Today JJ had his first Suzuki violin lesson with Mrs. Gontea. He was waaaay excited. Which I was glad for, because a few weeks ago JJ told me he didn't need lessons because he already knew how to play the violin. I had to explain to him that there are lots of things about the violin that he doesn't know yet. I guess to his ear his "sawing away" sounds quite musical:)
JJ learned the three stances for playing, how to bow (JJ's version looked like bowing gone hyper - updownupdownupdown), and how to hold the violin. He learned how to tighten and slacken his bow, but wasn't allowed to use it yet. He also learned 3 rhythms that he has to practice clapping, tapping, and plucking on the violin - mississippi-hot-dog, strawberry-blueberry, and peanut-butter-peanut-butter. This is a lot for Mom to remember!!! But JJ can't wait to practice, so I think it will be lots of fun for him. That's why we're starting him so young (a Suzuki method idea) so that it is fun and they learn so quick when they are young that when they are older it comes naturally. This is the same way that Jonathan and his brothers learned and it seems a good fit for JJ, too. And he looked so cute standing so straight with that little violin tucked under his chin!
Monday, September 10, 2007
Thursday, September 6, 2007
1st Day of Kindergarten
Tuesday was JJ's first day of Kindergarten! He had so much fun. We walked one and a half blocks down our street to his school at 8 a.m. Elise and I walked back down to pick him up at 3. He was so excited/tired/overstimulated that I couldn't get very many details out of him. Here's what I gathered: He loved music class, where they got to sing together. The other boys were noisy during nap time (he seemed very annoyed by this - my good sleeper!). There are 16 letters in the alphabet. ?! He had a 3rd grade girl as lunch partner and JJ only managed to eat his sandwich and nothing else. Apparently the lunchroom had lots of interesting things going on and it was hard for my slow eater to get 'r done. He's improved on this in the past couple of days.
JJ's teacher is Mrs. Schoenike. For those of you not from the Shawano area this name is pronounced Shen-i-key. She is very nice and has taught at Lincoln Elementary for a long time. JJ already knew 6 kids in his class, 4 from Pre-K, one from soccer and one is our neighbor across the street. That made Mom a little more relaxed about the whole thing.
JJ is excited because tomorrow they have gym class. I'll fill in with more details the more I find out from him.
More new stuff to come, as JJ has his first Suzuki violin class on Monday and swimming lessons on Friday. Rest assured, there will be not one more thing added to our family schedule this fall!
So, in all, JJ seems to have adjusted to K pretty easily and even tells me he can just ride his bike to school by himself - I don't need to walk him. In his dreams! I told him next year he may be able to do that.
JJ's teacher is Mrs. Schoenike. For those of you not from the Shawano area this name is pronounced Shen-i-key. She is very nice and has taught at Lincoln Elementary for a long time. JJ already knew 6 kids in his class, 4 from Pre-K, one from soccer and one is our neighbor across the street. That made Mom a little more relaxed about the whole thing.
JJ is excited because tomorrow they have gym class. I'll fill in with more details the more I find out from him.
More new stuff to come, as JJ has his first Suzuki violin class on Monday and swimming lessons on Friday. Rest assured, there will be not one more thing added to our family schedule this fall!
So, in all, JJ seems to have adjusted to K pretty easily and even tells me he can just ride his bike to school by himself - I don't need to walk him. In his dreams! I told him next year he may be able to do that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)