Thank you everyone who wrote regarding Z's song.
That is pretty typical of the kind of songs she makes up everyday. That is a pretty good one. She also makes up less good ones. *grin*
Usually though she just sings them out to the ether (and whomever happens to be listening) and then they disapper forever.
I try to write them down when I can but a large portion of them come while I am driving or otherwise doing something that doesn't really lend it self to writing. But I do have the voice recorder and when we are in the car I sometimes give it to her to sing into.
The interesting thing is that, so far, Z has always made up better songs when she is doing it completely spontaneously. But when she tries to sing into the recorder or tries to make up a song for an audience her songs... well I guess I would describe those songs as less inspired.
Also Z hasn't previously wanted to write down any of her songs. She doesn't mind if I do but she feels, rightly, that stopping to write down a song while she is "in the moment of creation" causes her to lose that moment.
So that song yesteday was interesting to me because it was a very good song she made up "on purpose" and then wrote down by herself. I think this is an important and logical next step in her musical life.
Forte, I did ask her later what she was thinking about when she made it up. She said she didn't know. I am not worried about the dark tone though, that is really typical for her.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Asking the Wrong Questions
I want to recommend a blog called Asking the Wrong Questions
The blogger, Abigail, is not a homeschooler as far as I know but she has very interesting and well-written reviews of books, movies and t.v. show, many of which I am a big fan of (Jane Austen, Dr. Who, Veronica Mars, Firefly, Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows and Philip Pullman's Dark Material's trilogy)
Wrong Questions is one of only Four non homeschooling/gifted centric blogs that I read. The other two are the hilariously funny QC Report and Chef Ann Cooper, Renegade Lunch Lady who writes about changing the way American feeds kids. The other blog I recently started reading is written by an amazing literary prodigy, 9 year old Adora Svitak .
The blogger, Abigail, is not a homeschooler as far as I know but she has very interesting and well-written reviews of books, movies and t.v. show, many of which I am a big fan of (Jane Austen, Dr. Who, Veronica Mars, Firefly, Harry Potter and the Dealthy Hallows and Philip Pullman's Dark Material's trilogy)
Wrong Questions is one of only Four non homeschooling/gifted centric blogs that I read. The other two are the hilariously funny QC Report and Chef Ann Cooper, Renegade Lunch Lady who writes about changing the way American feeds kids. The other blog I recently started reading is written by an amazing literary prodigy, 9 year old Adora Svitak .
Monday, July 30, 2007
the music
This afternoon Z and I met my MIL at the Grove in L.A. for lunch and a movie.
I really like the Grove. When Z was 9 months to 21 month we lived very near there and Z and I would go there at least once a week.
Today we ate at Marmalade Cafe and did some shopping at World Market and some boutiques. I got some more earrings. Z got a green parasol.
Then we went to see the new musical movie Hairspray. It was fun. Queen Latifah was great!
Z had a very hard time not getting up and dancing during the musical numbers. She did shake and shimmy and clap and groove in her chair though. That girl sure can dance!
Later at the grovery store she told me she made up part of a song and she needed to write it down. This is what she wrote:
This Place Has Changed
There are some things that cannot abide.
There are some things people cannot hide.
There is something different about this place.
I cannot see my own true face
This place is changed.
This place is ruthless
This place has changed
I am homeless
This place is at war,
they've set me up as a lure.
Everything has changed about this place
I cannot see my own true face.
That is all she wrote while we were at the store. I am not sure what she was thinking of but when she sang it she seemed to have something in mind.
dinner and homeschooling
Yesterday Z and Pere and I went to see the new Simpson's Movie. It was very funny! And pretty too - good graphics.
Then in the evening we drove down to L.A. to Pere's parents house. Here is Z playing near the pond in their back yard.
Then we met Tante Juliet down in Manhattan Beach for dinner. Here is a picture of Z playing on the red dog fountain.
I got some great presents. Pere got me the original British version of The Office on DVD (!!! love it!!
Tante Julie some Hello Kitty pajamas,
Pere's parents a signed book about a Geisha and CD of Japanese music
and Z got me a Sonoma cookbook and some very pretty earrings that she picked out herself. :)
and Hey O's mom! Guess what. Z is back to wanting to "homeschool" This morning, before we even had breakfast , I found Z digging through a bin of homeschooling books.
"Mommy, where is that green science book were were using last year, the about the environment, with the experiments?"
"Planet Patrol?" I asked
"Yes. I want to do some of those experiments now."
I convinced her to wait until after breakfast. :) During breakfast we listening to a great CD of French children's music that our Belgian exchange student got my for my birthday last year. Then we read about air pollution and looked up the air quaility index on the EPA site. (wow south central CA and some areas New Jersey are bad!).
Then Z did her experiement. She rubbed petroleum jelly inside three jears. One she set outside, one in her bedroom and one in the living room. After a week we will check and see how much pollution they have caught inside.
Then in the evening we drove down to L.A. to Pere's parents house. Here is Z playing near the pond in their back yard.
Then we met Tante Juliet down in Manhattan Beach for dinner. Here is a picture of Z playing on the red dog fountain.
I got some great presents. Pere got me the original British version of The Office on DVD (!!! love it!!
Tante Julie some Hello Kitty pajamas,
Pere's parents a signed book about a Geisha and CD of Japanese music
and Z got me a Sonoma cookbook and some very pretty earrings that she picked out herself. :)
and Hey O's mom! Guess what. Z is back to wanting to "homeschool" This morning, before we even had breakfast , I found Z digging through a bin of homeschooling books.
"Mommy, where is that green science book were were using last year, the about the environment, with the experiments?"
"Planet Patrol?" I asked
"Yes. I want to do some of those experiments now."
I convinced her to wait until after breakfast. :) During breakfast we listening to a great CD of French children's music that our Belgian exchange student got my for my birthday last year. Then we read about air pollution and looked up the air quaility index on the EPA site. (wow south central CA and some areas New Jersey are bad!).
Then Z did her experiement. She rubbed petroleum jelly inside three jears. One she set outside, one in her bedroom and one in the living room. After a week we will check and see how much pollution they have caught inside.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
*big fat sigh*
Last night was my "at home" birthday dinner. We had one of my favorite meals, crab with lemon and butter and Key Lime Pie.
It was so good! It was so good that I ate too much. I ate way too much. *ugh* I felt like that blueberry girl in Willy Wonka.
I am sure there is a lesson to learn in there somewhere... something about moderaion...
We also went to see a friend in Midsummer Night's Dream at the Theatricum Botanical. Z was in that play two years ago and I sat in on a lot of rehersals and seem to have memorized all the lines. This was also a student production and really fun and funny to watch.
I was inspired by Mariposa and did some reorganizing of Z's room. She has gotten more into writing and doing projects that require paper and tape and scissors these days so I organized her "writing supplies".
Today we are supposed to go see the new Simpson's movie (Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig) and then have another birthday dinner with Pere's family.
Right now Pere is teaching Z HTML. Pere starting programming when he was six and he has been wanting to spend some time with Z doing some basic stuff.
It was so good! It was so good that I ate too much. I ate way too much. *ugh* I felt like that blueberry girl in Willy Wonka.
I am sure there is a lesson to learn in there somewhere... something about moderaion...
We also went to see a friend in Midsummer Night's Dream at the Theatricum Botanical. Z was in that play two years ago and I sat in on a lot of rehersals and seem to have memorized all the lines. This was also a student production and really fun and funny to watch.
I was inspired by Mariposa and did some reorganizing of Z's room. She has gotten more into writing and doing projects that require paper and tape and scissors these days so I organized her "writing supplies".
Today we are supposed to go see the new Simpson's movie (Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig) and then have another birthday dinner with Pere's family.
Right now Pere is teaching Z HTML. Pere starting programming when he was six and he has been wanting to spend some time with Z doing some basic stuff.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Visuals
For Language Arts I am doing Classical Writing Aesop that I wrote about HERE. But instead of Aesop I will use Beatrix Potter Tales. With it I will cover grammar, vocabulary, spelling, comprehension, writing and handwriting. Here are some vocabulary words from The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies - soporific, improvident, sufficiently, profusely, resourceful, decayed, and enquired. Hopefully these stories will work well, If not I will have to find something more advanced.
We will spend 30 minutes a day on language arts.
Here is but one of the poetry books we will use. Z loves poetry.
I am going to use this book to figure out what grammar I should be using while implementing the classical writing method.
We do a lot of science. This is a really cool book my sister bought Z. Our plan is to read it and make a card or board game from the info we have learned. We will spend 30 minutes a day on science.
Once a week we will do an experiment from this book.
an example of an experiment
another science book we will be using
examples from inside
it is pretty meaty
We will still be using this book for art. Once a week Z will do her own art project giving an example of the term we have learned about. This might be 30 - 60 minutes depend on what she wants to do as a project.
example from inside the book
Here are some of the books she might be reaing for our home "bookclub", if we don't do it with the homeschool group.
I got this book last year for history. We didn't use it much. Maybe we can incorporate it this year.
example of inside
My plan for history is to read biographies of famous people from the Renaissance time period as well as defining key terms. I wrote about it HERE. We are probably going to do history for 30 min a day 4 times a week.
Z liked this geography work book.
And this book which is pretty funny. Geography will be 15 - 20 min twice a week.
It has some illustrated portions that are like a comic
We will keep up her Japanese but I am not sure what we will be using. Our Japanese teacher is moving back to Japan in a few weeks. I would like to find another teacher but if not I will do the best I can on my own. We will probably do Japanese twice a week.
Z will still be doing 30 minutes of piano a day. 15 minutes in the morning and 15 in the evening.
For P.E. she has gymnastics once a week plus plenty of informal swimming, bike riding, yoga, etc.
Other classes she will take are voice and Shakespeare. She doesn't really formally practice for them as she sings all the time anyway and the acting also comes easily.
This is pretty much what we did last year. The classes that I teach are between breakfast and lunch (except the 15 mins of evening piano practice.) Then her classes are in the afternoon (piano, voice, gymnastics, and Shakespeare) - they total 4 hours a week and are all very close to our home so the travel time is negligible. That leaves her about 6 hours of free time a day (not counting meals or reading in bed at night.) I feel pretty good about that and about the quality of her education. *smiles*
We will spend 30 minutes a day on language arts.
Here is but one of the poetry books we will use. Z loves poetry.
I am going to use this book to figure out what grammar I should be using while implementing the classical writing method.
We do a lot of science. This is a really cool book my sister bought Z. Our plan is to read it and make a card or board game from the info we have learned. We will spend 30 minutes a day on science.
Once a week we will do an experiment from this book.
an example of an experiment
another science book we will be using
examples from inside
it is pretty meaty
We will still be using this book for art. Once a week Z will do her own art project giving an example of the term we have learned about. This might be 30 - 60 minutes depend on what she wants to do as a project.
example from inside the book
Here are some of the books she might be reaing for our home "bookclub", if we don't do it with the homeschool group.
I got this book last year for history. We didn't use it much. Maybe we can incorporate it this year.
example of inside
My plan for history is to read biographies of famous people from the Renaissance time period as well as defining key terms. I wrote about it HERE. We are probably going to do history for 30 min a day 4 times a week.
Z liked this geography work book.
And this book which is pretty funny. Geography will be 15 - 20 min twice a week.
It has some illustrated portions that are like a comic
We will keep up her Japanese but I am not sure what we will be using. Our Japanese teacher is moving back to Japan in a few weeks. I would like to find another teacher but if not I will do the best I can on my own. We will probably do Japanese twice a week.
Z will still be doing 30 minutes of piano a day. 15 minutes in the morning and 15 in the evening.
For P.E. she has gymnastics once a week plus plenty of informal swimming, bike riding, yoga, etc.
Other classes she will take are voice and Shakespeare. She doesn't really formally practice for them as she sings all the time anyway and the acting also comes easily.
This is pretty much what we did last year. The classes that I teach are between breakfast and lunch (except the 15 mins of evening piano practice.) Then her classes are in the afternoon (piano, voice, gymnastics, and Shakespeare) - they total 4 hours a week and are all very close to our home so the travel time is negligible. That leaves her about 6 hours of free time a day (not counting meals or reading in bed at night.) I feel pretty good about that and about the quality of her education. *smiles*
handkerchiefs
When I was in 7th grade I developed really bad allergies. I spent a lot of time with a sore red nose from wiping it with scratchy tissues.
So one thing I do now when Z has a head cold (like she has today) is cut up an old soft cotton shirt into hankies. These hankies are ever so much softer on her little nose than a tissue and at the end of the day I wash them and they come out even softer.
This weekend is my birthday party. But I am thinking now we might have to cancel our plans to eat out at a nice restaurant near the beach because I don't want to infect everyone. That is okay though as long as I still get my presents. *joking*
Tomorrow we are supposed to see a good friend perform in Midsummer Night's Dream. I am wondering if I can load Z up on children's cold medicine and sit off in a corner somewhere... I don't know yet.
There does seem to be some kind of summer cold going around though. I talked to another friend yesterday and she said her whole family has been sick for two weeks. :(
Thankfully, though she is expelling some yuck from her nose Z doesn't seem to be feeling yucky. She is singing and laughing and running at at least 75% of her normal energy (which is still a good 15% more than most people.)
I don't know what we will do today. Z wants to play board and card games (what a surprise... :P). I want to write a post about my homeschooling plans for the fall. We will see if we can do both.
So one thing I do now when Z has a head cold (like she has today) is cut up an old soft cotton shirt into hankies. These hankies are ever so much softer on her little nose than a tissue and at the end of the day I wash them and they come out even softer.
This weekend is my birthday party. But I am thinking now we might have to cancel our plans to eat out at a nice restaurant near the beach because I don't want to infect everyone. That is okay though as long as I still get my presents. *joking*
Tomorrow we are supposed to see a good friend perform in Midsummer Night's Dream. I am wondering if I can load Z up on children's cold medicine and sit off in a corner somewhere... I don't know yet.
There does seem to be some kind of summer cold going around though. I talked to another friend yesterday and she said her whole family has been sick for two weeks. :(
Thankfully, though she is expelling some yuck from her nose Z doesn't seem to be feeling yucky. She is singing and laughing and running at at least 75% of her normal energy (which is still a good 15% more than most people.)
I don't know what we will do today. Z wants to play board and card games (what a surprise... :P). I want to write a post about my homeschooling plans for the fall. We will see if we can do both.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
excuses
I just haven't felt like blogging recently and it probably shows.
This coming year Z might be joining a homescoolers book club. They are reading middle school level books and the rate of one a month.
If she doesn't do this I was thinking we could do it together at home at the same rate, or close to it.
This is a list of books I will be choosing from: I will probably choose 4 books at first and then reevaluate.
Swallows and Amazons
The rest of the Oz books
The Jungle Book
The Black Stallion
rest of Narnia
The Book of Three
The Mouse and the Motorcycle
Bunnicula
Rabbit Hill
The Boxcar children
A Wrinkle in Time
Indian in the cupboard
Lost years of Merlin
Dark is Rising
Redwall
Rats of Nihm
Lord of the Rings
Stuart Little
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Cricket in Times Square
Sword in the Stone
Treasure Island
Black Beauty
The Borrowers
Five Children and It
Trumpet of the Swan
The Great Brain
The Children of the Green Knowe
The Phantom Tollbooth
Watership Down
The Door in the Wall
The Wheel on the School
Books by Edward Eager
Eva Ibbotson, Island of the Aunts
Dick King-Smith (Babe, the Gallant Pig
This coming year Z might be joining a homescoolers book club. They are reading middle school level books and the rate of one a month.
If she doesn't do this I was thinking we could do it together at home at the same rate, or close to it.
This is a list of books I will be choosing from: I will probably choose 4 books at first and then reevaluate.
Swallows and Amazons
The rest of the Oz books
The Jungle Book
The Black Stallion
rest of Narnia
The Book of Three
The Mouse and the Motorcycle
Bunnicula
Rabbit Hill
The Boxcar children
A Wrinkle in Time
Indian in the cupboard
Lost years of Merlin
Dark is Rising
Redwall
Rats of Nihm
Lord of the Rings
Stuart Little
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Cricket in Times Square
Sword in the Stone
Treasure Island
Black Beauty
The Borrowers
Five Children and It
Trumpet of the Swan
The Great Brain
The Children of the Green Knowe
The Phantom Tollbooth
Watership Down
The Door in the Wall
The Wheel on the School
Books by Edward Eager
Eva Ibbotson, Island of the Aunts
Dick King-Smith (Babe, the Gallant Pig
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
sick and Harry Potter
Yesterday (that was Tuesday right?) I felt terribly tired all day. I actually almost fell asleep in at her piano class. D'oh! Then this morning I work up with a sore throat and an upset tummy. :(
So I spent much of the day on the couch resting. I figured since Harry Potter is still real big in our minds that today would be a good day to have a Harry Potter movie marathon. We started before 9:00 and now, after 5:00 we are on the Goblet of Fire. *jeez*
Speaking of Harry Potter, I wanted to say that I am glad that my daughter has Harry Potter in her life. Just the spectacle of it, the shared worldwide obsession, will be defining time period she can look back upon. In my childhood we had Star Wars. I think Harry Potter is Z's version of that. (I also compare Pirates with Indiana Jones.)
And Z has been really into HP sine she was 3 1/2. There have only been a couple months of the last three years that she hasn't been reading one of the books.
Part of me is sad that the books are over. But at least there are two more movies (which I admit are nowhere near as good as the books) and J.K. Rowling is supposed to be writing an encyclopedia to share the information she knows about the history and future of characters.
Are there better books then Harry Potter? Definitely! Just as there are better movies than Star Wars. But still there is some special about them that speaks to lots of people. I mean, when is the next time people are going to line up by the thousands to get a book the moment it is released?
I am glad that my daughter got to be part of this extraordinary shared experience.
So I spent much of the day on the couch resting. I figured since Harry Potter is still real big in our minds that today would be a good day to have a Harry Potter movie marathon. We started before 9:00 and now, after 5:00 we are on the Goblet of Fire. *jeez*
Speaking of Harry Potter, I wanted to say that I am glad that my daughter has Harry Potter in her life. Just the spectacle of it, the shared worldwide obsession, will be defining time period she can look back upon. In my childhood we had Star Wars. I think Harry Potter is Z's version of that. (I also compare Pirates with Indiana Jones.)
And Z has been really into HP sine she was 3 1/2. There have only been a couple months of the last three years that she hasn't been reading one of the books.
Part of me is sad that the books are over. But at least there are two more movies (which I admit are nowhere near as good as the books) and J.K. Rowling is supposed to be writing an encyclopedia to share the information she knows about the history and future of characters.
Are there better books then Harry Potter? Definitely! Just as there are better movies than Star Wars. But still there is some special about them that speaks to lots of people. I mean, when is the next time people are going to line up by the thousands to get a book the moment it is released?
I am glad that my daughter got to be part of this extraordinary shared experience.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Sleepover Milestone
Z went on her first sleepover last night.
It was with E, an older PG girl (10 yo) that are family friends of ours. I am good friends with the mom (some of you know her) and I feel really comfortable with them and that Z would be safe.
The girls went swimming first and then played some games and then sang and danced to Wicked for a couple hours before going to bed. Z said she missed me some when she was falling asleep but otherwise she had a blast and is ready to do it again soon.
I missed her right before bed too.
This afternoon we went over to a friends house for a playdate. We all went swimming in their pool and the girl's also played in their bouncy house.
Then this evening I dropped my cell phone in the sink while I was washing and we had to take an emergency trip to the mall. :(
While I was there I checked out the new i-Phones. *drool*
It was with E, an older PG girl (10 yo) that are family friends of ours. I am good friends with the mom (some of you know her) and I feel really comfortable with them and that Z would be safe.
The girls went swimming first and then played some games and then sang and danced to Wicked for a couple hours before going to bed. Z said she missed me some when she was falling asleep but otherwise she had a blast and is ready to do it again soon.
I missed her right before bed too.
This afternoon we went over to a friends house for a playdate. We all went swimming in their pool and the girl's also played in their bouncy house.
Then this evening I dropped my cell phone in the sink while I was washing and we had to take an emergency trip to the mall. :(
While I was there I checked out the new i-Phones. *drool*
Monday, July 23, 2007
Snape Video
So I have watched this a couple times since finishing the book.
It is a Snape montage from the first two movies. I got it a long time ago. It has been sitting on my desktop for a couple years.
It doesn't have any spoilers but some speculation. It is funny and sad and the song is one I particularly like - Simon and Garfunkel - I am a Rock
Watch It On Youtube
It is a Snape montage from the first two movies. I got it a long time ago. It has been sitting on my desktop for a couple years.
It doesn't have any spoilers but some speculation. It is funny and sad and the song is one I particularly like - Simon and Garfunkel - I am a Rock
Watch It On Youtube
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Pictures from the Previous Week
First here are some pictures from Friday night.
Z in line with her three girlfriends.
After we all got our bracelets ten of us went to dinner together. Then the girls made HP related crafts (Z made a time turner and a pensieve) at Micheal's next door to the bookstore.
It is midnight at we are in line to buy the book!!
Got it!!!
Pictures from Z's recital last Sunday
Pictures from Summer Sounds last Thursday
making her Cuban paper dolls
Z in line with her three girlfriends.
After we all got our bracelets ten of us went to dinner together. Then the girls made HP related crafts (Z made a time turner and a pensieve) at Micheal's next door to the bookstore.
It is midnight at we are in line to buy the book!!
Got it!!!
Pictures from Z's recital last Sunday
Pictures from Summer Sounds last Thursday
making her Cuban paper dolls
HP7 (no spoilers)
We just finished reading - it was all day yesterday and until dinner time today. We all really liked it but I need some time to digest it all to really figure out how I feel about everything.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Harry Potterific Weekend of Ninja Prowess Reading Marathon
or HPWNPRM for short.
Tomorrow morning we drive down to have coffee with our friends and then the HPWNPRM starts. First Z and I are going to see Order of the Phoenix again. Then we will be hanging out with a group of friends at the Barnes and Noble for hours waiting for book 7 to be released at midnight.
Saturday we wake up bright and early. No t.v., no internet, media at all except book seven which we will be taking turns reading aloud to each other. We will stay sequestered in our house, our only fuel soda, pringles and perhaps, throat lozenges. We need to finish the book by Sunday night so Pere can go to work on Monday.
It is going to hard. But if we loose our faith in our reading prowess we can revive ourselves with a rousing chorus of "Weasley is our King"
Tomorrow morning we drive down to have coffee with our friends and then the HPWNPRM starts. First Z and I are going to see Order of the Phoenix again. Then we will be hanging out with a group of friends at the Barnes and Noble for hours waiting for book 7 to be released at midnight.
Saturday we wake up bright and early. No t.v., no internet, media at all except book seven which we will be taking turns reading aloud to each other. We will stay sequestered in our house, our only fuel soda, pringles and perhaps, throat lozenges. We need to finish the book by Sunday night so Pere can go to work on Monday.
It is going to hard. But if we loose our faith in our reading prowess we can revive ourselves with a rousing chorus of "Weasley is our King"
playing catch up
Almost all of Z's classes wanted to do extra lessons to make up for what she missed while we were on vacation.
Tuesday was the craziest day. She had piano at 12:00 and then a voice lesson at 1:15 that we drove to but it got cancelled at the last moment, and then two hours of gymnastics from 3 - 5. Then a redo of the voice lesson at 6:00.
Yesterday we stayed home all day. In the afternoon we had some friends over to swim in the pool. But overall the day was slow and relaxing.
Today we are back running around. We are going to the Hollywood Bowl again this morning. Then a picnic lunch there with friends. Then back home for Japanese at 3:00. And then gymnastics at 4:00.
It is kind of like when you have a job and you go on vacation and when you get back you have this big pile in your inbox and it is like you didn't really have a vacation at all. Now in Z's case she likes her classes but for me it is a lot of extra driving around and sitting quietly while Z does something. *wry grin* (but actually I have been doing some writing and planning)
I think that after this week we are pretty much caught up though.
***************************
Meanwhile most days we are still doing homeschooling. I would say we are doing Homeschooling One Half. She has got piano (a couple of new songs to work on), Japanese, math and King Arthur. We are almost done with King Arthur and then I was thinking about watching Excaliber with her but I might have to check it out myself because I think there were was graphic scene with Launcelot and Guinevere.
On her own she is busying herself with her snap circuits (designing her own cuircuits), her science encyclopedia, Harry Potter, various websites on nutrition, and singing.
Tuesday was the craziest day. She had piano at 12:00 and then a voice lesson at 1:15 that we drove to but it got cancelled at the last moment, and then two hours of gymnastics from 3 - 5. Then a redo of the voice lesson at 6:00.
Yesterday we stayed home all day. In the afternoon we had some friends over to swim in the pool. But overall the day was slow and relaxing.
Today we are back running around. We are going to the Hollywood Bowl again this morning. Then a picnic lunch there with friends. Then back home for Japanese at 3:00. And then gymnastics at 4:00.
It is kind of like when you have a job and you go on vacation and when you get back you have this big pile in your inbox and it is like you didn't really have a vacation at all. Now in Z's case she likes her classes but for me it is a lot of extra driving around and sitting quietly while Z does something. *wry grin* (but actually I have been doing some writing and planning)
I think that after this week we are pretty much caught up though.
***************************
Meanwhile most days we are still doing homeschooling. I would say we are doing Homeschooling One Half. She has got piano (a couple of new songs to work on), Japanese, math and King Arthur. We are almost done with King Arthur and then I was thinking about watching Excaliber with her but I might have to check it out myself because I think there were was graphic scene with Launcelot and Guinevere.
On her own she is busying herself with her snap circuits (designing her own cuircuits), her science encyclopedia, Harry Potter, various websites on nutrition, and singing.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Inevitable focus
I posted a very similar version of this on the HG board today. The topic there was timely for me because I have been thinking about Z's abundant talents and interests since this weekend.
We have had both the blessing and the problem of Z's teachers wanting her to focus on their subject. Her piano teacher wants her to spend all her free time on piano. Her voice teacher is ready for her to start a more time-consuming training program. Her agent obviously wanted her to drop everything for an audition. She isn't taking dance right now but I know that the good dance school around here get very serious and time consuming when the kids are eight.
Anyway this is what I am dealing with:
*******************
My daughter is into musical theatre - so she wants to sing and dance and act. She also is interested in composing her own material. Right now she takes private lessons in piano, and voice and does Shakespeare theatre during the school year.
Secondly she is very interested in most branches of science. She wants to be an astronaut and a Doctor. She also collects gems and minerals and arthropods and reads science text books for fun (when she is not reading sheet music.)
Third, when she was around 2 1/2 she gave herself the lifetime goal being a polygot. Currently she takes private lessons in Japanese but she has also learned some Spanish, French, and Hebrew. (she is also known to read foreign language dictionaries for fun)
Fourth, she is very physically active. She would live at her gymnastics school if she could. She is not taking dance now because I made her take a break but she has taken and loved both dance and martial arts and wants to get back into them. She also likes any sport we have introduced her to - tennis, swimming, basketball, soccer, etc.
Fifth, she loves to read. She reads all the time, mostly fantasy books and poetry. She is often reading more than half a dozen LARGE books at a time.
Sixth, she is no social hermit. She has a lot of friends and we have two homeschooling groups we go to as well as playdates every week.
Last, but not least, I personally think it is very important for her emotional and mental health to have significant down time every day. Often her down time is taken up with reading or composing or singing. But she could just lie down if she wanted.
Last summer she started doing some professional acting and last January it got to be too much. I was more than willing to drop that. But all these other things are really important to her.
I am in a state of worrying about Z's near future and how she is going to continue pursuing all her many interests. I understand that she will have to spend more time on some things and thus less time on others. If she gets more into the whole performing arts thing maybe she will have to explore science or languages at specialized camps during the summer.
Right now we are able to keep a healthy balance. But I feel like to get to the level she wants to be at in her various activities (i.e. a challenging level) she will have to give up some things. Or at least not do all of them at the same time.
Planning for all this is kind of stressing me out these days.
We have had both the blessing and the problem of Z's teachers wanting her to focus on their subject. Her piano teacher wants her to spend all her free time on piano. Her voice teacher is ready for her to start a more time-consuming training program. Her agent obviously wanted her to drop everything for an audition. She isn't taking dance right now but I know that the good dance school around here get very serious and time consuming when the kids are eight.
Anyway this is what I am dealing with:
*******************
My daughter is into musical theatre - so she wants to sing and dance and act. She also is interested in composing her own material. Right now she takes private lessons in piano, and voice and does Shakespeare theatre during the school year.
Secondly she is very interested in most branches of science. She wants to be an astronaut and a Doctor. She also collects gems and minerals and arthropods and reads science text books for fun (when she is not reading sheet music.)
Third, when she was around 2 1/2 she gave herself the lifetime goal being a polygot. Currently she takes private lessons in Japanese but she has also learned some Spanish, French, and Hebrew. (she is also known to read foreign language dictionaries for fun)
Fourth, she is very physically active. She would live at her gymnastics school if she could. She is not taking dance now because I made her take a break but she has taken and loved both dance and martial arts and wants to get back into them. She also likes any sport we have introduced her to - tennis, swimming, basketball, soccer, etc.
Fifth, she loves to read. She reads all the time, mostly fantasy books and poetry. She is often reading more than half a dozen LARGE books at a time.
Sixth, she is no social hermit. She has a lot of friends and we have two homeschooling groups we go to as well as playdates every week.
Last, but not least, I personally think it is very important for her emotional and mental health to have significant down time every day. Often her down time is taken up with reading or composing or singing. But she could just lie down if she wanted.
Last summer she started doing some professional acting and last January it got to be too much. I was more than willing to drop that. But all these other things are really important to her.
I am in a state of worrying about Z's near future and how she is going to continue pursuing all her many interests. I understand that she will have to spend more time on some things and thus less time on others. If she gets more into the whole performing arts thing maybe she will have to explore science or languages at specialized camps during the summer.
Right now we are able to keep a healthy balance. But I feel like to get to the level she wants to be at in her various activities (i.e. a challenging level) she will have to give up some things. Or at least not do all of them at the same time.
Planning for all this is kind of stressing me out these days.
Monday, July 16, 2007
We Will Rock You!
Thanks Kate! for nominating me as a Rockin Girl Blogger. Ahhhh, if you only knew... I should dig out the pics of me when I had dyed black hair and wore a leather jacket. *grin*
Instead I am going to show what I think is a hilarious picture of Z rockin' out in her car seat.
(she looks like a weird Van Halen groupie...)
And I would like to nominate 5 ladies I have actually met in real life and found them to be Rockin!
Mariposa - you are beautiful, deep and tres stylish!
Forte - you're funny and fun!
Jaime - nice, funny, and easy to get along with.
Quinn - hilarious and very smart with a very smart and hilarous blog
and H.A. and P.A.. who have a private blog and would like to keep it that way - because you two are super cool and you rock in the library and on the mandolin!
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