Violin lessons

One of the things which we liked about the Montessori school which Boo and Skibo attend is the potential to take violin lessons at an early age: apparently they practise either the Suzuki method or something very close to it, and I like the idea of exposing small children to music and the idea that they can make it at a very young age.

Last year, we kept waiting to hear that Boo had started learning violin: and never did: eventually we found out that there had been some misinformation, and since she had been 3 when she started she wasn't eligible: she turned 4 in November, but they wouldn't have started her until either the next semester or the next year: we never found out which, since we went away for the winter to Canada.

I had been wondering what was up with violin this year -- there had been essentially no mention of it since, until today.

Boo is usually extremely reluctant to talk about her day at school ("What work did you do today, Boo?" "All of it" is a typical exchange) but today when I asked her how her day had been, she started to talk about it, and after mentioning a few things, added "and violin".

So it appears that she has started to learn another musical instrument before she and I get to have piano lessons together!

Yours, in harmony,
N.

And so it gets hectic

As everyone else with smallish children told us before we had kids ourselves, at the age when they change from toddlers to children, things suddenly get hectic. This past few weeks, Skibo turned 3, they both went back to school, they both went back to gymnastics, and Boo started dance classes.
Today seems to be typical: the morning was just an ordinary day, but the afternoon: first, Skibo had a doctors appointment, so LOML took him --- I looked after Boo, and made dinner, got her cleaned and dressed and ready to go off to her dance class: LOML got home twenty minutes before it was time to leave for the dance class: Boo expressed an interest in having LOML take her, so I stayed at home with Skibo and tried to get him to eat.

And I gather things get more hectic still each year as they get older.
(Reading back over the day it doesn't read as hectic as it seemed -- oh well. It felt hectic to us!)

Yours, exhausted, and it isn't even 7pm,
N.

Opportunities for little children

We are very lucky, in the little town in which we live, to have a wonderful gymnastics club, with a super teacher who works with the smallest children, up through age 5.
And in nearby towns we have lots of other golden opportunities for little ones: Boo started dance classes last week, and we are planning for her and me to take piano lessons together sometime in the near future (probably the spring: this fall is looking just way too busy for me as well as for the rest of the family!)

Yesterday, Boo and Skibo started gymnastics classes again for the first time (with the exception of a few weeks in the summer) since Christmas: and while they are clearly a little rusty on some things, like how to do a donkey kick (which is apparently both a prototype handstand and cartwheel), they did wonderfully well: and were well behaved, polite, and listened to their instructors really well. What I want to know is where they put the real Boo and Skibo!

Yours, happy, but not smug,
N..

Playing in the sand.

Is there anything more fun at the beach than playing in the sand? Boo, in the white shirt, and Skibo in the blue, both loved learning about making sandcastles. Last year when we went they didn't seem to get the ideas behind them -- this time, they did. It's amazing watching little brains click into gear, get an idea and run with it. And it is especially fascinating to have two small people, 21 months apart, and be able to see the differences in what they get and what they don't (and when they get it)! As with all children they have different abilities and interests and learning rates: Boo spoke much earlier than Skibo: on the other hand, there are many things he seems to be picking up (perhaps from her) much earlier than she did.

Yours, just watching,
N.