While reading this blog post about letting "things" go (material possessions, as well as hurts, worries, grudges, etc), a thought occurred to me...
What did Mary and Joseph do with the gold that the 3 wisemen presented to baby Jesus? And the frankincense and myrrh, for that matter...
Jesus obviously didn't care about worldly possessions...he traveled without 'purse or script,' and told the rich man to sell all that he had and come, follow him.
That is not to be confused with saying that Jesus didn't take care of worldly possessions. I'd imagine that he learned as a carpenter to be careful with tools and materials and to take good care of the creations of people's hands. I'm sure He'd love it if we took great care of this world He created....
Anyway, back to the gold, frankincense, and myrrh... Did Mary and Joseph save it for Jesus for when he was "grown up," tell Him who gave them to Him, and then leave it up to Him what should be done with them? Did he just store them in His parents' house? Would He store them because He didn't want to use them for gain or because He didn't want to display them for show and glory or because He wanted to remind Himself of the love given by the wisemen without showing them off to people? Or did they display them in their home as a humble reminder to Him and His family of their beautiful experience when the wisemen visited them and the friendships they made with the men? Did Mary and Joseph kind of accept the gifts personally on behalf of their son and use the gold to trade for food or shelter or to improve their station? (Perhaps they figured that using the gold this way would be for Jesus' benefit in keeping him healthy, strong, and growing....? Which may be what the wisemen would want anyway....?) Hmm....Did the wisemen stipulate the use of the gifts and tell them specifically what they were intended for? Did they indicate that Jesus could use them when He reached whatever age was considered "manhood" back then? Did Joseph or Jesus carve the gold into something beautiful? Did they give it to someone as an act of service? Was the frankincense and myrrh actually used on his body?
The actual use of these gifts is something I had never really thought about before, because knowing how humble Jesus is and that He has a complete understanding of the value of earthly possessions, I think He would appreciate gifts as a token of one's love for him, but wouldn't cling to or "love" the items themselves...therefore I guess I don't really see Him in my mind's eye actually using them. I therefore thought the gifts as containing little *real* value. They have worldly value, but worldly value doesn't matter to the One who created the world.
Though, that is not to say the gifts are of *no* value either, exactly... The only thing we can *truly* give God is our will, as our agency is the only thing we truly own. The wisemen gave something that was valuable to them in this world - therefore, a sacrifice of self. A giving of their wills. While these gifts of the wisemen and our will may seem meager in comparison to the bounteous blessings our Heavenly Father and Savior have given us, they are a humble and full sacrifice of self, which give the gifts their meaning.
Thoughts?
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Curriculum Choices, Part II
I've been a little busy with actually starting homeschooling, my hubby going back to school, and finishing my Summer Sightreading Challenge. But I'm back to finish explaining what we're doing in our homeschool this year!
In my post, Curriculum Choices, Part I, I mostly listed a variety of activities I'm going to use to create my own "curriculum" for my kids. Most of those activities were for Reading, Writing, and Math concepts. That really is sufficient for a 4-5 year old...but I would like to make sure I'm offering my children a variety of topics to find interest in and develop more. I've also found a few pre-made curricula that I would like to try out, so now I have to figure out how and when to use them with what activities I already have planned. These include:
Planned
100 Reading Lessons
Developing Number Concepts
Apologia science series
The Family School (LDS-based curriculum)
Family Time Fitness
Let's Play Music
Not Yet Planned
Mudpies to Magnets
Five in a Row
We Choose Virtues
Discover the Scriptures
100 Reading Lessons
This is going into our workboxes. I've heard and read great things about 100 Reading Lessons. The book has 100 20-minute lessons to teach kids to read at a 2nd grade level. The lessons are completely written out for parents to just read verbatim what it says. Easy peasy. (If DS1 will go for it.) I've tried starting lesson 1 (and maybe skipping to lesson 2?) with him a couple times, but the book also involves writing the letters, which is a harder skill and he has never been very interested in anything to do with writing or drawing. I think I'll be trying again soon, but I'll skip over the writing parts for now. Or I'll suggest that he write it and if he doesn't want to, we'll move on to the actual reading part.
Developing Number Concepts
I bought this based on Amazon reviews to teach young children basic math concepts. Just skimming through it, it doesn't seem very parent-friendly though. It requires a LOT of reading, some printing/prepping and owning a certain type of blocks we don't have. I'll look through this more this year and use some lessons in the workboxes if it feels like a good fit.
Apologia Astronomy
I decided to go ahead and try the Apologia series of books for science (K-6). DS1 seems very interested in talking about and learning about all things space, and just loved looking through his grandpa's telescope during our summer vacation. He'll actually sit and listen attentively as I explain some fairly advanced concepts about space (some of which I didn't know, myself, until recently). He just told me a few nights ago that he wants to be an astronaut (and a policeman and a musical theater performer) when he grows up. So I decided we'll start with a year of Apologia Astronomy. I'm hoping we like the Apologia books because they seem to have some great things going for them. I really like that they focus on just ONE science genre per year instead of trying to do a tiny bit of everything every year and therefore not learning much of anything. I think DS1 will enjoy delving into Astronomy this year. It was like Christmas morning when he opened the package with the astronomy book!
The Family School
I have heard good things about the American Heritage Academy which is on the Wasatch Front and now has a satellite campus near us. With the fairly limited knowledge I have of it, I've thought if I were to send my kids to a school, it would probably be that one. I recently discovered that many of the teachers from the Academy collaborated with ~100 homeschooling families to adapt their curriculum for LDS homeschooling families! This is the LDS Family School curriculum, which is designed to be used with all children of a family together. Certain activities in it have variations you can use for kids at varying age levels, but most of the lesson is done together.
Their curriculum covers Science, History, Geography, Literature, Music, and Art....in other words, some of the things I hadn't really planned much for. (They don't include math or language arts since those are more "leveled" subjects that can't be done as well with all kids together.) I think this curriculum will cover different aspects of those subjects than what I had planned anyway, so it will provide a more rounded education. (Ie. I'm going to be doing artsy/craftsy projects in my workboxes, but I hadn't planned to teach anything about art history, why we use art, etc.)
I probably won't double up using both Apologia Astronomy AND the Family School's Zoology curriculum this year... I do like that their history curriculum includes reading Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer, which was the only thing I'd really seriously thought about using for history. I also like that they have a suggested reading list that coordinates with each subject and can be read for 20 minutes at the end of the lesson every day.
So far they have just produced Year 1 curriculum for the Family School. They will eventually have 6 years worth of the curriculum (intended for ages 4-12). So kids that start the program now can of course go in order with Years 1-6. Younger kids that start in the middle as they get old enough can just finish up with the first few years after they've done Year 6. (Assuming we stick with this curriculum!)
Family Time Fitness
I'm excited about the Family Time Fitness program. I know some homeschooling families just consider playing outside and being on sports teams as their "PE." I've read though that the exercises in this program really help children to improve their balance, agility, speed, etc much faster than just doing sports (so they can then perform with better skill and have more fun in their chosen sport). I presume this is because all of those skills are condensed and specifically developed through this program. I've read through quite a few lessons and they seem easy, but fun, and I can definitely see them helping children develop great body skills! This is another program where the lessons are done together as a family.
I've tried starting Family Time Fitness with DS1 a couple times, but he couldn't get past the first 2 minutes because he didn't understand what I was trying to do with an organized physical play time (which, when he picks up on it, I think he'll love!)... So on Saturdays, we'll do Family Time Fitness as a family (all 4 of us). I'm hoping that if Daddy and DS2 are doing it with us, hopefully the kids will catch on well enough so they may eventually do it with just me during the week in the mornings also.
Let's Play Music
I'm considering getting licensed to become a Let's Play Music teacher! It seems like a fantastic program to give kids a strong musical foundation and I'm really excited for DS1 to participate in it. Kids can join the program by ages 4-5. By the end of the 3 year program, kids have a firm grasp of basic (and even some advanced) music theory concepts, they can play chords, transpose and even compose their own music! And it's all accomplished through play - just the way kids learn best! Now I just need to decide what timetable makes the most sense for me and my family for me to get licensed and start teaching it! (It would be Next school year at the earliest.)
Mudpies to Magnets
I do not own this, but I've heard it is great for a beginning science curriculum and has lots of fun experiments for young children. I already have 2 science curricula to work with at the moment though, so....I'm not sure if/when I will use this. But it seems fun.
Five In a Row (FIAR)
I had kind of heard of this in passing but became more familiar with it lately. I kind of wish I were doing this this year...except I'm also happy to be trying out the Family School...Aye aye aye. Too many options to sort through! Anyway, what I love about (the idea of) this one is that they have a list of books for you go buy or get from the library, then you read the same book with your child every day for 5 days. On each of the 5 days, you then focus on and read a section in the FIAR book about the history, geography, science, culture, etc that relate to the book you read. (5 subjects, so you read about 1 subject for each of the 5 days.) It is a way for children to look at books in a new way, always looking for what they can learn from it. It also seems very friendly as a program for very young children with short attention spans.
I would buy this and use it now since I think it is a little more age appropriate right now for DS1 than the Family School. However, I bought the Family School curriculum on a discount in exchange for an agreement that I'd give feedback throughout the year....so I need to use the Family School curriculum. I wish I could have gotten the discount in exchange for feedback NEXT year. haha....
We Choose Virtues
I bought some of this a while back on sale and forgot about it...I was disappointed that there doesn't seem to be much to it (especially if it costs that much!!!) But then I discovered the parents handbook, which I haven't read much of yet. I haven't decided how I'll incorporate this into our lives. FHE? Circle Time? Workboxes? Daily life? I suppose reading the handbook could help me decide!
Discover the Scriptures
Here is another program I read great things about and bought on sale. It is really meant for kids at least 1st grade age though, so I'm going to wait on this. I think it would be more appropriate once DS1 learns to read and write a bit.
So that is where we are with this whole homeschooling thing. A little bit of this and a little bit of that...I guess we're "eclectic" for now! I'm just afraid I have too much stuff and will overwhelm myself (or DS1!). I'm just going to take it a step at a time. Here we go. Watch me dive in!
3
2
1
JUMP!
In my post, Curriculum Choices, Part I, I mostly listed a variety of activities I'm going to use to create my own "curriculum" for my kids. Most of those activities were for Reading, Writing, and Math concepts. That really is sufficient for a 4-5 year old...but I would like to make sure I'm offering my children a variety of topics to find interest in and develop more. I've also found a few pre-made curricula that I would like to try out, so now I have to figure out how and when to use them with what activities I already have planned. These include:
Planned
100 Reading Lessons
Developing Number Concepts
Apologia science series
The Family School (LDS-based curriculum)
Family Time Fitness
Let's Play Music
Not Yet Planned
Mudpies to Magnets
Five in a Row
We Choose Virtues
Discover the Scriptures
100 Reading Lessons
This is going into our workboxes. I've heard and read great things about 100 Reading Lessons. The book has 100 20-minute lessons to teach kids to read at a 2nd grade level. The lessons are completely written out for parents to just read verbatim what it says. Easy peasy. (If DS1 will go for it.) I've tried starting lesson 1 (and maybe skipping to lesson 2?) with him a couple times, but the book also involves writing the letters, which is a harder skill and he has never been very interested in anything to do with writing or drawing. I think I'll be trying again soon, but I'll skip over the writing parts for now. Or I'll suggest that he write it and if he doesn't want to, we'll move on to the actual reading part.
Developing Number Concepts
I bought this based on Amazon reviews to teach young children basic math concepts. Just skimming through it, it doesn't seem very parent-friendly though. It requires a LOT of reading, some printing/prepping and owning a certain type of blocks we don't have. I'll look through this more this year and use some lessons in the workboxes if it feels like a good fit.
Apologia Astronomy
I decided to go ahead and try the Apologia series of books for science (K-6). DS1 seems very interested in talking about and learning about all things space, and just loved looking through his grandpa's telescope during our summer vacation. He'll actually sit and listen attentively as I explain some fairly advanced concepts about space (some of which I didn't know, myself, until recently). He just told me a few nights ago that he wants to be an astronaut (and a policeman and a musical theater performer) when he grows up. So I decided we'll start with a year of Apologia Astronomy. I'm hoping we like the Apologia books because they seem to have some great things going for them. I really like that they focus on just ONE science genre per year instead of trying to do a tiny bit of everything every year and therefore not learning much of anything. I think DS1 will enjoy delving into Astronomy this year. It was like Christmas morning when he opened the package with the astronomy book!
The Family School
I have heard good things about the American Heritage Academy which is on the Wasatch Front and now has a satellite campus near us. With the fairly limited knowledge I have of it, I've thought if I were to send my kids to a school, it would probably be that one. I recently discovered that many of the teachers from the Academy collaborated with ~100 homeschooling families to adapt their curriculum for LDS homeschooling families! This is the LDS Family School curriculum, which is designed to be used with all children of a family together. Certain activities in it have variations you can use for kids at varying age levels, but most of the lesson is done together.
Their curriculum covers Science, History, Geography, Literature, Music, and Art....in other words, some of the things I hadn't really planned much for. (They don't include math or language arts since those are more "leveled" subjects that can't be done as well with all kids together.) I think this curriculum will cover different aspects of those subjects than what I had planned anyway, so it will provide a more rounded education. (Ie. I'm going to be doing artsy/craftsy projects in my workboxes, but I hadn't planned to teach anything about art history, why we use art, etc.)
I probably won't double up using both Apologia Astronomy AND the Family School's Zoology curriculum this year... I do like that their history curriculum includes reading Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer, which was the only thing I'd really seriously thought about using for history. I also like that they have a suggested reading list that coordinates with each subject and can be read for 20 minutes at the end of the lesson every day.
So far they have just produced Year 1 curriculum for the Family School. They will eventually have 6 years worth of the curriculum (intended for ages 4-12). So kids that start the program now can of course go in order with Years 1-6. Younger kids that start in the middle as they get old enough can just finish up with the first few years after they've done Year 6. (Assuming we stick with this curriculum!)
Family Time Fitness
I'm excited about the Family Time Fitness program. I know some homeschooling families just consider playing outside and being on sports teams as their "PE." I've read though that the exercises in this program really help children to improve their balance, agility, speed, etc much faster than just doing sports (so they can then perform with better skill and have more fun in their chosen sport). I presume this is because all of those skills are condensed and specifically developed through this program. I've read through quite a few lessons and they seem easy, but fun, and I can definitely see them helping children develop great body skills! This is another program where the lessons are done together as a family.
I've tried starting Family Time Fitness with DS1 a couple times, but he couldn't get past the first 2 minutes because he didn't understand what I was trying to do with an organized physical play time (which, when he picks up on it, I think he'll love!)... So on Saturdays, we'll do Family Time Fitness as a family (all 4 of us). I'm hoping that if Daddy and DS2 are doing it with us, hopefully the kids will catch on well enough so they may eventually do it with just me during the week in the mornings also.
Let's Play Music
I'm considering getting licensed to become a Let's Play Music teacher! It seems like a fantastic program to give kids a strong musical foundation and I'm really excited for DS1 to participate in it. Kids can join the program by ages 4-5. By the end of the 3 year program, kids have a firm grasp of basic (and even some advanced) music theory concepts, they can play chords, transpose and even compose their own music! And it's all accomplished through play - just the way kids learn best! Now I just need to decide what timetable makes the most sense for me and my family for me to get licensed and start teaching it! (It would be Next school year at the earliest.)
***
Mudpies to Magnets
I do not own this, but I've heard it is great for a beginning science curriculum and has lots of fun experiments for young children. I already have 2 science curricula to work with at the moment though, so....I'm not sure if/when I will use this. But it seems fun.
Five In a Row (FIAR)
I had kind of heard of this in passing but became more familiar with it lately. I kind of wish I were doing this this year...except I'm also happy to be trying out the Family School...Aye aye aye. Too many options to sort through! Anyway, what I love about (the idea of) this one is that they have a list of books for you go buy or get from the library, then you read the same book with your child every day for 5 days. On each of the 5 days, you then focus on and read a section in the FIAR book about the history, geography, science, culture, etc that relate to the book you read. (5 subjects, so you read about 1 subject for each of the 5 days.) It is a way for children to look at books in a new way, always looking for what they can learn from it. It also seems very friendly as a program for very young children with short attention spans.
I would buy this and use it now since I think it is a little more age appropriate right now for DS1 than the Family School. However, I bought the Family School curriculum on a discount in exchange for an agreement that I'd give feedback throughout the year....so I need to use the Family School curriculum. I wish I could have gotten the discount in exchange for feedback NEXT year. haha....
We Choose Virtues
I bought some of this a while back on sale and forgot about it...I was disappointed that there doesn't seem to be much to it (especially if it costs that much!!!) But then I discovered the parents handbook, which I haven't read much of yet. I haven't decided how I'll incorporate this into our lives. FHE? Circle Time? Workboxes? Daily life? I suppose reading the handbook could help me decide!
Discover the Scriptures
Here is another program I read great things about and bought on sale. It is really meant for kids at least 1st grade age though, so I'm going to wait on this. I think it would be more appropriate once DS1 learns to read and write a bit.
So that is where we are with this whole homeschooling thing. A little bit of this and a little bit of that...I guess we're "eclectic" for now! I'm just afraid I have too much stuff and will overwhelm myself (or DS1!). I'm just going to take it a step at a time. Here we go. Watch me dive in!
3
2
1
JUMP!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Summer Sightreading Challenge COMPLETED!
Whoohoo!!!
I finished sightreading 100 pieces of music this morning. Especially considering that I started in the middle of July right before a 2 week trip (during which I didn't really get to play the piano) I'd say that's pretty good. :) I finished right in time by the end of the month. I'm proud of myself for completing my goal.
From doing this challenge, I've improved and quickened my ability to read ledger lines (~3 1/2 lines beyond the staff in each of the 4 directions).
I've also improved and quickened my ability to recognize and play more key signatures...particularly the keys with 4-6 flats and 3-5 sharps. There aren't very many hymns in those keys, so I hadn't played them much before, but during this challenge I definitely experimented a lot in those keys! Overall, I have played a lot more in flats, so it still twists my brain to play in 3+ sharps, but I can do it!
I realized shortly after deciding to accept this challenge that the issuer of the challenge was probably intending to play only classical pieces....I tried a few Chopin and Bach....but the Chopin was kind of beyond me, and the Bach appeared simplistic... yet it was difficult to do different things with different hands. The Bach book I have was also repetitive since it contained many variations of the same pieces. I think by the end of the 100 pieces I played, I've improved a lot at coordinating different things in different hands. Maybe I could go back and play some of the Bach pieces better now. Nevertheless, I decided to play most of the 100 pieces of music in an area more suitable to my current abilities.
The Josh Groban and EFY songs were the most challenging timing-wise. Very tricksy!
I played through 2 Marvin Goldstein books for piano solos and I kept finding a chord here or there that just sounded....awkward. I made sure I was playing it correctly, but it was just "off," and I actually wrote in other notes on occasion to "fix" it. Some of the songs had many verses with not enough variation between them, so they seemed to go on and on. There were other times in which I'd get to an exciting chord that seemed it was going to change the mood of the song in a neat way, and I imagined the beautiful way the song would continue....but then it turned out to be just one or two cool chords before going back to what was already happening in the song.... So much wasted potential. haha. I wish now that I had taken the time to write out how I thought it should have continued.
The last few songs I played were from another book of hymns arranged by Marvin Goldstein and Wade Lindstrom. Those were beautiful arrangements. Even though I played through all of the verses of "If You Could Hie to Kolob," each verse was different and interesting. (I love that song!)
I want to sing #80 and #81 in Sacrament Meeting sometime. I LOVE "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul"!
This is what 100 pieces of music looks like. I didn't play much of the Chopin or Bach books. I played *most* of the 2 EFY books and finished my 100 on the purple book without playing quite all of it...But I played everything else! The far right row are all choral pieces - pieces I LOVE. The row beside it are mostly vocal solos w/ accompaniment (plus Yellow Jonquils!)
In case anyone is interested, here is a list of the 100 songs I played over the past month or so!
Whew!
I finished sightreading 100 pieces of music this morning. Especially considering that I started in the middle of July right before a 2 week trip (during which I didn't really get to play the piano) I'd say that's pretty good. :) I finished right in time by the end of the month. I'm proud of myself for completing my goal.
From doing this challenge, I've improved and quickened my ability to read ledger lines (~3 1/2 lines beyond the staff in each of the 4 directions).
I've also improved and quickened my ability to recognize and play more key signatures...particularly the keys with 4-6 flats and 3-5 sharps. There aren't very many hymns in those keys, so I hadn't played them much before, but during this challenge I definitely experimented a lot in those keys! Overall, I have played a lot more in flats, so it still twists my brain to play in 3+ sharps, but I can do it!
I realized shortly after deciding to accept this challenge that the issuer of the challenge was probably intending to play only classical pieces....I tried a few Chopin and Bach....but the Chopin was kind of beyond me, and the Bach appeared simplistic... yet it was difficult to do different things with different hands. The Bach book I have was also repetitive since it contained many variations of the same pieces. I think by the end of the 100 pieces I played, I've improved a lot at coordinating different things in different hands. Maybe I could go back and play some of the Bach pieces better now. Nevertheless, I decided to play most of the 100 pieces of music in an area more suitable to my current abilities.
The Josh Groban and EFY songs were the most challenging timing-wise. Very tricksy!
I played through 2 Marvin Goldstein books for piano solos and I kept finding a chord here or there that just sounded....awkward. I made sure I was playing it correctly, but it was just "off," and I actually wrote in other notes on occasion to "fix" it. Some of the songs had many verses with not enough variation between them, so they seemed to go on and on. There were other times in which I'd get to an exciting chord that seemed it was going to change the mood of the song in a neat way, and I imagined the beautiful way the song would continue....but then it turned out to be just one or two cool chords before going back to what was already happening in the song.... So much wasted potential. haha. I wish now that I had taken the time to write out how I thought it should have continued.
The last few songs I played were from another book of hymns arranged by Marvin Goldstein and Wade Lindstrom. Those were beautiful arrangements. Even though I played through all of the verses of "If You Could Hie to Kolob," each verse was different and interesting. (I love that song!)
I want to sing #80 and #81 in Sacrament Meeting sometime. I LOVE "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul"!
This is what 100 pieces of music looks like. I didn't play much of the Chopin or Bach books. I played *most* of the 2 EFY books and finished my 100 on the purple book without playing quite all of it...But I played everything else! The far right row are all choral pieces - pieces I LOVE. The row beside it are mostly vocal solos w/ accompaniment (plus Yellow Jonquils!)
In case anyone is interested, here is a list of the 100 songs I played over the past month or so!
- Marvin Goldstein - I Often Go Walking
- " " - When He Comes Again
- " " - Search, Ponder, and Pray
- Chopin's Grande Valse Brillante
- Bach's Invention No. 1 in C Major
- Bach's Invention No. 1 variant autograph 1723
- Bach's Invention No. 2 in C Minor
- Marvin Goldstein - Keep the Commandments
- " " - Families Can Be Together Forever
- " " - I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus
- Five For Fighting - 100 Years
- K. Newell Dayley - May My Life Reflect Thy Will
- Marvin Goldstein - I Feel My Savior's Love
- " " - I Love to See the Temple
- " " - Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam
- " " - My Heavenly Father Loves Me
- " " - A Child's Prayer
- " " - I Am a Child of God
- " " - Book of Mormon Stories
- " " - The Golden Plates
- " " - Jesus Once Was a Little Child/I Think When I/Tell Me the Stories
- " " - I Hope They Call Me on a Mission
- " " - Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked
- " " - Nephi's Courage
- " " - Army of Helaman
- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - Jacob & Sons / Joseph's Coat
- " " - Joseph's Dreams
- " " - Poor, Poor Joseph
- " " - One More Angel in Heaven
- " " - Close Every Door
- " " - Potiphar
- " " - Go Go Go Joseph
- " " - Pharaoh's Story
- " " - Poor Poor Pharaoh / Song of the King
- " " - Pharaoh's Dream Explained
- " " - Stone the Crows
- " " - Those Canaan Days
- " " - The Brothers Come to Egypt
- " " - Who's the Thief/Benjamin Calypso
- " " - Joseph All the Time
- " " - Jacob in Egypt
- " " - Any Dream Will Do
- EFY 2001 Remember the Promise - I Stand All Amazed
- " " - I'll Be
- " " - I Am Amazed
- " " - Growing Young
- " " - On the Way to Emmaus
- " " - When All Is Said and Done
- EFY 2000 - Forward With Faith
- " " - The Olive Tree
- " " - Her Garden
- " " - I Know That My Redeemer Lives
- " " - What About
- " " - Waterfall
- " " - Amazing Things
- " " - Safe Inside
- " " - Quiet Prayer
- Josh Groban - Oceano
- " " - My Confession
- " " - Mi Mancherai
- Pride and Prejudice theme song (played during vacation - more like #13 or so in order)
- Josh Groban - When You Say You Love Me
- " " - Per Te
- " " - All 'Improvviso Amore
- " " - Broken Vow
- " " - Caruso
- " " - Remember When It Rained
- " " - You Raise Me Up
- Raymond Haan - Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy
- Because I Have Been Given Much (arranged by Larry Beebe)
- The King's Singers - You Are the New Day (arranged by Peter Knight)
- Mack Wilberg - My Shepherd will Supply My Need (wow - sooooo repetetive for piano!)
- Praise to the Lord the Almighty (arranged by Donald H. Ripplinger)
- Mack Wilberg - The King of Love My Shepherd Is
- " " - Arise O God, and Shine
- Craig Courtney - Thy Will Be Done (big stretch on those fingers!!!)
- David R. Naylor - I Love Thee, Father
- The Olive Tree (arranged by Christy Williams - ZION choir director)
- Let Zion In Her Beauty Rise (TTBB, arranged by Genevieve Thompson)
- Book of Mormon Seminary Soundtrack - Oh My Soul Hungered
- Rob Gardner - Savior, Redeemer of My Soul
- Paul F. Johannin - Yellow Jonquils (Dance a la Gavotte)
- Marvin Goldstein - There Is Sunshine In My Soul Today
- " " - Did You Think to Pray?
- " " - Let us Oft Speak Kind Words
- " " - More Holiness Give Me
- " " - The Lord Is My Shepherd
- " " - Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer
- " " - Nearer, My God, To Thee
- " " - Come Unto Jesus
- " " - Where Can I Turn For Peace
- " " - Rock of Ages
- " " - You Can Make the Pathway Bright
- " " - Sweet Hour of Prayer
- Jeff Goodrich - I Heard Him Come
- *May My Life Reflect Thy Will (accidental duplicate....so I did a 101)
- Marvin Goldstein & Wade Lindstrom - If You Could Hie to Kolob
- " " - Redeemer of Israel
- " " - The Spirit of God
- " " - Sweet Is the Work
- " " - Now Let Us Rejoice (because I had a duplicate at #96)
Whew!
Monday, August 20, 2012
Curriculum Choices, Part I
As I said in my last post, I plan to start having some official "school time" each day, in part to motivate me
to actually use many of the activities and things I have made, bought,
and prepared for my kids to have fun with and learn from.
To organize the activities I'd like to do with my children each day, I've decided to try out Sue Patrick's workbox system. I am very intrigued by this system, which is a way to organize your homeschooled child's daily projects/books/work, and keep different children on task simultaneously even if they are working on different activities. I've bought a 10-drawer organizer. (It often goes on sale - only buy it when it's 40-50% off! So not worth $75!) The idea is to put the materials for different subjects, activities, or projects into different drawers, then go through each drawer until you're finished for the day. This is one way to have all of the required materials for the whole day easily accessible to the children without walking all over to gather them during your "school time" and getting distracted. Also, even if you're busy giving 1-on-1 attention to another child at the time, children know when they finish one thing they can just go to the next drawer, and you can stagger kids' boxes so they don't need your special attention at the same time. (That is assuming each kid has their own assigned workbox station or their own drawers!) It just seems to help keep the "school time" organized.
This is our school room. The sensory bin fits perfectly on top of the workboxes.
So what am I going to put in the boxes, you ask?
I have spent a good chunk of time over the last few years scouring homeschooling blogs, books, and curricula, trying to decide what I want to use with my kids and how I want to teach them...what things I think would actually help them learn good, useful, age appropriate things, and what I think they would be interested in, enjoy and actually use.
Over this time, most of the activities I have gathered and prepared for the workboxes have been for preschool/kindergarten age and are focused on the "3 R's" of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. I do have a few activities planned for other subjects, but I was kind of stumped on where I wanted to go to branch out more, as far as workbox/school-time type activities go. We do discuss and learn things that would go under other categories (well, all categories) on a regular basis at home, but I hadn't chosen any particular curriculum to include for them in the workboxes or anything...(More development on that in Curriculum Choices, Part II)
So here is a list of activities, projects, books, etc I plan to use to help me teach these subjects in a fun way. Most of them are for preschool/kindergarten age, and a few we'll utilize more as my kids get a little older. Many of them can be pertinent for many years. Most will be used in the workboxes, but some will be used at other times of day such as circle time, scripture time, reading time, or just general play time. I feel it is important to have a learning-rich environment, so many of these things we just have around our home but will also be used for "school time" (to help ensure we actually use them). (Note: While I do have a lot of these materials already (yay, Christmas!), there are some I have not yet made or purchased, but hope to use sometime...And I didn't necessarily pay full price for all of them, in case you're wondering how I could spend so much money on all of this stuff! I do put a fairly high priority on things that I can use to teach my kids though. And these are the kinds of things I buy for my kids for birthdays and Christmas! The library, DI, yard sales, and DIY are also great resources.)
Letter of the week
Beginning of week: add letter to coconut tree & read Chicka ABC
Mid & End of week: practice writing that letter in workbook
book (Alphatales or other letter/phonics books)
read that letter in sign language book & practice it
Do Yoga pose(s) for that letter
learn about an animal that starts with that letter (books, Wikipedia, YouTube)
ABC animal craft
ABC animal coloring page
ABC collage
Do-a-dot page with that letter
toothpick/thumbtack poke pages
Make the letter with wikki stix
ABC Bible Verses (circle time)
letter hunts
letter maze
homemade foam letter builders
geoboard – make the letter
letter matching with bottle caps
A-C – Berenstain's letter book
Recognize capital & lower case in different fonts
cut paper to shape of the letter
Elmo Hot Tomato game
list words that start with that letter or end with that letter
use objects in the house to make that shape & take pic
gather or take pic of something starting with that letter
ABC Exercise cards
letter scavenger hunt – fill workbox w/ things starting w letter
Review all letters
ABC professions puzzle
ABC circle-clothespin matching
letter hunts
match first letter to picture
read ABC books (train, pirate, ASL, Yoga, Dr. Seuss...)
ABC Exercise cards
uppercase-lowercase matching
letter find
Language, Other
100 Reading Lessons
Read The Friend magazine
30+ min reading time
Build-a-Word game (from Scholastic book club)
Rhyming Time Matching (from Scholastic book club)
Rory's Story Cubes
Shapes/Spacial/Colors
sensory bins
craft related to season or book we read that week
Tangrams
lacing activities
Blokus
puzzles
River, Roads, Rails
cut the shape with paper
Fingerprint book
Picture Pie
Wikki Stix
finding & continuing patterns
Orb Factory mosaics
workbooks (Walmart & dollar store) – draw shapes
golf tee activities
cutting with scissors practice
Pick & Draw game
White Rabbit's Color Book
Mastermind (we already play basic versions of this and DS1 loves it!)
Blink card game
SET card game
Pictionary card game
Yamodo
Numbers
Developing Number Concepts lessons
Cuisinaire rods
estimation jar (change 1/wk or so with different household items)
hundreds chart activities
hundreds chart picture activities
counting and skip counting to 100 using beans, buttons, pencils, coins, etc
discussing place values (1s, 10s, 100s)
number mazes
learn values for coins
learn to add values for coins
learn about the symbols on coins
dominoes
Uno
practice writing numbers
addition, subtraction, fractions, multiplication - everyday life - DS1 already gets that 3 rows of 4 muffins makes 12 muffins.
counting down paper chain to Christmas
learn to read clock
workbook pages (from Walmart, dollar store)
wikki stix
number matching clothespins
adding math “game” (by Confessions of a Homeschooler...I can't seem to find it now)
Confessions number games
Monopoly Junior
History/Geography
Man in the Map
There's a Map on My Lap!: All About Maps (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library)
The Patriot's Handbook
Great States game
Family History Spotlights (in FHE)
find places on map where Joseph Smith, early church members and ancestors lived, where we go on trips, etc.
discuss times of scriptures
look at and make maps with Daddy
use Google Earth
Science
Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy
Brother-in-law's Astronomy book for kids
Spanish
read from our 2 Spanish books for kids
make some flash cards and play games with them
play doorway password game DH made up (DH stands to block doorway. You have to say "dinner" to go through and "cena" to go back through the other direction. The kids love this and go through the doorway over and over...)
Physical Education
Family Time Fitness
ABC Exercise cards
Yoga Pretzels
Twister
bits of exercise DVD's with Mommy
discuss nutrition as we cook, organize kitchen, pantry, food storage, go shopping
parks, swimming lessons, outside time, etc...
Music
Let's Play Music
Circle Time - sing primary songs, nursery rhymes, etc
To organize the activities I'd like to do with my children each day, I've decided to try out Sue Patrick's workbox system. I am very intrigued by this system, which is a way to organize your homeschooled child's daily projects/books/work, and keep different children on task simultaneously even if they are working on different activities. I've bought a 10-drawer organizer. (It often goes on sale - only buy it when it's 40-50% off! So not worth $75!) The idea is to put the materials for different subjects, activities, or projects into different drawers, then go through each drawer until you're finished for the day. This is one way to have all of the required materials for the whole day easily accessible to the children without walking all over to gather them during your "school time" and getting distracted. Also, even if you're busy giving 1-on-1 attention to another child at the time, children know when they finish one thing they can just go to the next drawer, and you can stagger kids' boxes so they don't need your special attention at the same time. (That is assuming each kid has their own assigned workbox station or their own drawers!) It just seems to help keep the "school time" organized.
This is our school room. The sensory bin fits perfectly on top of the workboxes.
So what am I going to put in the boxes, you ask?
I have spent a good chunk of time over the last few years scouring homeschooling blogs, books, and curricula, trying to decide what I want to use with my kids and how I want to teach them...what things I think would actually help them learn good, useful, age appropriate things, and what I think they would be interested in, enjoy and actually use.
Over this time, most of the activities I have gathered and prepared for the workboxes have been for preschool/kindergarten age and are focused on the "3 R's" of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. I do have a few activities planned for other subjects, but I was kind of stumped on where I wanted to go to branch out more, as far as workbox/school-time type activities go. We do discuss and learn things that would go under other categories (well, all categories) on a regular basis at home, but I hadn't chosen any particular curriculum to include for them in the workboxes or anything...(More development on that in Curriculum Choices, Part II)
So here is a list of activities, projects, books, etc I plan to use to help me teach these subjects in a fun way. Most of them are for preschool/kindergarten age, and a few we'll utilize more as my kids get a little older. Many of them can be pertinent for many years. Most will be used in the workboxes, but some will be used at other times of day such as circle time, scripture time, reading time, or just general play time. I feel it is important to have a learning-rich environment, so many of these things we just have around our home but will also be used for "school time" (to help ensure we actually use them). (Note: While I do have a lot of these materials already (yay, Christmas!), there are some I have not yet made or purchased, but hope to use sometime...And I didn't necessarily pay full price for all of them, in case you're wondering how I could spend so much money on all of this stuff! I do put a fairly high priority on things that I can use to teach my kids though. And these are the kinds of things I buy for my kids for birthdays and Christmas! The library, DI, yard sales, and DIY are also great resources.)
Letter of the week
Beginning of week: add letter to coconut tree & read Chicka ABC
Mid & End of week: practice writing that letter in workbook
book (Alphatales or other letter/phonics books)
read that letter in sign language book & practice it
Do Yoga pose(s) for that letter
learn about an animal that starts with that letter (books, Wikipedia, YouTube)
ABC animal craft
ABC animal coloring page
ABC collage
Do-a-dot page with that letter
toothpick/thumbtack poke pages
Make the letter with wikki stix
ABC Bible Verses (circle time)
letter hunts
letter maze
homemade foam letter builders
geoboard – make the letter
letter matching with bottle caps
A-C – Berenstain's letter book
Recognize capital & lower case in different fonts
cut paper to shape of the letter
Elmo Hot Tomato game
list words that start with that letter or end with that letter
use objects in the house to make that shape & take pic
gather or take pic of something starting with that letter
ABC Exercise cards
letter scavenger hunt – fill workbox w/ things starting w letter
Review all letters
ABC professions puzzle
ABC circle-clothespin matching
letter hunts
match first letter to picture
read ABC books (train, pirate, ASL, Yoga, Dr. Seuss...)
ABC Exercise cards
uppercase-lowercase matching
letter find
Language, Other
100 Reading Lessons
Read The Friend magazine
30+ min reading time
Build-a-Word game (from Scholastic book club)
Rhyming Time Matching (from Scholastic book club)
Rory's Story Cubes
Shapes/Spacial/Colors
sensory bins
craft related to season or book we read that week
Tangrams
lacing activities
Blokus
puzzles
River, Roads, Rails
cut the shape with paper
Fingerprint book
Picture Pie
Wikki Stix
finding & continuing patterns
Orb Factory mosaics
workbooks (Walmart & dollar store) – draw shapes
golf tee activities
cutting with scissors practice
Pick & Draw game
White Rabbit's Color Book
Mastermind (we already play basic versions of this and DS1 loves it!)
Blink card game
SET card game
Pictionary card game
Yamodo
Numbers
Developing Number Concepts lessons
Cuisinaire rods
estimation jar (change 1/wk or so with different household items)
hundreds chart activities
hundreds chart picture activities
counting and skip counting to 100 using beans, buttons, pencils, coins, etc
discussing place values (1s, 10s, 100s)
number mazes
learn values for coins
learn to add values for coins
learn about the symbols on coins
dominoes
Uno
practice writing numbers
addition, subtraction, fractions, multiplication - everyday life - DS1 already gets that 3 rows of 4 muffins makes 12 muffins.
counting down paper chain to Christmas
learn to read clock
workbook pages (from Walmart, dollar store)
wikki stix
number matching clothespins
adding math “game” (by Confessions of a Homeschooler...I can't seem to find it now)
Confessions number games
Monopoly Junior
History/Geography
Man in the Map
There's a Map on My Lap!: All About Maps (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library)
The Patriot's Handbook
Great States game
Family History Spotlights (in FHE)
find places on map where Joseph Smith, early church members and ancestors lived, where we go on trips, etc.
discuss times of scriptures
look at and make maps with Daddy
use Google Earth
Science
Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy
Brother-in-law's Astronomy book for kids
Spanish
read from our 2 Spanish books for kids
make some flash cards and play games with them
play doorway password game DH made up (DH stands to block doorway. You have to say "dinner" to go through and "cena" to go back through the other direction. The kids love this and go through the doorway over and over...)
Physical Education
Family Time Fitness
ABC Exercise cards
Yoga Pretzels
Twister
bits of exercise DVD's with Mommy
discuss nutrition as we cook, organize kitchen, pantry, food storage, go shopping
parks, swimming lessons, outside time, etc...
Music
Let's Play Music
Circle Time - sing primary songs, nursery rhymes, etc
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Starting our official Homeschool
There are a lot of ideas and methods different families use to homeschool. There are Charlotte Mason, Thomas Jefferson Education, Montessori, a "classical education" (a la The Well-Trained Mind), eclectic, unschooling, and the list goes on...
I take many of my underlying feelings about homeschooling from the unschooling world of thought, which is basically that people (children included) learn best by doing, by being and living daily in the real world, when real (rather than fabricated) issues are presented them and they figure them out (ie math by measuring and doubling/halving while cooking, figuring out good grocery deals, multiplying 3x4 holes in the muffin tins, etc rather than endless worksheets with seemingly meaningless strikes on a page that people call "math"). Children learn best when they are free to learn and study subjects that interest them, when they are interested in them, in the way they want to learn it (ie. from a novel, textbook, workbook, encyclopedia, game, craft, physical activity, movie, museum, zoo, park, from nature, etc.), to the depth of interest *they* have in the subject, where they want to learn it, etc.... In other words, people learn best by following their interests and living life.
After all, that is how adults learn, right? We don't stop learning when we graduate from high school and/or college (or at least we shouldn't). Many people seem to think that children can only learn in a classroom...but children learn a heckuvalot in their first few years before going to school, and I don't believe that everyone just stops learning when they graduate and then spend the rest of their lives being stagnant. I think this is touching the reason so many people have a hard time transitioning to "real life" when they finish school (which has been THEIR LIFE for about 20 years...). The hard part is figuring out what to do next....How to keep learning when you're living a different type of life (the "real" life you were supposedly prepared for), not scheduled and manufactured for you, and you actually get to learn WHAT YOU WANT TO! What a concept!
But I digress...
While I believe it is very important to follow people's interests and not squash natural curiosities by forcing "learning," (I use quotes because when it's forced, is it true learning?) I also find it important as a mother of young children to "strew" (unschooling term, I've found) things in your children's path to provide opportunities for them to discover those new interests. Children need to know what is out there for them to learn, so they can determine what from all of those things they want to and are ready to learn. And I have so much time with my children...I can spend a good chunk of it officially "teaching them" things I want to make sure they know, and spend the rest of the time helping them with their interests.
I also read an *excellent* book I think all LDS educators (including homeschoolers) should read, called Revealed Educational Principles and the Public Schools by Jack Monett. I'll write a review on that later. For now I'll just say that, in accordance with those revealed educational principles that our early latter-day prophets and general authorities taught, I do believe children should have *some* organized, structured learning time, and that LDS principles should be strewn throughout it. (Since all truth is part of one great whole and the Spirit is what teaches all things.)
Thus, I've decided to start "doing school" in our home. I don't know exactly to what extent this will play out, as I will follow the lead of my children (and the Spirit!) and how things work for them. But at this point in time, I've made some plans for having "school time" in our home. I will talk about some of my curriculum choices in my next post.
I take many of my underlying feelings about homeschooling from the unschooling world of thought, which is basically that people (children included) learn best by doing, by being and living daily in the real world, when real (rather than fabricated) issues are presented them and they figure them out (ie math by measuring and doubling/halving while cooking, figuring out good grocery deals, multiplying 3x4 holes in the muffin tins, etc rather than endless worksheets with seemingly meaningless strikes on a page that people call "math"). Children learn best when they are free to learn and study subjects that interest them, when they are interested in them, in the way they want to learn it (ie. from a novel, textbook, workbook, encyclopedia, game, craft, physical activity, movie, museum, zoo, park, from nature, etc.), to the depth of interest *they* have in the subject, where they want to learn it, etc.... In other words, people learn best by following their interests and living life.
After all, that is how adults learn, right? We don't stop learning when we graduate from high school and/or college (or at least we shouldn't). Many people seem to think that children can only learn in a classroom...but children learn a heckuvalot in their first few years before going to school, and I don't believe that everyone just stops learning when they graduate and then spend the rest of their lives being stagnant. I think this is touching the reason so many people have a hard time transitioning to "real life" when they finish school (which has been THEIR LIFE for about 20 years...). The hard part is figuring out what to do next....How to keep learning when you're living a different type of life (the "real" life you were supposedly prepared for), not scheduled and manufactured for you, and you actually get to learn WHAT YOU WANT TO! What a concept!
But I digress...
While I believe it is very important to follow people's interests and not squash natural curiosities by forcing "learning," (I use quotes because when it's forced, is it true learning?) I also find it important as a mother of young children to "strew" (unschooling term, I've found) things in your children's path to provide opportunities for them to discover those new interests. Children need to know what is out there for them to learn, so they can determine what from all of those things they want to and are ready to learn. And I have so much time with my children...I can spend a good chunk of it officially "teaching them" things I want to make sure they know, and spend the rest of the time helping them with their interests.
I also read an *excellent* book I think all LDS educators (including homeschoolers) should read, called Revealed Educational Principles and the Public Schools by Jack Monett. I'll write a review on that later. For now I'll just say that, in accordance with those revealed educational principles that our early latter-day prophets and general authorities taught, I do believe children should have *some* organized, structured learning time, and that LDS principles should be strewn throughout it. (Since all truth is part of one great whole and the Spirit is what teaches all things.)
Thus, I've decided to start "doing school" in our home. I don't know exactly to what extent this will play out, as I will follow the lead of my children (and the Spirit!) and how things work for them. But at this point in time, I've made some plans for having "school time" in our home. I will talk about some of my curriculum choices in my next post.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Summer Sightreading Challenge
I mentioned a while back that I sight-read, playing straight through the hymn book and the Children's Songbook last summer/fall. Before I started, I could only "kind of"
play a few hymns. Since then, I have gone through the hymn book again, that time playing each song twice - once to sight
read, then to give myself a 2nd chance. (I always did much better on the 2nd chance.) I'm starting to go through it
again, a little more thoroughly on each piece this time, correcting
mistakes until I'm satisfied I can play it full speed pretty well. I don't feel quite confident yet that I could play with people singing, but I think I could do that soonish. :) I'd like to start practicing doing that for Family Home Evening more to get used to accompanying.
Over the past year of pretty much just doing this for practice, my piano skills have improved DRAMATICALLY. I think a lot of the improvement was familiarizing my hands with the feel of the piano so I don't have to look down as much, becoming more familiar with playing different key signatures, and reading the music more quickly.
There were a couple hymns I had written out fingering for a year and a half ago and now the numbers are just clutter on the page for me. I'm glad I didn't waste the time writing out fingering for every hymn because I don't need them anymore. :)
I think I've needed this break from the repetitive "correct" practicing, to free myself to enjoy playing for a while and not feeling guilty about it. Now that I'm getting much more comfortable with sight reading and just playing, I'd like to keep playing the hymns, but broaden my horizons as well!
A friend of mine from BYU posts on a piano teaching blog, and she has started a Summer Sight-reading Challenge, to sightread 100 pieces of piano literature by the end of August! I've decided to take the challenge, since that is something I'd love to do anyway! My pieces may not *all* be from the classical composers, since I don't have a ton of their sheet music, but I'll get pretty good at accompanying myself while I sing too! :-p
I had mentioned in a previous post that I was going to dive into the organ. I did about 20 of the organ exercises in one of my books, sightread some organ music, and worked on a few hymns (the "right way"). But I want to become truly skillful at the organ and not *just* be able to play hymns to fulfill a calling. I want to play the organ skillfully, along the lines of my dad and great uncle Alexander Schreiner. So I decided I really needed to work on the piano first to get a better foundation and basically accomplish what I have over the past year, then dive back in.
So...I think my current plan is 1) Do the Summer Sight-reading Challenge 2) Finish going through the hymn book this time through (playing each until I'm content I can do a pretty good job of it) 3) Start focusing on the organ and continue playing hymns and other pieces of piano music on the side.
When I get to stage 3, one thing I'm excited to do is work on these Hanon exercises. I took piano lessons during one spring or summer term at BYU, and the BYU piano teacher assigned me exercises from that book. I didn't make it very far, a term not being very long, and I apparently didn't understand her requirements for passing off the exercises (see below). I have since taken a good look through the book and realized how awesome it is. Seriously, who reads the opening and closing pages of a piano exercise book? But for some reason, I did, and I'm glad I (finally) did.
The book is designed for you to work on each exercise until you can do it proficiently up to 108 speed (ie. fast), then you do that 4 times in a row. Once you've mastered exercises 1 and 2, you play them both together 4 times in a row at 108 speed. (I've gotten about as far as mastering the first 2 at that speed and playing them together, but I didn't have the finger strength and endurance to do it 4 times in a row! This book is a workout!!!) Then you play exercises 1-4 through together at 108 speed. You continue mastering them one by one, then together in chunks. By the end of the book, you are playing the entire book all the way through at 108 speed!!!! At the end of the book, it says this will take about an hour, and says that the true virtuoso will continue playing through the entire book every single day to keep up the skill, strength, and flexibility, while practicing their other music on top of that. Looking through the book, I would love to be able to have that kind of skill to master the whole book!!! Then I'll really be able to play Jon Schmidt songs well, haha!
I don't know how that will fit in with piano being "on the side" of learning the organ, but...progress is always an adventure, isn't it?
Over the past year of pretty much just doing this for practice, my piano skills have improved DRAMATICALLY. I think a lot of the improvement was familiarizing my hands with the feel of the piano so I don't have to look down as much, becoming more familiar with playing different key signatures, and reading the music more quickly.
There were a couple hymns I had written out fingering for a year and a half ago and now the numbers are just clutter on the page for me. I'm glad I didn't waste the time writing out fingering for every hymn because I don't need them anymore. :)
I think I've needed this break from the repetitive "correct" practicing, to free myself to enjoy playing for a while and not feeling guilty about it. Now that I'm getting much more comfortable with sight reading and just playing, I'd like to keep playing the hymns, but broaden my horizons as well!
A friend of mine from BYU posts on a piano teaching blog, and she has started a Summer Sight-reading Challenge, to sightread 100 pieces of piano literature by the end of August! I've decided to take the challenge, since that is something I'd love to do anyway! My pieces may not *all* be from the classical composers, since I don't have a ton of their sheet music, but I'll get pretty good at accompanying myself while I sing too! :-p
I had mentioned in a previous post that I was going to dive into the organ. I did about 20 of the organ exercises in one of my books, sightread some organ music, and worked on a few hymns (the "right way"). But I want to become truly skillful at the organ and not *just* be able to play hymns to fulfill a calling. I want to play the organ skillfully, along the lines of my dad and great uncle Alexander Schreiner. So I decided I really needed to work on the piano first to get a better foundation and basically accomplish what I have over the past year, then dive back in.
So...I think my current plan is 1) Do the Summer Sight-reading Challenge 2) Finish going through the hymn book this time through (playing each until I'm content I can do a pretty good job of it) 3) Start focusing on the organ and continue playing hymns and other pieces of piano music on the side.
When I get to stage 3, one thing I'm excited to do is work on these Hanon exercises. I took piano lessons during one spring or summer term at BYU, and the BYU piano teacher assigned me exercises from that book. I didn't make it very far, a term not being very long, and I apparently didn't understand her requirements for passing off the exercises (see below). I have since taken a good look through the book and realized how awesome it is. Seriously, who reads the opening and closing pages of a piano exercise book? But for some reason, I did, and I'm glad I (finally) did.
The book is designed for you to work on each exercise until you can do it proficiently up to 108 speed (ie. fast), then you do that 4 times in a row. Once you've mastered exercises 1 and 2, you play them both together 4 times in a row at 108 speed. (I've gotten about as far as mastering the first 2 at that speed and playing them together, but I didn't have the finger strength and endurance to do it 4 times in a row! This book is a workout!!!) Then you play exercises 1-4 through together at 108 speed. You continue mastering them one by one, then together in chunks. By the end of the book, you are playing the entire book all the way through at 108 speed!!!! At the end of the book, it says this will take about an hour, and says that the true virtuoso will continue playing through the entire book every single day to keep up the skill, strength, and flexibility, while practicing their other music on top of that. Looking through the book, I would love to be able to have that kind of skill to master the whole book!!! Then I'll really be able to play Jon Schmidt songs well, haha!
I don't know how that will fit in with piano being "on the side" of learning the organ, but...progress is always an adventure, isn't it?
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Exercise: The Jumping Joke
I still intend to update on how my Spiritual Boost Challenge went. I've
just been trying to focus more on real life than on blogging. heh.
After cracking my rib cartilage and resting it for several weeks, I got out of the habit of exercising...and...haven't exactly gotten back into the habit still. :-/ Today someone said they'd be interested in being my exercise buddy, so I decided to pull out all of my Jillian Michaels videos and see how long each one is...I was surprised to see that the ones I thought of as super hard and couldn't always quite manage to finish were only 5 minutes longer than other ones I used very regularly. I think the boxes are lying. JM is a toughie! But I love her videos.
While I was looking through the dvd's, DS1 came over and told me which one he thought I should do...As in, he wanted me to exercise right then. I hadn't planned on exercising then, but I thought it was as good a time as any to start working my way back into it, especially if I have one child rooting me on and my other one napping!
So on went the video. DS1 was very helpful and prided himself on getting my weights to me and taking them back to "take care of them" while I didn't need them. Halfway through the workout he said, "Mommy, you are so beautiful." "Me?" I asked, a little incredulous that maybe I hadn't heard him right and he meant a girl in the video...?? "yeah, Mommy." awww. Even when I'm working out and sweaty... Such a sweet boy...
After I finished the workout, he decided to make up his own workout moves that he insisted were better and harder than the ones I was doing. His first he called "The Jumping Joke." I assumed he was trying to say Jumping Jack, but no, he insisted he meant Joke. And it looked nothing like a jumping jack anyway. I was impressed when I tried it...it really is a good move, and he did it several times himself.
So here's how you do it:
The Jumping Joke
Lay down on your back with your legs in a yoga butterfly position (knees bent, legs on their sides on the floor, with feet touching). Put your arms straight out to your sides. Lift your arms upward while lifting your bottom off the floor (leaving the pressure of your body on the sides of your feet and on your shoulders). It really works the buns, abs, and thighs!
He then asked what the "Level 1" "Level 2" and "Level 3" on the dvd menu meant. I explained that I just did Level 1, Level 2 is harder, and Level 3 is even harder. So the next move he created, he called Level 15.
Level 15
Holding weights in your hands, jump like a frog 3 times to the left, then 3 times back to the right.
Rather than rushing off to my shower, I decided to stay and enjoy his creativity while he continued to make several more "exercise moves," which got progressively easier and easier, and yet received names of Level 10 and Level 100. ;) I love to see his experimenting!
After cracking my rib cartilage and resting it for several weeks, I got out of the habit of exercising...and...haven't exactly gotten back into the habit still. :-/ Today someone said they'd be interested in being my exercise buddy, so I decided to pull out all of my Jillian Michaels videos and see how long each one is...I was surprised to see that the ones I thought of as super hard and couldn't always quite manage to finish were only 5 minutes longer than other ones I used very regularly. I think the boxes are lying. JM is a toughie! But I love her videos.
While I was looking through the dvd's, DS1 came over and told me which one he thought I should do...As in, he wanted me to exercise right then. I hadn't planned on exercising then, but I thought it was as good a time as any to start working my way back into it, especially if I have one child rooting me on and my other one napping!
So on went the video. DS1 was very helpful and prided himself on getting my weights to me and taking them back to "take care of them" while I didn't need them. Halfway through the workout he said, "Mommy, you are so beautiful." "Me?" I asked, a little incredulous that maybe I hadn't heard him right and he meant a girl in the video...?? "yeah, Mommy." awww. Even when I'm working out and sweaty... Such a sweet boy...
After I finished the workout, he decided to make up his own workout moves that he insisted were better and harder than the ones I was doing. His first he called "The Jumping Joke." I assumed he was trying to say Jumping Jack, but no, he insisted he meant Joke. And it looked nothing like a jumping jack anyway. I was impressed when I tried it...it really is a good move, and he did it several times himself.
So here's how you do it:
The Jumping Joke
Lay down on your back with your legs in a yoga butterfly position (knees bent, legs on their sides on the floor, with feet touching). Put your arms straight out to your sides. Lift your arms upward while lifting your bottom off the floor (leaving the pressure of your body on the sides of your feet and on your shoulders). It really works the buns, abs, and thighs!
He then asked what the "Level 1" "Level 2" and "Level 3" on the dvd menu meant. I explained that I just did Level 1, Level 2 is harder, and Level 3 is even harder. So the next move he created, he called Level 15.
Level 15
Holding weights in your hands, jump like a frog 3 times to the left, then 3 times back to the right.
Rather than rushing off to my shower, I decided to stay and enjoy his creativity while he continued to make several more "exercise moves," which got progressively easier and easier, and yet received names of Level 10 and Level 100. ;) I love to see his experimenting!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)