School work. Laundry. The regular crazy round of driving to Taekwon Do and Irish Stepdance (but my husband does that, so I'm definitely not complaining.)
I bailed on Three Wishes by Lianne Moriarty, by the way. It was kind of lewd (and the bad language was distracting). I'm going to try The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey instead. I know nothing about it, so we shall see.
I just finished listening to Andrew Pudewa's The Profound Effects of Music on Life and let's just say: I'm rattled. I always am after listening to Pudewa. :) He's definitely making me think about our listening choices- especially contemporary Christian music, which I've listened to all my life and have generally considered harmless. I felt similar to this after learning about the negative power of inverted archetypes in literature. Then, I was stunned to learn that seemingly sweet stories in which dragons or witches are discovered to be kind, misunderstood creatures actually serve to undermine the Christian Truth we work so hard to nurture in our children. Now I'm considering Pudewa's presentation of what contemporary music (of any variety) does to a person's brain and body. The science behind it is quite amazing.
At any rate, I'm very glad we have the girls in piano lessons, and I'm looking to bring more music appreciation into our days as well. I feel like I'm more or less illiterate when it comes to understanding and appreciating truly excellent music. I picked up a few random things from the library, but I'd love to hear if you use a program or a book and love it.
I always loved it when people asked me what number baby this would be and I replied, "3 and 4!" Gotta love how excited everyone gets about twins :) You look awesome!
ReplyDeleteYou look beautiful! Super fabulousa!
ReplyDeleteI've never listened to Andre Pudewa but it kind of amuses me how you find these things to listen to that explain and verify what we've been doing for a couple of decades. ;-)(For example, that one you said talked about how reading aloud makes for good writers...) Music all the time - yes, contemporary anything - no. And the next best thing to buying books is buying musical instruments. No book or program here - just a very music infused life. :-)
My favorite posts at your blog are the videos of your kids making beautiful music. So inspiring!
DeleteAs you are already going to the library frequently you can just make it part of your weekly stop to hit the music section. Try a few CD's each time and see what you like. Put on some Bach or Vivaldi while the kids do their math or art. Play some Mozart while you're cooking. We like to crank the Scottish stuff like bagpipes or Irish tunes when we have to clean. Maybe try some O'Carolan harp music for quieter times.
DeleteThe Classical Kids series combines composer info with a storyline and music - your library likely has some of those (Bach is our fave - we had it all practically memorized when the kids were small). The Vox Music Masters series is also good for composer info combined with music. The library might have The Top 100 Masterpieces of Classical Music - a set of 'greatest hits' so to speak. The Opal Wheeler books are charming composer bios.
We enjoy the Opal Wheeler bios too! Great for grades 3-5.
DeleteLOve, love, love that picture of Posy! The hair is hilarious, and the picture is so great! Perfect lighting & etc. :) I have the book Snow Child, but haven't read it yet. Let me know what you think so I know if I should start it or not.
ReplyDeleteI will!
DeleteYou look cute, Sarah! Not at all big! It is fascinating how much faster you grow, though, isn't it?! Hope you're feeling well!
ReplyDeleteI heard Andrew Pudewa speak a couple years ago, and one of his talks was on music. It was amazing and gave us a lot to think about! Our piano teacher just gave me a podcast to listen to, and she hinted that it contained some insights into Christian rock. I'll let you know ...
I'd love to know how and when you fit in your own, personal reading. I am really struggling to fit it in, even though I really want to!
It's getting tougher. I used to do it while nursing, but now she's not really nursing anymore, so... sigh. Mostly I read after the kids are in bed, but before I go. So somewhere between 8-10 pm. But pregnancy is a great excuse to put my feet up mid-day while the baby naps, so I've been reading a bit then, too!
DeleteHonestly, my biggest distraction is the internet. If I even get online for a second to check my email or whatever, all of my reading time gets sucked away.
I forgot all about his view on inverted archetypes, but quite agree. We do our best to avoid friendly dragons and witches around here, even Puff. We even avoid Disney as much as possible, preferring to read beautifully illustrated versions of classic fairy tales.
ReplyDeleteDifficult to go against the grain with music, though. The music played over the speakers in places like skating rinks, coffee shops, and even Feed My Starving Children grates on us. Yes, even Christian rock. I often imagine all of these places playing Mozart instead, and what different feelings people could be experiencing in public places, and how hearts could change.
I wish you the best in finding a program - hope my email made some sense! An investment in a boxed CD set would be a great place to start!
Well, now that's a most lovely thought Tracy! Mozart and Bach infiltrating the ears and minds and souls of the public on a regular basis - it would be quite a different world to live in, indeed.
DeleteIt is true that popular music 'grates' on us all (my kids call it 'boomp-pattatas' I reckon because of the beat), but I don't consider that a bad thing. :-)
Your email was super helpful, Tracy! Thank you!
DeleteSometimes I just imagine a different world - classical music in public spaces, BBC movie channels on cable, as much time spent reporting on the arts as they do sports on the evening news, a page in the local paper reporting on homeschoolers' accomplishments alongside the public school news, why not change the paradigm?
DeleteOur hometown had a junior symphony, and one of the things they did was send out cassette tapes every month with one classical composer or theme. There was always reading material that accompanied it, about the composer and the music. Obviously, was some time ago, back when I was homeschooled, and people still used cassette tapes! But it was a great resource for learning about music (and also often fit right in with history). I wonder if you can find something like that? You just had to mail back the materials at the end of each month. Oh and we had a work book where we would write a summary of the composer and sometimes draw a picture of him. Learned a lot that way too, just looking one up in the encyclopedia. I feel like I'm so old going on about cassette tapes and encyclopedias. :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, and, just plain old go to the symphony whenever you can! If you go to public rehearsals, it can be very reasonable, and it doesn't have to be the NY Philharmonic to be meaningful.
If your local symphony employs an education staff, chances are they produce education materials to prepare kids prior to the performance. Ours (before the strike) made the materials available online to print out and provided listening links.
DeleteAlso, Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts are on Netflix. We haven't seen them yet, but they are in our queue.
Another thought for you, that I think you will appreciate, is teaching your kids about musical form. This crosses over into poetry memorization and writing skills. The Faber & Faber piano books cover it, but without as much emphasis as the Suzuki method. Besides being familiar with melodies, composers, and the elements of music, form gives the listener a listening map - some pegs on which to hang some expectations instead of tuning out and letting the music wash over them.
A professor I was once a TA for told the class that having classical music as background music was like using fine linens for doormats. I don't quite agree with him, but understand his point. I get much more out of hearing a familiar piece live, and giving it my undivided attention, than hearing on the radio while I am driving or cooking.
That's a great quote, Tracy, about the linens! My most musically brained child, Jonathan, truly does not like or approve of 'background music' of any kind while the rest of us plebeians in the house love it. He has great difficulty doing any other activity (other than thinking, processing, analyzing...) while listening to music. Listening with full focus as you say is wonderful and optimal. But you mention hearing a 'familiar' piece and one way of achieving that familiarity is frequent listening, hence the 'background' playing. And as I'm sure you know, with music (and many other things), familiarity leads to affection.
DeleteFor so many centuries the only way to experience music was live. Now we have the ability to hear it all the time, but popular culture inundates our ears with the banal. The different world you imagine sounds lovely! That is part of what we are doing as homeschoolers - building a different sort of culture within our homes.
Awesome! Thank you, Anastasia.
DeleteTracy, my kids' piano teacher is not a Suzuki teacher, but uses the Faber piano books, so that's great. You talked about the difference between listening with intention and just letting the music wash over you. This is why I feel like I need a little extra "help" over and above just listening to good music. I feel like I don't know what to listen for, so usually it's just washing over me in waves and I wonder if any of it stuck? :)
And Kimberlee- yes! Exactly! That's what we are doing as homeschoolers- building a whole different culture in our homes. I love that.
Traci and Kimberlee and whomever else may know...what age should we start music lessons and what is the best way to educate mysellf on listening, etc. to music? My education was woefully lacking in this area....
DeleteYou are so cute! Love the belly! I remember all too well all the comments and talk that goes along with being "big" so soon. I borrowed a pair of my sister in laws jeans that she wore up until she delivered when I was only 3 months along. :) I loved it too though! Its such a wonderful experience.
ReplyDeleteLove Posy's hair and you look adorable! I'm going to have to check out the music speech. I love classical music and my husband and I go to the symphony, but I haven't taken the kids in ages! library visits are always a happy day at our house too.
ReplyDeleteI am just going to reiterate what has already been said -- you and Posy-Pie are both too cute for words. Have to give Snap some love too -- she looks like she loves her big brother. So $15 for the lecture? Wow. Sounds like it was a good one, though.
ReplyDeleteI actually got it free as one of their 12 Days of Christmas gifts. But... It IS one of his best! I wish they had it cheaper like his other talks.
DeleteHa! I'm so the opposite! I've been thankful for the winter weather; my neighbors all think I'm just really bundled up instead of almost 20 weeks pregnant. Introvert?!
ReplyDeleteGinny had a good post on music awhile back: http://www.gsheller.com/page/3?s=maestro
I've thought about asking the grandparents for the Maestro classics for next Christmas.
And, that lecture sounds good!
Oooh. I missed that post of Ginny's somehow. Thanks for the link!
DeleteWoops! Forgot our account is under Michael's name. This is Megan, in Seattle:)
ReplyDeleteI thought so. :)
DeleteThe Snow Child is a very beautiful book, although rather melancholy. Lovely photos; you look so well :-)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed his music talk too. It is very compelling!
ReplyDeleteI adored The Snow Child. It was a bit sad, but the descriptions of the scenery and weather, and the fairy tale feel of the book totally took me away to another place. And that, I feel, is what a good book should do. :) Well worth the read imo.
ReplyDeleteHa - I was just saying to my dh that I felt like I couldn't get any bigger (I'm 33 weeks) and he laughed and said, "You know, you were twice that size with the twins."
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteOh! You look beautiful and wonderful and healthy! I gained 80 pounds when I was pregnant with the twins, which is essentially a middle school kid. Crazy. But worth every ounce;)
ReplyDeleteMusic is kind of a constant background here as my husband is a musician and music teacher so there is usually some form of it happening around here most of the time. Some notable fun things to explore would be movie The Music Instinct: Science and Song (http://www.amazon.com/The-Music-Instinct-Science-Song/dp/B0028X6KYW) which (I haven't heard Andrew's talk but I'm assuming) you will see and hear the science behind what Andrew's talking about. I loved it.
Also, this TED talk is brilliant, given by Benjamin Zander, director of the Boston Philharmonic, on the transforming power of classical music: (http://www.ted.com/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html)
Also, the movie Note by Note: The making of a Steinway is soooo good and fascinating for kids to see how Steinways are made. (http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Note_by_Note_The_Making_of_Steinway_L1037/70082641?locale=en-US)
And as far as music instruction, I can't say enough good about Making Music Praying Twice. Being a certified teacher, I really learned the genius that went into creating this program for early music education. It's totally geared toward opening a child's brain to good music and developing auditory learning skills. I would highly recommend it, especially since you have little ones.
And your big kids will just jump on board:)
Thank you for all these links! Fabulous! I'm clicking, clicking, clicking. :)
DeleteAbsolutely love the hair!!!!
ReplyDeleteCan't stand that beautiful smile and incredible growing belly!!! Only wish I was closer to watch it grow! Keep those pictures coming.
ReplyDeleteYou look so beautiful!! I wish I could help more with the music. I feel so incompetent in that area compared to some of these other folks. But we recently got a piano and John Paul started Suzuki lessons so there's that... We do have the Music Masters CD set which is very well done but we don't listen to it nearly enough.
ReplyDeleteYou look adorable! And I love the picture of Posy!
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to find a way to get my children back into music lessons, but it hasn't been a possibility yet. In the meantime we are studying the composers... Hopefully next year something will work out that isn't too expensive or too far from home!
Hi Sarah - Classical Music for Dummies is a good book - comes with a CD - I just checked it out from the library. Love the photo of your little one! So precious! God bless you.
ReplyDeleteYou look gorgeous...and about how I looked at 16 weeks carrying one. :-/. :-).
ReplyDeleteI will have to look into the music talk. He gave that talk last year here in Houston and I REALLY wanted to go but just couldn't swing it...(we weren't allowed to take children...to a HOMESCHOOL conference).
I'm really not sure what the evil is about contemporary Christian music...I love how they put to words how I'm feeling in my heart. I will admit though that I only want to listen to it in the car...I DO NOT want to listen to anything resembling it at Mass.
And unfortunately, Taylor Swift has parked herself in our daily life. Now, that you know what you know, how are you going to change things? Is all contemporary music off-limits or are you just going to try make sure the ratio of classical to contemporary leans towards the classical?
Oh, I don't think Andrew Pudewa was saying that contemporary Christian music is evil at all. He was discussing the components of music and he described, scientifically, what happens to our bodies when we listen to music that is driven by a strong beat or is syncopated throughout. Basically, our bodies respond to constant syncopation/strong beats as stressors or pain-inducers. Unfortunately, most of us are totally tuned out to that because we are hearing contemporary music all the time, so we've been "dulled' by it; we don't notice the way it affects our physiology. He does make some beautiful points about how music that harmonizes with our bodies brings glory to God and helps us partake in a little bit of Heaven- and that's not just Classical music. It's any music that is driven by the harmony (I think? or is it the melody? see, I'm musically illiterate...) and is not syncopated- or at least, is only syncopated for a short while before resolving itself once again.
DeleteI should say that Pudewa stated several times in his talk that he wasn't trying to tell us one kind of music is bad and the other is good. He just wants us to know what we're hearing- to be aware that the stuff we put into our ears affects us in ways we are not cognizant about.
As for how it's going to change things-- I'm not about to do any drastic overhaul or anything. ;) We haven't been listening to Taylor Swift anymore (though I used to love her) because there is something different about having an 11-year-old daughter singing her songs. It didn't bug me when she was 8. It bugs me big time now. Probably because the messages in the songs are often so opposed to the rest of what I'm trying to form in her, and now that's really obvious as she is in the brink of young womanhood. We don't actually listen to a lot of contemporary music- we listen to audio books in the car, and around the house we usually listen to the Elizabeth Mitchell station on Pandora, which is pretty folksy. I won't be changing that. I do think I'll be more mindful to bring in classical music in ways I haven't before. I don't care much for classical myself- my ears have never been trained to appreciate it! So I've got the extra oomph I need to play it and learn about it, and that's my big takeaway from Pudewa's talk.
Bear...you look wonderful!
ReplyDeleteAnd Posy's hair is a crack-up. Maybe it has something to do with your maiden name? :)
Quit listening to 'contemporary Christian music' a long time ago. Classic King, 98.1FM supporter. Not sure if they broadcast in your area, but you can listen online or via Comcast, if that's your cable provider. There's a lot of weak, if not poor, and even downright bad theology in much of what passes as contemporary Christian music.
PB
We also have Music Masters, Top 100 Masterpieces of Classical Music, and Classical Kids Series. I need to remember to play our CD's more often though. Sometimes, I'll turn on the Pandora to a Bach or Mozart station, or the composer's story we've been studying.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Pudewa's talk on music was an eye opener, esp. on the contemporary Christian music. I was thinking about this though, as my kids were singing in the car to the Cat Chat CD's from their vacation Bible school, and wondering what we should be using to sing along with if we focus mainly on classical music?
I don't tend to listen to contemporary Christian music as I get tired of it quickly. (Maybe for the reasons in Mr. Pudewa's talk?) Most of the kids CD's are Catholic, so I know the theology is good. We try to limit the radio in the car too. What do you let your kids listen and sing along with?
I think you may be interested in the cd set "music and morality" by Father Basil Nortz. My husband and I listened to it a few months ago and passed it on to many of our friends. While not everyone was totally sold on his message they all thought it was very thought provoking. Well worth the 17 dollars.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.opusangelorum.org/audio_conferences/music/audio_music_dw.htm
I can't say enough great things about Making Music Praying Twice. I have taken part in classes w/ all 4 of my children for 7 yrs now and just love it. The CDs and books are so well done, my kids are constantly singing the songs. It's created by a homeschooling family too! The program relies heavily on the research of brain growth in young children. It's designed to foster the Catholic faith and to enrich education and family life, and pursues a profound goal: While the gift of music education is invaluable, the gift of music combined with prayer is immeasurable.
ReplyDeleteIn a secular world often devoid of faith and of family togetherness, Making Music Praying Twice provides a genuine faith-based experience that is rare, enriching, educational, transcendental and beautiful.
How's that for a commercial? Check it out!
I've not read the comments but thought I would share a music resource we love: Maestro Classics CDs. They are so fun because one track has the classical piece with a storyteller sharing the story the piece represents, they help you learn which instruments or theme bits represent different characters, etc, before the story, and then there is a whole track with just the music to enjoy after you've heard the story version. So much fun for my kiddos.
ReplyDeleteOur favorites so far are The Tortoise and the Hare and Peter and the Wolf. I really want the new one, Carnival of the Animals. We've got a few others (My Name is Handel, The Story of Swan Lake) and all are good.
You can check out all the ones they offer and hear a piece of each cd on their website: http://maestroclassics.com/ There are free study guides for homeschoolers to download too! They offer CD and MP3 downloads, but technically I think Amazon carries both for a bit less.