Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Supporting a passion

My five year old daughter has a passion for singing and composing - usually mini-musicals.

To support her I

1.) Homeschool her, so she has the free time necessary to be creative
2.) Allow her to sing pretty much wherever and whenever (we do have a rule about not singing loud in restaurants unless she is being paid, and never on airplanes)
3.) Take her to live musicals when we can afford it - she has seen Snoopy, Joseph and the ... Dream Coat, Les Miserable, and Wicked.
4.) Watch musicals on DVD at home - Into the Woods, Music Man, Guys and Dolls, Little Shop of Horrors, Les Mierables, Willy Wonka, etc
5.) Listen to the above musicals and many others on cd in the car, what feels like, constantly
6.) Listen to classical music at home, and in the car.
7.) Listen to all kind of music, R7B, Jazz, Bluegrass, 80's pop, World, Rock, etc
8.) Read and talk about music styles and musicians. Read biographies and rent biographical movies about musicians, composers, singers, etc.
9.) Piano lessons
10.) Sing together as a family
11.) Buy her the songbooks and vocal selections of her favorite music
12.) Have a karaoke machine (we don't use it much though...)
13.) Let her spend her money on the musical scores of her favorite movies and then be willing to listen to them over and over in the car
14.) Sometimes write down the lyrics to the songs she is constantly making up.
15.) Enroll her in local kids musical theatre class
16.) Let her sing in homeschool talent show
17.) Plan to enroll her in chorus when she is old enough that they will take her (thinking about asking for her to be enrolled earlier based on audition like we did for musical theatre class and piano)
18.) Take her to local concerts, chamber music, drum circles, etc
19.) Have a collection of musical instruments for her to explore and "jam" with

Also I thinking about letting her audition for kids roles in adult productions but I haven't done that before.

This kid loves music, especially creating it. But enjoys all aspects - she was the kid who would take sheet music to bed to read at night and memorized all of Les Miserables before she was four.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I love your website, it is beautifully laid out and your description of the homeschooling you do with Z, and the support you give her for her interests, is so inspiring.

Z is a gorgeous child, those eyes are amazing! But she also clearly has a beautiful inner being which shines through your words and the photos. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Haven

PS I'm sorry for your recent loss.