Rediscovering Our Piano
October 13th, 2005 at 9:23 pm (Unschooling Life)
Kenzie and I watched the movie Shine tonight for the first time. There were several parts that Kenzie didn’t want to sit through (mostly involving the father’s character), and we discussed many scenes, but by the time Rachmaninoff’s music was introduced, Kenzie had pulled out the piano bench and was focused on playing his own concerto.
For the most part, I watched the remainder of the movie on my own, sporadically. At Kenzie’s request, I drew up a staff and penciled in the notes of the treble clef, showing him the corresponding keys. We’ve done this before, but it’s been a while. He lost interest for several months. We talked about chords, about the pedals, about the clef, etc. He enthusiastically played several of his own pieces for me.
Then, he sat down with colored pencils and paper and drew up his own treble clef and staff. He filled in notes and compared them to my labeled version so he would know which keys to press. He wrote his own song. After a bit more time spent with colored pencils, he showed me his new "schedule," complete with illustrations showing him eating breakfast from 9:00 to 9:03 (he’s a fast eater), practicing piano from 11:00 to 11:30, and playing outside from 1:30 to 2:01. He’s taped it to the fridge so he’ll remember when he wakes up tomorrow.
Looks like our old piano won’t have to feel so neglected - at least for a while.
Patrice said,
October 15, 2005 at 1:34 am
How cool.
Man, that’s fast eating! LOL!