday, October 29, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
I wonder if....
The boys have their friends, Matt and Danny, over to spend the night. We set up a tent in the backyard with a complete campsite (my idea--hoping to get some sleep myself). I was doing a little search on the computer listening to Haley running in and out of the house humming and singing to herself, her stuffed animals, etc... That made me think about my boys and how big they are and pretty soon she will be big like that too.
I was thinking about the way she seems to know intuitively the inner workings of the world even though she is only 5 and does not have worldly experience. It made me wonder what happens to us between childhood and adulthood that makes us stop singing to ourselves and listening to the inner voice that gives us intuitive knowledge. Does that voice go away or is it still there, drown out by the busy-ness of life?
I hope that by homeschooling Haley, she will listen to her inner voice longer and sing to herself longer and it won't be beaten out of her by peer pressure or the need to conform to school life. I will be so sad when she doesn't sing while she plays anymore. You know all the little things our kids do, the way they say a certain word or have a certain habit, and then someday you look up and realize they don't do it anymore and you can't remember when it stopped (like Newt calling me "Meme" instead of "Mommy" or Dylan asking for a drink by saying, "I need my here mommy." or Haley asking for toilet papier like she is from France.) I want to pay attention to every day but it's so hard when life is so busy. She is my last "baby" and I don't want to miss a moment of her growing up.
I was thinking about the way she seems to know intuitively the inner workings of the world even though she is only 5 and does not have worldly experience. It made me wonder what happens to us between childhood and adulthood that makes us stop singing to ourselves and listening to the inner voice that gives us intuitive knowledge. Does that voice go away or is it still there, drown out by the busy-ness of life?
I hope that by homeschooling Haley, she will listen to her inner voice longer and sing to herself longer and it won't be beaten out of her by peer pressure or the need to conform to school life. I will be so sad when she doesn't sing while she plays anymore. You know all the little things our kids do, the way they say a certain word or have a certain habit, and then someday you look up and realize they don't do it anymore and you can't remember when it stopped (like Newt calling me "Meme" instead of "Mommy" or Dylan asking for a drink by saying, "I need my here mommy." or Haley asking for toilet papier like she is from France.) I want to pay attention to every day but it's so hard when life is so busy. She is my last "baby" and I don't want to miss a moment of her growing up.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
It's all in her head!!
Haley's fiddle teacher has finally realized that if she wants to actually "teach" her a song, she can't let her listen to it first. Either that or she wanted to see if I go home and pound the songs into her head so she knows them the next week at lessons.
Teacher played first section of the song and Haley played it back. She went on line by line until Haley had the entire first half of the song, stopping only for a couple minutes to show her how to perform a "roll" on a note which it took her about 3 tries to get.
When the lesson was over her teacher was so amazed at how quickly she learned the song that she kept saying over and over "great" and "that was really good." She looked at me and said something like, "She does really learn the songs by herself quickly."
That night as we lay in bed going to sleep, I asked her how she knows all those songs (I get them all confused). Haley told me that all her other songs were in her head but the new one wasn't "in (her) head yet."
Teacher played first section of the song and Haley played it back. She went on line by line until Haley had the entire first half of the song, stopping only for a couple minutes to show her how to perform a "roll" on a note which it took her about 3 tries to get.
When the lesson was over her teacher was so amazed at how quickly she learned the song that she kept saying over and over "great" and "that was really good." She looked at me and said something like, "She does really learn the songs by herself quickly."
That night as we lay in bed going to sleep, I asked her how she knows all those songs (I get them all confused). Haley told me that all her other songs were in her head but the new one wasn't "in (her) head yet."
Sunday, October 21, 2007
New songs!!
Last week Haley suffered from a week long ear infection with an ear drum rupture which was incredibly painful and required 2 different antibiotics and 3 different ear drops. She is finally better though I still want to get her hearing tested once she finishes the antibiotics.
At Suzuki lessons this week, her teacher asked Haley if she had taught her Etude. Haley said,"No" and I told her that she thought she knew it already anyway. Her teacher had her play it and seemed pleased with her but asked that she practice with stops every 4 notes to allow time to place her fingers for the next set of notes. She then wanted her to learn the one difficult spot of Minuet 1. I didn't hear where it went in the song but as soon as the teacher played it, Haley began singing where she left off.
By the ride home, Haley was playing all of Minuet 1.
I think her fiddle teacher has finally learned that she can't even let her hear a new song unless she wants her to know it. Last week, she started to teach her a song she hadn't played on her tape yet. I thought it ironic that if she wants to teach her, this is the only way, otherwise Haley learns the songs by herself. She taught her the first part then taped the song and by this week Haley had the entire song but it was long and she was not feeling great so she hadn't gotten it up to speed yet.
This week her teacher didn't give her a song on her tape because she wanted her to get the other song a little faster and she said she was specifically not giving her a new song because she knew she would learn whatever she gave her.
At Suzuki lessons this week, her teacher asked Haley if she had taught her Etude. Haley said,"No" and I told her that she thought she knew it already anyway. Her teacher had her play it and seemed pleased with her but asked that she practice with stops every 4 notes to allow time to place her fingers for the next set of notes. She then wanted her to learn the one difficult spot of Minuet 1. I didn't hear where it went in the song but as soon as the teacher played it, Haley began singing where she left off.
By the ride home, Haley was playing all of Minuet 1.
I think her fiddle teacher has finally learned that she can't even let her hear a new song unless she wants her to know it. Last week, she started to teach her a song she hadn't played on her tape yet. I thought it ironic that if she wants to teach her, this is the only way, otherwise Haley learns the songs by herself. She taught her the first part then taped the song and by this week Haley had the entire song but it was long and she was not feeling great so she hadn't gotten it up to speed yet.
This week her teacher didn't give her a song on her tape because she wanted her to get the other song a little faster and she said she was specifically not giving her a new song because she knew she would learn whatever she gave her.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Reading in her head (copied from a group post)...
On Friday, Haley sat on my bed in an airconditioned room (no central air and it is way to warm to be October)reading. She finished 5 chapters of Heidi "in her head" (her words) then came in to tell her Daddy and I all about each chapter, almost word for word in a way only a child with a memory like hers can retell a story. It is the first time she has ever read to herself silently.
I have always read to her and she has always read aloud to me or to herself. I liked to hear what she was doing to know if she was having any difficulty or if she was really reading the words because another favorite game of hers is to make up her own stories while flipping through a book (generally her stories end up better than the printed version). So I never suggested to her that reading silently was an option. She has now figured it out and though I am a little amazed at exactly how much she read on the first try, I am a little sad that I won't be hearing her little voice reading every book anymore.
I have always read to her and she has always read aloud to me or to herself. I liked to hear what she was doing to know if she was having any difficulty or if she was really reading the words because another favorite game of hers is to make up her own stories while flipping through a book (generally her stories end up better than the printed version). So I never suggested to her that reading silently was an option. She has now figured it out and though I am a little amazed at exactly how much she read on the first try, I am a little sad that I won't be hearing her little voice reading every book anymore.
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