Halfway Through Year 2

After nearly 1.5 years with Yamaha, Beth has gone from bored-and-unmotivated to enthusiastic-and-competent.

Her listening skills and finger playing have improved greatly and she sings on pitch most of the time.

Best of all, she is no longer dragging herself to Sat classes.

Even J is caught up in the Yamaha effect.

As I type, CA is listening to Beth practise, J is singing along (she seems to know all the lyrics!) and 'playing' the keyboard...we're turning into a truly musical family. :)

Teaching Mandarin In An English-Only Environment

I have my friend Yvonne to thank for introducing us to Ni Hao Kai-Lan.

J now "speaks" Mandarin. She can count one to five, greet people with "Ni Hao!", and has practically memorized the script for the episodes that Y recorded off Nick Jr for us.

Beth is making progress in her Chinese lessons. She still has the weary "Must I?" attitude when Sat draws near, but at least she does her homework and her pinyin is about 90% there. Considering she's got no one to talk to in Mandarin, I reckon she's doing pretty well.

Ni Hao Kai-Lan!

J has just been introduced to Kai-Lan, the Asian equivalent of Dora The Explorer, by our friend Yvonne.

We watched the video today and J loves it!

Toddler Battles

What is it with toddlers??

Every morning I face the same battle with J.

She wakes up whinging and wants me to hold her. I have my eye on the clock as I frantically try to wake Beth, who always has a lie-in till the last possible moment.

Meanwhile, J won't let me dress her or change her diaper.

When it's time to go, she won't put on her socks.

I say "No Socks No Play" and she yells back, "Noooo!"

She refuses to wear a jacket, however cold it may be.

I'm lucky if I get her to wear a second T-shirt or her cute red vest with the picture of the lion on it.

Every evening at bath time, she fights with me.

Won't go under the shower.

Won't let me soap her. She wants to do it herself, but she takes FOREVER.

Won't let me rinse off the shampoo and soap.

When my patience runs out, I grab her and plunge her under the shower (it's not as bad as it sounds) so get the lather off.

How she screams and yells and tries to flee the shower area!

The neighbours must think I abuse my kids or else that I'm hopeless incompetent at managing them.

Now I let hubby take over at bath time.

He is so much more patient and willing to humour them.

I praise J lavishly when she comes to tell me she has bathed.

It's easier to play the good guy.

Music & Beth

Saturday's class went surprisingly well.

I give Beth 8/10 for attentiveness and competence. Huge improvement over Term One when she would slide off the piano bench after 30 minutes and lose concentration.

Hope she keeps it up.

She's had a month-long break because of the Easter hols and ANZAC Day, and of course, she slacked in her daily practice, so her playing was a bit of a shocker (at home anyway). There's nothing worse than trying to get a highly strung, unmotivated child to do what she has to do. She actually regressed and made mistakes because she likes to play by memory instead of by reading the notes, then when I pointed out her errors, she threw a tantrum. Grrr...

That's one of the cons of learning music the Yamaha way. Emphasis is on listening and solfege, so kids don't get to learn how to read notes properly.

We've had a change of venue from Westgrove PS to The Grange, and the kids now get to put up their artwork on the walls of the classroom. Wow, a school would let outsiders do that? Can't imagine it happening elsewhere.

Met Cass at the Plaza this morning and congratulated her on Emily's winning the Yamaha/Melissa Perrin Scholarship.

I don't think Beth will ever win a music scholarship. I'll be happy as long as she continues with lessons and doesn't give up. The Mozart Effect is so important for the building of that part of the brain.

J on the other hand is already displaying impressive musical ability and responsiveness. I think she might be a more likely candidate to go far in learning music. I hope to start her on Yamaha lessons next year.