Music

Music has been delighting our household in a variety of forms.  Both former music majors, Todd and I have a lot of formal music education and the children are aware of this.  But we aren't practicing our instruments all of the time at home.  I play my flute occasionally, and we use our piano to accompany songs the children are singing.  But most of the time, we are listening to music or singing fun songs. 

At home, we listen to Elizabeth Mitchell, Sunday School CDs, Billy Joel, Johnny Cash, Sufjan Stevens, etc.  In the car we are usually "car ride singers" by nature, but we also enjoy listening to Madison radio (hits from the 70's-80's-90's) and classical radio.  So it made sense recently to check out books on composers from the library. 

The Young Mozart, Play Mozart Play, and Beethoven Lives Upstairs are 3 such children's books that have really been of interest to my children---and myself, for that matter.  We've learned about what life was like as children for these famous composers, how music became part of their lives, how they played, and their quirks (especially Beethoven's).  We have been reading these stories over and over, and it has been fun to listen to their music as well.

This may have led to Clara's more intense interest in the piano.  She had been interested for a while, but she seems to be moreso now.  So, I finally agreed to give her some "Introduction to Piano" lessons after a friend lent me some beginner lesson books.  We've been having a lesson per week for the last few weeks, and she's already learning about quarter and half notes, quarter rests, the black keys, and finger numbers...among other important beginner details.

To top it off, we've been using a book called Folk Songs That Will Make You Sing Your Head Off  which has been loads of fun!  We've been singing "Dear Liza" all day today, and we performed it for Todd tonight. 

Whenever I turn on music during the day or we begin singing, my mood lightens (even if it was already light!).  Good things happen for all of us.  Music is medicine for the soul, and may it always be an important part of our lives!

The Community Read

Afghanistan and Pakistan are the countries of choice for Clara these days.  Iowa County is participating in a Community Read right now on the Stones Into Schools book.  Much of our community is actually reading this book and the other related books (3 Cups of Tea and Listen to the Wind).  Our library has lots of new books and videos related to the area, and they have also put together Discovery Boxes that include traditional clothing, shoes, jewelry, books, videos, descriptions, and other informative materials.  There is a huge list of events surrounding this Community Read, and Clara & I have gone to a couple of those events so far.  The first was a Children's Event at Shake Rag Alley where we listened to a reading of Listen to the Wind.  We then created a mural collage of scenes from the book.  It was wonderful and beautiful, and it really sparked Clara's interest in the culture.

The next event was a celebration of "The Afghan Nowruz Festival," which is the traditional New Year celebration.  This was led by Dr. Aaliya Bibi and included an awesome cooking demonstration, delicious traditional food, dancing, henna, costumes, and a educational presentation. 

Our Lenten gatherings for church are carrying the same Community Read theme, with a focus on the similarities between Dr. Greg's work in the book and the work of Jesus.  We've had one gathering, and we'll have 3 more that will also culminate in an art project.  The art projects will be displayed at the final Community Read event at Folklore Village in April.

We've read some wonderful related books, including Afghanistan:  The People and Nasreen's Secret School:  A True Story from Afghanistan.  Clara looks up books on "Afghanistan Culture" on the children's catalog at the library all on her own, and I've noticed her gazing at the large map of Afghanistan & Pakistan as she looks for Korphe.

This has been a good unit, completely inspired by our Community Read.  This is such a fun place to live.

What's good these days...

1.  playing in our yard without winter coats

2.  a needle-felting workshop that has spurred needle-felted "Spy Club" pins everywhere in the house

3.  a new Afghanistan & Pakistan study ( including a festival with Dr. Aaliya Bibi who showed us how to cook traditional Afghan food)

4.  singing "Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory-Glory" in the mornings, complete with actions

5.  giving Clara mini piano lessons from a borrowed book and listening to her practice during the week

6.  telling Clara about how once my flute student cried in a lesson, and watching her eyes get big...then telling her that that is why I shouldn't give her music lessons and watching her relax:)

7.  watching Simon run to follow a red-tailed hawk that he sees in the sky

8.  hearing Simon say in the car, "I can see Orion's belt but not the rest of him."

9.  laying with Ruthie while she pulls me toward her and says "It's O.K., stay close" for no apparent reason

10.  watching Clara make Simon and Ruthie their own house out of blocks, complete with "hot stove" so they will have something to do while she plays in her room alone.

11.  Simon saying to me "I want to learn how to read the big books, Mom, so that I can read them to Ruthie."

12.  Watching Ruthie sing out the conversation between herself and her dolls as they lay down for a "nap" together in the living room

I'm ready for tomorrow.  These are the days to remember (gotta love Billy Joel)

Dinner Theatre

Plays are the theme at our house these days!  Todd and I have been blessed with theatre after our dinner a few times this week.  All three children participated, decided on the basic play, put together creative costumes, memorized lines and actions, rehearsed, and then invited us to the performance.  The prep and rehearsals were really just as exciting as the performance with all the whispering about ideas for lines and positioning, giggles as they find the perfect costumes, and the overall change in their demeanor and language once they are in character.  And all of this was THEIR idea, with no prompting from their mother!

The first this week was "The Spider and The Fly."  This is Clara playing the role of the spider.

Here are Ruthie and Simon playing the role of the flies.  In this photo they have been caught in the spider's web.

Here are the three performers taking a bow

The performance the other night was "The Sun, the Moon, and the Earth."  This one consisted of more elaborate lines, and the highlight was the "spinning Earth." Clara changed out of her more delicate moon costume and into one of Todd's shirts just prior to the performance due to inclimate weather inside the house. Simon chose bright sun colors, and Ruthie sported blue jeans with a vine growing up the side, a green shirt with a monkey and a blue silk cape for the water of the world.

Here is Clara as "The Moon," Simon as "The Sun," and Ruthie as "The Earth" following their performance.

Currently, they are working on another one.  I cannot wait to listen to the process and experience the end result!

 "All the world is a stage, and we are merely the actors."

 --William Shakespeare

 (during the time of Queen Elizabeth I, of course!)

Simon

Simon and I and Todd are now super interested in identifying the tracks around our house since we now know that we have opposums, raccoons, and skunks.  We have seen them, of couse, at our chicken coop.  We were able to identify some skunk tracks today, really close together, with a pad and toes and the claws.  We could even make out the brush in the snow.  Simon and I followed them around our house and to the pasture.  I think we will be sad when the snow is gone and we can't see our animal tracks as easily.  He calls our house the "track house" now because he just loves it that there are always tracks to follow.

This weekend, we house-sat for friends while they were away from home.  Our job was to take care of their chickens, cow, horses, sheep, donkeys, and dogs.  Simon always did chores with Todd, sticking right with him and asking questions all the time.  He especially loved Puzzle, the new baby donkey.  I wish I had taken pictures!

For the Community Stones Into Schools Discussion, our church invited 2 men to speak about their Islam faith today.  Incredibly fascinating and inspiring to Simon and I in different ways.  When one of them mentioned that he has lived in India and Indonesia, Simon leans over to me to say "Mom, he has lived in 2 places where there are tigers...2 different tigers, Mom!"  Simon loves big cats so much, he can show anybody on the map places where big cats live, and he could even show you the country where the most cheetahs live.  He knows what their favorite meals are, when they hunt, where they live, and he really enjoys being a big cat to "fight" with his dad.  I love to find new books on big cats at the library for him.

Just some tidbits about Simon these days...

Crazy Things

Recent Crazy and Unbelievable Things at our House:

1.  Found in our living room:  a live caterpillar that Clara has now placed on my computer to crawl around. (The children have now found a home for it and are researching what we can feed it during the winter)

2.  Still sweeping up at least 10 flys per day dead under windows. 

3.  A puddle on the road!  A REAL puddle of water!

4.  2 "Green Days" in a row (see Thermometer Post).

5.  Simon asked for a haircut AND wore a different shirt.

6.  Woodchuck has ceased attacking me!  It seems he knows he was doomed.  Clara made a sign with a chicken upside down in a "killing cone" with a slash through it.  Todd took the hint, and we will try hard to keep him alive and not on our plates.

Fun day, and now I'm going outside to enjoy it further!

Country Studies...and other fun

We have really been interested in countries at our house this winter.  Our first pick was Egypt.  Clara became interested in Cleopatra when we were reading about influential women in history.  Simon is always reading about big cats, so we, therefore, are always reading about Africa.  This turned into a unit for us.  We checked out lots of books from the library on Ancient Egypt and learned all about what life was like forAncient Egyptians (their dress, make-up, etc.)  We have learned about the Nile River, and we even painted our faces to look like Ancient Egyptians one day.  We became fascinated with the pyramids and read more about Cleopatra.  We soon found ourselves moving into Africa as a whole and borrowing books from friends.  The kids became obsessed with a Geo Puzzle of Africa (I was always afraid we would lose Tunisia!) and we made a topographical map of Africa that you can see in the background of this pic of Simon.  We cut out pictures of animals from old magazines and pasted them in the appropriate regions.  The kids really know about the desert, rainforest and grassland areas of Africa now and will talk about them as we are reading about where certain big cats live. 

We are still reading African folk tales occasionally (The Girl Who Spun Gold by Virginia Hamilton and others) but mostly, we have decided to move on to China (We meaning Clara).

China has been a lot of fun, and our study has been timely.  We were invited to a Chinese New Year-themed Birthday Party and then attended the Chinese New Year Celebration at UW-Platteville.

The Handkerchief Dance

working on calligraphy

the costumes

the dragon

There was also knot-tying, drum-making, singing, learning Chinese words and songs (Gong Xi), and traditional food.  This event was amazing! 

We have studied the Chinese Horoscope, and it is a favorite activity to discuss the meaning behind our years.  Simon, being born in the Year of the Rooster, is supposed to be a flashy dresser (our favorite).  We have also made red envelopes, the traditional Chinese New Year gift to children, checked out beautiful books on Chinese folktales from the library, and written in Chinese Calligraphy.  There are more events this winter and spring that the Confucious Institute is hosting.  I'm sure we will attend some of them, as they are always so well done.

Moving on to England...We are always sort of studying England because I am always reading a book about English history.  The kids are always interested in what I am reading, and so they have learned quite a bit simply by that route.  One evening, Clara came up with this masterpiece at the dinner table.

For those who may not know, this is Queen Elizabeth I.  The picture does not do it justice.  I knew right away who she had created by the high collar, typical of the time period.  Aluminum Foil Art History!

When we aren't studying countries (we have moved on recently to Mozart...found a great book at the library entitled "Young Mozart" that the kids are enthralled with and have begun listening to Mozart as well), we are trying to figure out how to live with a rooster who is now attacking us (me especially), knitting, designing codes, building massive living room forts, and playing on our incredibly tall mounds of snow.

Birds and Ballet

So, for my first post in well over a month, I will tell about the 2 most important "B's" in our life as a family right now. 

The first is the birdfeeder that Simon received for a Christmas present.  That birdfeeder is home to regular "songbird feed."  Soon after, we received from my grandparents another birdfeeder, that holds oiled black sunflower seeds, and a suet feeder.  The birds are now at our house!  We watch them everyday, from the time we wake up in the morning until the birds themselves go to bed at night.  We have now 11 different varieties (not counting the Kestrel that is perched high in the trees by the road at times, waiting to spot a mouse)!  We have counted into the 20's many times as we watch them at the feeders.  We watch the Blue Jays come in pairs, the Juncos and Sparrows come in families, and the Flicker come alone.  We watch the Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers peck at the suet, now totally able to tell the difference between the 2 woodpeckers that look so much alike.  We watch until we can tell whether it is a male or a female we see, waiting for the glimpse of the rod spot on the nape.  We watch the Nuthatch eat upside down every time it lands on the feeder.  We wait for the House Finches  and Doves that come more often now, and we wait anxiously for the Cardinal to return.  We LOVE watching birds, and it is so fun to hear Simon holler to us that he has spotted a new bird.  It is always Simon.  He is watching all of the time.  Twas the perfect gift for him.

The other, newer, "B" is for the "Barefoot Book of Ballet Stories."  What a fabulous book!  It contains a handful of the most well-known ballet stories, and my children (and I) are enchanted!  We have learned about Russian ballets (Swan Lake being the favorite), a Polish ballet (Coppelia), and the Greek ballet that is so different from the others (Daphnis and Chloe).  The illustrations are amazing, the stories are captivating, and we are entranced.  We look up the countries where they were written, we dance to Swan Lake music, and we read them again and again, sitting on the couch for hours. 

We are loving the "B's."