Studio3Music Blog

Apr
18

My New Hero the Turtle

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Family, parenting

The fable about the tortoise and the hare is mind-numbingly familiar. We all heard it growing up. Has a cocky hare sprinted across your memory yet? We all know this story by heart, but have we ever recognized the profound truth hiding in the familiarity of this little tale?

Many of us sprint through life like the hare. We have things to do, do, do! We dash off, frantic to get stuff done—thinking that by this method we will eventually cross whatever finish line we hold in mind. When we begin to lose momentum, we fuel up mid-stream with a double shot of whatever and take off again, only to eventually nap under some short-of-the-finish line-tree. The next morning we paw at the starting line and BANG! Off we go again.

Let me translate this into real life. I’m a hare. I’m eager and ready to dash out into the world each morning. The results? My kids have an active life. Besides home schooling, we have horseback riding lessons, drama class, piano lessons, choir, writing co-op, gym class, and worship team. Field trips are sprinkled in when something irresistible crops up like the maple syrup making, state capital day and civil war reenactment. No two days are alike as we hop, hop, hop around the extra-curricular landscape.

Then the turtle comes into view. Quite simply, the turtle represents getting to someplace specific. (In other words – the finish line.) As the hare dashes around and arguably has more fun, enjoys his natural talent and sees more of the countryside, he doesn’t accomplish the ultimate goal, which is important at times!

My discovery: When I want to teach my children a set of specific skills or work on a character issue, the turtle has the right moves. My hare-like nature has been surprised to watch this principle work out. When my daughter was struggling with long division, it became apparent she hadn’t mastered her math facts. Discouraged, I dashed down several fix-it roads, considering changing curriculum mid-stream. But then the turtle came into view. I began to simply work with her for 5-10 minutes every day. I watched amazed as she progressed. Slow and steady wins the race.

I began to apply this to other areas of my children’s lives. With achievement testing approaching, I felt certain we needed extra preparation. Bounding down the path of several complex history curricula, I quickly tired. Then the turtle came into view. I found a simple summary of what 5^th graders should know about history and I began to read to her every day for 10 minutes, asking comprehension questions as a review. Hardly thinking that 10 minutes was worth it, I watched in amazement as she made steady progress. With that success, I began to plot a daily course for character issues needing attention: doing basic chores without complaint, talking kindly to siblings. Slow and steady wins the race.

Who knew the deep truth the simple fable of The Tortoise and the Hare has been hiding all these years! My new hero the Tortoise has shown me how to succeed where I so often have failed. A little every day gets one a long way over time. Slow and steady does win the race.

-posted by Donna Detweiler, who knows that yes, hares also have their redeeming qualities, but that’s another blog!

Tags: Donna Detweiler, learning, parenting

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Apr
16

The Recipe for Learning Success

Posted in Education, parenting, Things to do

I started reading the Little House on the Prairie series to Natalie a couple of months ago. (She’s 6, and unlike my boys, totally enraptured by Laura’s story.) She was shocked to learn that on Sundays, Laura had to sit still and play quietly or read. Natalie tried it, and lasted about 7 minutes.

We just got to the part in On the Banks of Plum Creek where Laura and Mary go to school for the first time. This time, Natalie was dumbfounded that Laura would have been slapped on the hands “many times” with a ruler if she had wiggled, swung her legs, or talked during school.

What a difference a 120 years makes! I’m so glad we live in a time where we know so much more about the brain, and how learning and moving go hand in hand.

Carla Hannaford (award winning author and eductor) writes, “Movement is essential to learning. Movement integrates and anchors new information into our neural networks. Every time we move in an organized…manner, full brain activation and integration occurs, and the door to learning opens.”

Combine movement, which fully activates the brain, and creates and strengthens neural networks, with music, which is the only activity that simultaneously stimulates every area of the brain, and you have a recipe for successful learning.

As a home schooling mom, here’s some things that we’ve done that combine music (or the components of music like rhythm and meter) that assist in learning. (You don’t have to home school to do these things. You are your child’s first and most important teacher!)

While singing learning songs or poems and chants, we have a small indoor trampoline for jumping on. (Trampolines are also great for getting up a taking a break. Jumping really seems to make the just inputted information stick in brains better.)

My children all sit on exercise balls. I’ve noticed that when new or more difficult concepts are being learned, their ability to sit still decreases. All that electrical energy in their brain is going towards creating new or stronger neural pathways. An exercise ball allows them to have the movement they need, without being distracting, so that brain energy is spent focusing on learning, rather than using that brain power to sit quietly. Another option is to put a balance disk on a chair and have them sit on that.

When learning to spell difficult words or skip count (counting by 2’s, 3’s, 5’s, etc.), we get up and bounce a ball back and forth, taking turns counting or giving the next letter in a word. The kids love it, and they learn faster and better.

Playing background music is great, too. One suggestion – during homework or school time, the best music to listen to has no words.

Be sure to give your children plenty of get up and play breaks to rest and refocus eyes, and allow the brain to process everything they just learned. Otherwise, the information really will be in one ear and out the other.

How do you integrate music, movement and learning into your family’s life or classroom?

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who loves that music not only helps shape growing minds, but transforms the heart and soul as well.

Tags: learning, listening, music, parenting

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Apr
14

Dreaming for Your Child

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Family, parenting

When do you start having hopes and dreams for your children? I know that a lot of women (and men) will answer this question by saying “from the moment we conceived”. But I have to answer this question with kind of a shoulder shrug. I can honestly say that up until about a month ago, I had no dreams for my little guy (he’s almost 8 months). Of course I have the big ones, like I hope he’s polite and gentlemanly and I just know he’s going to be cute! But I’m talking about discovering talents and how are they going to be creative and what kind of person are they going to be.

I was sitting in a class of Jr. Highers when I started thinking about dreams. An adult couple had brought in some examples of things they meant a lot to them. One was made by one of his sons who was about 11 years old. This particular item was a little figurine that was made out of household stuff; pipe cleaners, toilet paper rolls, googly eyeballs, felt and a hot glue gun. The figurine was skating on a skateboard and had shoes and hair and everything. I was totally impressed!

I could tell that a lot of man-hours had been put into this craft. After getting over the initial awe, there were two things that struck me most. First, it was how the dad was talking about his son. He was so proud of what his son created by himself, with just time and things around the house. It was really neat to see this dad speak aloud what made him proud!

The second thing that hit my core was how the son (who was in the group), was excited to share his creation with his peers. He was not embarrassed in the least to show off his piece of work.

I grew up with a lot of shame in me. I was often embarrassed about what I was good at or not good at. I never had a problem with standing up in front of a ton of people and singing a solo, but put me in a small group and I was mortified by what people would think of me. I’m a people pleaser and that sometimes gets the best of me. It’s only been in recent years I will ‘own’ who I am. I’m learning to not be ashamed of what my interests are and I am free to share that with people instead of keeping it in.

So, how does this relate to dreams? Well, knowing where I have come from, I know that I want my son to be proud of who he is. Watching this 11 year old be so proud of what he created is what I want my son to have. Putting myself as a peer to this 11 year old, I would have totally thought that he was weird; as an adult, this is what I so admire about this kid! He stuck to his guns when sharing his creation amongst his peers and had no shame or embarrassment about what he’d done. There was an innocence that surrounded him. THIS is what I want for my son!

It wasn’t until this meeting that I really started dreaming for Miles. Whether it is music, art, math, or science, it’s going to be from him and it’s going to be great! I am so excited to see what he will become and I know that I will be a proud mama when he shares with the world who he is!

I’d like to end on a quote I read not to long ago. I saw it on Pinterest and it’s really stuck with me. In the corner of the quote there is a picture of a mother cradling her baby… The mother says, “I plan to give you love, nurturing, and just enough dysfunction to make you funny.”

I know that I’m not going to be the perfect mom and I’m going to make mistakes. I’m human. I need to be able to give myself grace in this parenting process. I also know that my child will not be the best at everything J But what I will strive to do is to love and support my son in whatever dreams he may have.

-posted by Miss Anna, who hopes her son will discover this world through a child’s eye, always.

Tags: Miss Anna, parenting

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Apr
10

Let’s Go Fly a Kite!

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Family, Things to do

Here I am flying my kite in Oregon.

Whenever I visit the beach in Oregon, I always bring a kite. I can usually count on having a windy day when the beach is filled with fellow kite flyers. There is something about holding on to the string of a kite when it’s gotten a good altitude- it makes me feel like I’m a part of the wind. Colorful, relaxing yet exhilarating, challenging….are all apt descriptions of the art of kiting. For it is an art, requiring some craftsmanship, a bit of skill and experience to be successful.

A Parafoil Kite

This past weekend, my kite of choice was a nylon parafoil design. It leapt high into the air immediately, and pulled hard as it flapped loudly high above me on Nye Beach.

The wind kept my kite way up in the sky for a long time, until it blew so hard that the string broke. The beautiful kite flew away down the beach, where the end of the string caught onto a bush up on a steep bank. I clambered up the hill where I retrieved it unharmed, (both me and the kite!), and packed my brave parafoil away to fly another day.

For hundreds of years, people have sung songs all around the world as they flew their kites. Here is one that you can sing.

My Kite Is Up So High
(Sing to the tune of “Farmer in the Dell”

Verse 1
My kite is up so high,
My kite is up so high,
Oh me, Oh my, just watch it fly,
My kite is up so high.

Verse 2
My kite is falling down,
My kite is falling down,
I give a Shout, “Oh No, Watch OUT”,
My kite is falling down.

Verse 3
The wind has caught my kite,
The wind has caught my kite,
Oh what fun, I’m on the run,
The wind has caught my kite.

Verse 4
(repeat verse 1)

Here are some kite songs to download from play.kindermusik.com : Blow The Wind/My Kite and I Can’t See the Wind

Did you know that April is National Kite month? You don’t have to be a kid to experience the thrill of flying a kite, imagining what it would feel to fly far above the ground. Do something fun and different this month. Go fly a kite!

-posted by Miss Judy, who just got back from blustery Newport, Oregon.

Tags: kindermusik, Miss Judy, outside, Things to do

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Apr
8

Easter’s Secret Weapon

Posted in Bits and Pieces

While listening almost daily to my favorite news radio, NPR, I often sip a glass of iced tea with a sunny smile of lemon bobbing playfully in it. A simple pleasure in a busy day. However, the stories I’ve listened to lately have been anything but pleasant. Daily reports detail the disintegration of Syrian society, “right” and “left” political animosity in our country, bitter debate over socio-economic divides, nuclear proliferation fears, anti-American sentiments in the Middle East and on it goes, around our suffering, struggling, warring planet. It’s been disturbing news to digest.

Now that it’s Easter season, I’ve also been reading that 2,000 year old story and seeing surprising similarities. The Middle East was also in turmoil then. Israel was an occupied nation longing for regime change. Society was full of factions that claimed a way out. The Zealots wanted to fight. The fat cat Pharisees and Sadducees wanted to stay in power. The common people longed for a political savior, a messiah/king. It was a violent time, not unlike our own.

On that first Easter weekend, the Pharisees had finally figured out how to get rid of Jesus. They bribed an insider to take them to him under cover of darkness. They framed him through paid false testimony and got the death sentence by mid-morning. He was brutally tortured and crucified that afternoon. Nothing new in conflict-ridden Jerusalem.

But the Easter story tells us that something was about to change. Two days later, Jesus’ body went missing– because he was still using it! He had risen from the dead. Unbeknownst to everyone on earth, Death was the real enemy Jesus was fighting. And he had won. But how?

It seems that Jesus used a weapon that the world had never encountered before. Humble, self-sacrificing grace—defined as giving people what they don’t deserve. Could it be he wielded the powerful weapon of grace when he healed an enemy soldier’s ear instead of fighting back when they arrested him? When he was silent before his mocking accusers and beaten for telling the truth? When he told his Father to forgive his killers? Ultimately he duped Death by paying the ransom for the human race with his sinless life. Willingly he had laid down his life for us. Grace was his secret weapon.

Jesus’ grace-filled death was so powerful that it ripped opened a portal between time and eternity, earth and heaven, man and God. From then on, people could cross over and be with God forever instead of being separated eternally, trapped by sin and Death. Grace paved a new way.

The day after Jesus died, Jerusalem probably looked the same. The conflicts continued just like the reports I hear daily on NPR. Like me, people longed for a world as sunny and peaceful as my simple, lemony tea. But the truth was and is today that Jesus fought Death with grace and won. He opened the doorway for all grace receivers to cross over and live eternally. And he also modeled how to live our relatively short days on earth–employing the powerful, world-changing, secret weapon of grace.

Happy Easter!

-posted by Donna Detweiler, who is humbled by trying to put Grace into words.