We have certainly been slacking off with formal piano lessons this semester but last semester we were on top of things! We had nearly weekly lessons and were so prepared at Christmas that Alexander was playing the piano every chance he got...and yet somehow we never sat down to do a little recital.
Oh, his sisters had their fair share of performances. We attended and performed at concerts and at church. We sang songs around the piano at Grandpa and Darla's house. We sang songs around our own piano.
And yet Alexander and I never recorded our Christmas duets.
Alexander has been very good at self-directed piano study the past couple of months. He's moving through his book and learning songs. We have impromptu lessons (where someone will hear him making a mistake while practicing and will run in to intervene because we all know these primer songs forwards and backwards, having been through them ourselves...and then over and over again with each child...) but so far nothing formal. He's been pleased with his progress, and yet...he's been hanging onto his Christmas books.
All the other Christmas books have been filed away on the shelf until the next season, but his Christmas books have remained in rotation because we still needed to film our duets!
First it was okay because it wasn't Christmas yet. And then it was only Boxing Day. And then it was just that liminal space between Christmas and the New Year. And then it was still Christmas somewhere because Three Kings Day (Epiphany) was still coming up, and Orthodox Christmas. And then...the semester started...but it was all snowy outside and that was kind of Christmassy. And then we were a month post-Christmas...and then...well...we're more than two months post-Christmas and it's beginning to feel like we're putting things off.
Alexander even asked Daddy to buy a special cord we could plug into the piano so that we could record from the piano to our device, cutting out any potential Phoebe noises. And the cord came. And then it was, "Oh, we have to learn how to use it first..."
As you've maybe guessed, this parental procrastination has been more than slightly frustrating for Alexander, who was so excited about these duets. But our procrastination does not mean that we're not proud of Alexander for working hard to learn these songs (and every other Christmas song in his book) and it says nothing about how much I enjoy playing these duets with him (because I do love playing duets with him). It's just that sometimes life feels overwhelming for parents and time slips through our fingers.
All the more reason to just pull out a device and record ourselves today, right?
Without any fancy equipment, with Phoebe coming into the room and dropping an armful of toys in the background, with sticky shooters up on the ceiling, and no darling Christmas outfits in sight...we decided to just go for it.
Our first number is 'Jolly Old St. Nicholas':
This post brings up a question I have long had. How do you keep your children motivted and on-task? Self-directed piano lessons, and consistant practice from a child Alexander's age is remarkable! They seem to be largely independent in their homeschooling as well. They seem to have access to technology (phones) that would surprise some parents, and yet they are all accomplishing remarkable things. When my children were the ages of yours, homework required me to be sitting at the table giving them my undivided attention, and even then it was often a struggle.
ReplyDeleteOh, it can be a struggle at times! Some of our children have passwords on their phones/computers that they don't know (so they have to a grown up to sign in for them); others haven't struggled to regulate this part of their life. Some of the children do require more constant supervision/guidance/motivation and it certainly was more difficult in the beginning...but we've established a system.
DeleteFor example, right now it's "math hour." The kids are all on different levels of math, but all doing math together (spread across a number of rooms, though Miriam and Benjamin are at the kitchen table together). This allows for some body-doubling (as well as peer accountability and peer tutoring).
There are ups and downs for sure. And I typically rove during math hour from this kid to that, checking on things and answering questions. It is easier than getting kids to do homework, I think, because they haven't already been sitting at a desk for six hours??
And as far as piano goes...I've been lucky to have a few kids who just LOVE to practice (and I have others who really don't enjoy it and need more pushing). So, we definitely have our ups and downs as well!
1 mistake IS better than 20, for sure! Those were both great duets! Thank you! I loved this post!
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