Issue 21 - February, 2001
by Diana Waring
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Dear Friends, As the snow drifts lazily down into the trees, I have been watching and pondering something that occurred just a few days ago. Perhaps my wee musings may spark some new insights on being a homeschool mom. . .or dad. . .or student. On Saturday, my three teens and I gathered 'round the piano in our beloved voice teacher's office. Steve Parker is the vocal director at our local university, and one of the best voice teachers I have ever seen. He has been giving family voice lessons to our mob off and on for the last three or four years, which has allowed us to "croon ensemble" with a more pleasing sound. Anyway, we hadn't managed to get to a lesson for several weeks - as we were under a finish-those-two-books-finally deadline! (For them's who are interested, the two books are the new Activity books in our history curriculum line, and they just went off to the printer.) As we were looking at the little black chicken scratches on the music (I think they call them "notes"...), I wondered desperately why I hadn't been practicing all this time. Where on earth was that alto note?? I remembered the last time we had been together for a voice lesson. We had taken the time to play a few parts; to sing them in onesies and twosies and threesies and foursies; to talk about who sang which note when the soprano line goes out into the stratosphere; to decide how to divide up the seven part harmony on the last page into four parts (which is all we usually can manage, since there are, after all, only four of us); in general, to introduce ourselves to the song. Now, if you are unfamiliar with the rules of the game, let me explain how this is SUPPOSED to work. # 1) Warm up your voice. "Mi-a-mi-a-mi-a-mi-a-mi" # 2) Show up, on time, with a good attitude. Zoom in the door, panting, because the big hand is pointing at the 12! "Good morning, Mr. Parker." Smile. # 3) Pay attention as the chicken scratches are interpreted for you. "Yes, I see. My part is down from Melody's, up from Isaac's, and somewhere around Michael's." Hmmm. Better put on my thinking cap for this one. # 4) Go home. "Good bye, Mr. Parker. Thank you!" Smile. # 5) PRACTICE... on a regular basis. "Fig-a-ro, Fig-a-ro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro..." The rule I forgot to follow was the last one. Practice. Practice. Practice. Get it from the piece of music into my head (and throat. . . where I believe those little vocal-cord-a-ma-thingeys are located). I have been pondering this morning about this experience, and realized that just going to the voice lesson is not enough. Even though we have a world class voice teacher who is clear in his explanations, encouraging in his descriptions, enthusiastic in his delivery--in short, helpful in every which way--it is not enough. Not if we don't practice. We can be TOLD how to sing a passage, SHOWN how to sing a passage, have someone DEMONSTRATE how to sing a passage, LISTEN to a recording of the passage, etc., but it doesn't really become a part of us until we PRACTICE it on our own. We can want to know it, think we know it, act like we know it. . . But the rubber meets the road when you actually have to open your mouth and sing it. Now, how does this apply to you? Even if you are not a musician-in-training? Well, let's consider what really happens when someone, child or adult, learns something. They can be exposed to a math fact, a historical event, a scientific formula, a grammatical concept, an artistic technique, a wood-working observation, a book of "how to use the sewing machine," a basketball slam dunk. . .whatever. The real trick is to not settle for just "being exposed to." Just seeing something demonstrated or explained or told or shown or expounded upon does not equal learning! Just because Mr. Parker had patiently shown me what note to sing weeks ago, it did not equal my learning it. I had to work at it, look at it, play it on the piano, sing it with my kids, hum it in my head, sing it again with my kids. The very best test of whether I have studied the notes well enough is to sing the new song for unsuspecting dinner guests! "Excuse me, all. Did you enjoy your dinner tonight?" Nods all around. Pleasant smiles. "Good. Then, since you are stuck around our table, would you mind being held captive for one song?" Puzzled expressions. Polite nods. Mi-a-figaro-mi-a-figaro-mi. Hmmm. Well, it was okay. But I need to work on that note some more... So, how does one put this into practice in your own realm, if it is something different than practicing music? Well, let's go back to the five rules listed above. Rule # 1) Warm up. (We might call this one, "Wake up that brain!") Depending on your children, you might warm them up by: -Doing jumping jacks, taking a brief walk around the park/block/yard, playing a quick game of tag; -Handing out a small object to each student (plastic animal, car, house) and have the students make up a story, based on what they are holding in their hands; -Using blocks, create a quick structure and then name it; -Having each student sit down and then, inside of their mind, count off ten seconds and then jump up when they think ten seconds are over, with you using a timer to verify (this is a fun one to try a few times in a row); -Having all of your students sing a song together, like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" with one person singing only one word, then the next person in line sings the next word, then the next person sings the next word, etc. (singing "Word About" we call it); -Acting out a quick game of Charades, with the words being animals; -Or whatever comes to mind that is fast, fun, and physical. (Note: No, I didn't always do this when my children were younger. Sometimes I recognized their need to run around in order to be able to think better. Most of this is new stuff I have learned recently. . . And it works!) Rule # 2) Show up on time with a GOOD attitude. I think that this rule applies first and foremost to the homeschool parents! We can really set the tone of the day by smiling, being encouraging and cheerful, giving our children "good morning" hugs, preparing a friendly breakfast or snack, limiting our use of the phone during schooltime, and, in general, avoiding things that would take our attention away from our children. For the children, we need to teach them that "a merry heart does good like a medicine!" If we both demonstrate this before them, as well as teach them gently how to resolve conflicts, get out of the grumps, smile instead of scowl (if it's just a daily habit instead of a hurt that's reflecting in the face), learn to speak kindly to one another, and to be cheerful, then they will learn what it is to do learn with the right attitude. Rule # 3) Pay attention as the chicken scratches are interpreted for you. There IS a point in learning where things are demonstrated or explained or told or shown. Whether you are the one doing the teaching, or whether it comes from a book, or a video, or a computer, or an audio tape, or a neighbor, or a field trip guide, or a grandparent, or an experiment, or. . .Someone, somewhere, who has knowledge in this subject is passing along that knowledge (and, hopefully, their passion about the knowledge!), and this is the "exposure phase" for your children. It may be a short exposure or a longer exposure. It may happen one time or several times on the same bit of subject matter. But these students have not really LEARNED it yet! Rule # 4) Go home. We need to have a stopping point. The real trick for us homeschool parents, because of the intense nature of the tutorial style of teaching, is to learn when that stopping point has been reached. One day, while Michael was still in the process of learning to read, we were working on phonics. After about ten minutes, Michael put his head in his hands and moaned, "Oh, Mom, my brain hurts!" I sympathized with him because this lesson was hurting my brain, too! So we quit--after only ten minutes! Other days, the lesson went longer. Now, eight years later, Michael is studying anatomy with a tutor, and his lesson can last for hours! If your child has been working on that math paper for the past four hours, it is time to stop! (Actually, if it is taking that long, you should have stopped hours ago.) If your children's eyes are glazing over, it is time to stop. If they are fidgeting, it is probably time to stop (or, it might be time to let them jump up and run around the room a few times while you continue to teach the lesson.) Rule # 5) PRACTICE--on a regular basis. This is where the actual learning will take place. This is the point where the material finds a place to live in the student's brain. IMPORTANT NOTICE: What I am about to describe is REAL learning, even though it may look quite different from what you experienced when you were in school. But consider this: How many times were you exposed to some subject matter that you did not learn? How many names, dates, places, theorems, theories, etc., came in one ear and went out the other BECAUSE you did not have the opportunity to play with it, practice it, and learn it? REAL LEARNING? This is where we explore it, play with it, judge it, discover new applications, tear it apart and put it back together, jump on it, throw it in the air, build it, sing it, explain it, paint it, design it, name it, repeat and drill it, dress it, act it, and prepare to teach it. Since we are all created by God in unique ways, with unique giftings, this learning/practice time should have the freedom to be done in varying ways. Some students need to be physically moving and actively involved in order to learn it (kinesthetic learners). Some students need to see charts, diagrams, books, paintings, maps, or photos in order to learn it (visual learners). Other students need to hear music, stories, books read out loud, or be a part of a discussion group in order to learn it (auditory learners). Some students need to be alone, others need to be with you. Some students need a lot of time for processing, some "get it" right away. Some students want to learn it by rote, others want to be creative with it. Some students will be drawn to learning one part of the lesson, while others will be drawn to a different part. Practice it. Play with it. And, to really learn it well, teach it to someone else! Our children were forever pushing the couch on its side in order to create a puppet show stage. Then all of the puppets would come out on stage and act out what the children had been learning in history. - Or Bible class. - Or literature. If that was not enough, we also instituted "Family Presentation Night," where each of our children had the opportunity to present information learned in whatever format they chose. We had poetry readings, songs sung together, planets hung from our ceiling, research papers read, TV news shows produced (on our home cam corder), re-enactments of people in Reformation times, charts produced and described, and more. Through all of these events as they prepared to teach us, they were practicing the subject matter. And, in the process, making it their own. In a word, they were "learning!" So, dear friends, don't cheat yourselves during this wonderful, nurturing family time called "home school." Warm up. Hold a good attitude. Have the lesson. Stop as soon as you see the whites of their eyes. Give them the chance to practice it - in the way that is most meaningful and fun for them. I don't know if practice makes perfect - but it does make learning! Mi-a-figaro-mi-a-figaro-mi.... Ah, yes. That note - the one in the middle - is mine! Blessings, Diana P.S. Believe it or not, some folks are organizing a homeschool cruise with my family as the speakers! If you are interested in getting more info, please contact: Sandy Zemanek, with CruiseOne, at (800) 679-1813, or email her. Return to the List of Newsletter Issues

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