I've been on an extended hiatus from real life. The boys and I went to beautiful, green MN, where my parents live. For 5 days, I attended the SAA 12th Biennial Conference in downtown Minneapolis and the boys stayed with my parents. What a treat! My focus was the Suzuki Early Childhood Education teacher training offered by Dorothy Jones. It was strengthening and enriching to be completely immersed in a Suzuki environment. I feel much more a part of the Suzuki community rather than 1 little teacher, teaching in a little studio.
After the conference ended, I joined the boys at my parents' home. They were so happy to run in the backyard and play with the neighbor kids and dig in the sandbox and blow bubbles on the porch and jump on the mini-trampoline and eat lunch outside on the deck and play in puddles in the cul-de-sac. It was a great break from urban, apartment life, where I never let them outside without close supervision.
All vacations come to an end, and we came home yesterday. It was 12 hours of travel. 90 minute drive to airport, then flights home through various large airports: Minneapolis, Chicago O'Hare, Las Vegas, and LAX. Picture it: me, 1 year old, 3 year old, my violin, my emergency carry on with clothes for all in case of who knows what, and 3 y.o.'s carry-on with food and distractions. We definitely had a few moments that were, uh, not worth reliving now. BUT, on the whole, it was a very positive travel experience. The man sitting next to us on the longest leg (3.5 hrs) was very helpful and accomodating and kept track of my youngest while I helped 3 y.o. in the bathroom. (As a side note, you can fit at least 3 people in those tiny airplane bathrooms if 2 of them under 4. Possibly more - has anyone tried more?)
Now we're happily home. We got up at 5:30 am, but the boys are napping now and I'm catching up on important things, like bills and blogging. Mr M is glad to have us back, I am quite certain, and we are very happy to be home. And now, on with real life!
3 comments:
Glad you are back safely. We will miss the extra calls from Mr. M.
I'm looking forward to seeing y'all this weekend.
Grandpa D
How cool! That must have been so much fun! Question for you what age to start teaching a little one violin?
You can start as early as 3 with violin lessons, although it's really a question of readiness on the child's part, commitment on the parent's part, and a teacher who is willing to start that young. I expect all new students in my violin studio to observe at least one 30 minute lesson and demonstrate a capacity to be still during that time. Lessons with a 3 year old are full of movement and games and songs .
Of course, outside of formal lessons, there are wonderful things to do to help your child develop a good ear. The most important things you can do for your children in this regard are to expose them to good music, sing to them and with them (as long as you can carry a tune), and read with them.
Dr Suzuki believed that musical training for a child should begin 9 months before the birth of the mother! Suzuki Early Childhood Education classes ideally start when the mom is pregnant, kind of as a one-time counseling session, and then after the birth of the child, they can start as soon as the mom and baby are ready, like 3 weeks. It's a wonderful program that helps parents learn to observe and celebrate the small developments of their children, and helps the kids prepare for future musical study, or just musical appreciation. It's a neat parent/child bond. One of the things that really separates it from some of the franchised kid music classes out there is that it's meant to be an ongoing course, ideally 3 years, not just 10 weeks here or there.
Can you tell I'm excited about it?
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