Another year of dance

This time last week, our young man, Maestro, was finishing up his end of year concert.  It's amazing to think he's been dancing for 12 years already, making this his 11th concert (he didn't go to the very first one, as Mariposa was an infant).  He's been doing an AMAZING job!  and we're very grateful to the principal of the school for honouring him with the 'Teacher's Choice' award at the end of the evening.  Well done!

Good morning!

Hello everyone!

It's been another bit of a gap between posts, but the quiet in blog land only reflects that there's plenty of things happening here to keep us very busy.

The past two weeks have been especially busy with extra dance rehearsals in preparation for the concert, which was this weekend gone.  What a great night!  The format was a little different this year, with the juniors all performing in the afternoon with the theme 'Circus'.  Then, in the evening, the older students performed with the theme 'A Walk Through The Art Gallery'.  Pictures from famous artists were projected onto the back screen, and appropriate music and dances reflected these pictures.  We really enjoyed watching it, and the children enjoyed the different format.

In our homeschooling, we're looking to finish up in another month.  Many projects and books are almost completed.  Mariposa's almost through the level 3 Singapore Maths books, but Maestro is swiftly working through MUS Pre-Algebra.  We've also become the proud new owners of IEW. Maestro is LOVING this intensive writing course, and I'm really happy with the work he's produced so far. Science is still being worked on at a steady rate, but we're only about 3/4 through each of the levels (NOEO Chem I for Mariposa, and Apologia's General Science for Maestro).  It's the same with our history: Maestro's at the beginning of the Middle Ages through his Sonlight, whilst I only recently started doing Australian history with Mariposa this term.

I've been learning more about certain learning issues.  Mariposa has had several severe ear aches since a baby, thus the reason for her operation in September.  This week, I've been watching some online videos about the affects that all those antibiotics have had on her young body, and how they could be contributing to some learning difficulties, via Dianne Croft's site.  Once the cds, 'The Biology of Behavior', arrives here and we've had a chance to really study it, we'll be implementing ways to improve her health for better learning (and all the rest of us, too!)

In the henhouse, we have had one of our youngest hens go broody.  She's now successfully hatched 1 of 4 chicks that we planted under her as preincubated/fertilised eggs.  They're quite happy occupying a fenced off area along the side of the house (because I'm running out of room to put these chickens!!!!), so I often wake to the sound of 'took, took, took' as Mama hen takes her young chick out for a forage early each morning.



This morning's been one of checking over budgets, menu planning and shopping.  Now it's time to get the diary out and check what the rest of the year looks like, because I don't want it rushing by in a blur as the last two weeks seemed to do.  Time for a cuppa, and we'll get on with that whilst the children do their math I think!

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

This and that

It's a lovely, quiet morning, with the sun streaming in the windows. The air outside is crisp and snaps your senses to attention the moment it's inhaled. It's the kind of morning that invigorates and makes you just want to 'get on with it'.

I've been sitting and enjoying a cup of tea, while looking over my new diary/planner. It arrived in the post yesterday and I have only just started jotting in birthdays and a few other notes. I know .. I used to make my own planner and keep it in a binder. That works fine, but I guess I've become a little lazier and looked for something pre-printed and of a nice size to slip into my handbag.
I've gone with the butterfly theme, but others were available: Mom's Weekly Planner. (Sample pages are available to view through Amazon, here.) 

Pretty butterfly glitter stickers have been added to some pages, too.  These will be quick reminders of special dates coming up.

A number of pages have already filled up with notes of Maestro's dance competition dates. His very first comps for the year have already happened last weekend, taking all of us up to Shepparton. The troupes did very well (3x 1st place and a 2nd placing), and we enjoyed watching the performances. I personally also enjoyed watching the under 6's perform some song/tap solos; they were so cute!

The weeks leading up to the competitions were spent sewing and knitting costumes. Actually, I had to have two goes at knitting the vest for Maestro. He's so lean that the first was swimming on him! Thankfully a smaller sizing meant it was quicker to work up.

Well, the morning is quickly passing. Mariposa has made a lovely batch of pikelets we can enjoy for morning tea whilst I've been typing, and then we'll start working through our bookwork again.

Have a lovely day all!

Excursion: the Australian Ballet Co.

We shared an experience at the ballet today with some fellow homeschoolers.

Often the storyline can be difficult to interpret with ballet, especially for the younger audience. So, having the scenes 'paused' and narrated through by a cast member helps a lot.

Today, the Australian Ballet Company performed a segment of "The Merry Widow", retitled "The Baron and the Widow". The Baron interjected with narration at regular intervals during the performance, keeping all up to date with happenings on the stage.

The Merry Widow tells the story of the Baron Mirko Zeta whose country, Pontevedro, is on the brink of financial ruin. The Baron is desperate to find a solution to his country’s problems and Hanna Glawari, a wealthy widow, could be the solution. Join the Baron, along with the cast of The Merry Widow, as his devious plans to save his nation are revealed!

We still saw the beautiful dancing and elaborate costumes, set designs for those scenes and effects. 60 minutes was a perfect little snapshot for an introduction into the world of a ballet performance.

The Ballet Company offer other educational experiences on a regular basis. You can find more information on their Education page. A performance as we saw today is an annual event.

Concert week

Final rehearsals. Sewing and amending costumes. It's all happening again, this week. I've already made several outfits, the final being tails and bows for Mariposa's tap troupe, and the sequencing required also.

Mariposa's tap troupe outfit, with hair bow.

They also have silver dance sticks to set their routine off.

This is the week where the past has already taught us a lesson. That lesson is "Don't try and fit it all in. Ease up and try to relax."

Well, I'm doing just that. Having had a horrid headcold over the weekend, I'm really glad for the rest I had the past couple of days. We've only done a minimal amount of schoolwork today, and now over lunch, my children have been introduced to the tv series I really enjoyed as a child, "The Waltons". We need to fit in some fun this afternoon before the children have their 3.5hr full concert practice. And, if history repeats, then yes, I'll have a few more last minute projects tossed my way.

There are also a few "Must Dos" this week:
* Maestro needs to practice his vocal solo for Musical Theatre. A broken voice and nerves has made this a big deal.
* Menus .. I definitely need to get the menus working. We'll have late nights Monday and Thursday with full rehearsals. A proper picnic lunch and dinner for concert day on the weekend is also essential.
* Make sure all shoes, tights, outfits, accessories, spare safety pins (etc.) are all packed ready for the day.
* Washing MUST be up to date. We won't be able to function if this falls behind.

Hopefully that will be the main things to worry about, and with those things taken care off everything else will run smoothly.

The end of another term

I don't think we've ever been as busy as we've been since June this year.  We usually have a two week break over the June school holidays, but that was full with dance competitions.  So, now, as of 4pm, we've packed all the homeschool books away, and with no more dance or violin lessons for 2 weeks, we slow down the pace for a while.

Here's a quick collection of pictures I've had on my camera, which kind of nicely sums up all that's happened here in recent months.

Our cat, Duffy, has been adopted by another homeschooling family.  We had to make this decision as Mariposa's allergies got worse.  We'll visit him (and our homeschooling friends) in November.  Maestro can enjoy another long cuddle then!

Midgy has been with us a whole year now!

Mariposa just loved this book.  

She told me she'd often have dreams about what she thought the riding school must have been like.

A wet Winter and looking to be a wet Spring.  The garden is very green, and the sky often has the most beautiful rainbows ... if only I was quick enough to capture them when they're most vivid.

Those dance exams are all over now.  Maestro's results came in with 'Commended'.  We're still awaiting those for Mariposa.  At the venue for the exams (Ministry of Dance), we saw the cast rehearsing for the stage show "Hairspray", as well as Jason Coleman giving a private lesson.

 Pretending to be shy.  I'll get a good photo of you yet, my lad!!!

Winter Soiree

Well, today was a very pleasant experience. From 2-4pm, the youngest students from the dance school all gathered at a local school hall to perform on stage for their parents. These were littlies from the ages of 3yrs through to 8yrs. The intermediate ballet students also performed, but were also helpers, being paired up with the 3/4yr olds.

It was actually this youngest group of girls for whom I made the dresses, and they all looked adorable! The teacher gave each of these young ladies a special little ballet teddy bear, which they took on stage with them to perform "Teddy Bear's Picnic".

Maestro performed a contemporary ballet number with his class (the intermediate students): "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".  Mariposa did very well with the younger group of musical theatre students perform songs from "Suessical the Musical".

As the children were finishing, each changed and went back into the audience to watch, and then afternoon tea was shared around for all to enjoy.

(If you like the cross-stitch in the photograph, you can purchase it HERE at the Fox Collection.)

Wordless Wednesday: dresses are done

 

(Sorry for the blurry photo.)

Sequinsing for events

It's costume making time again!

The older our children get, the more opportunities they have to dance.  We have two more weeks until the first lot of competitions start in our regional area and once again I'm helping with the costume making.  The dance school doesn't require each parent to make their own costumes.  I help a team of mums, and thus receive a subsidised fee.

This is Mariposa's tap dance costume.  Well, actually, it's another student's costume, but Mariposa's looks just the same.  I still have a small section of sequinsing to complete. The troupe is sure to look wonderful in these outfits.  Gold tasselled skirts are to be added as well. I'm not sure of the title of the music they're using, but it's one from the big band era.  None of the parents have seen them rehearse the dance, so we're really looking forward watching their routine very soon.

Maestro has a very handsome new suit pants and shirt to wear for his tap outfit (all purchased; no sewing here for that!) but we've still got his ballet outfits to make in the areas of contemporary and neo.  The contemporary dance is lots of fun; danced to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's medley of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/It's a Wonderful World".  This ballet troupe are acting out being in a children's playground, with various games and childish pranks incorporated into the routine. 

After all the competitions are over, we're doing something new at the dance school this year.  All the junior classes are having a soiree (afternoon performance with light refreshments).  The intermediate and seniors are then putting on a caberet evening with a full course meal.  This we did last year and it was so much fun!

But, I've still got lots of sewing to finish.  With the sequinsing completed, I'll move on to making little dresses for the 4yr olds, apparantly to be followed up by lion outfits! (Yes, I take my direction from the costume 'lady in charge').  I like how I'm always challenged with something new.  Remember last year it was hats?  I think this year is playing with some finer handiwork and material.

Music focus: New Zealand

Our studies with Sonlight's Core 5 is now taking us to New Zealand, so I'm writing up a short summary of music to add to what's already happening here.
There is a lovely site on the history of Maori music from An Encyclopedia of New Zealand 1966.  It's worth reading this to learn more of the collection of musical and non-musical instruments.

image from here

Maestro has chosen to focus on learning the Haka for his New Zealand project.  We've managed to find a few web pages giving details, but so far the best found has been this page. (Click on the "Launch the Haka Feature" button to see it performed, and see English translation).

The origin of the haka was very interesting to read about, with many overtones of Egyptian gods and their stories.  You can read more here.

The haka isn't the only traditional dance done, though.  The women also do their dances, often with pois.  Pois accentuate the graceful dancing and help develop strength, flexibility and co-ordination.




Pois are traditionally made from flax, with either long or short cords.  We'll be having a go at a dance, having made our own with old socks (I actually did this in primary school, which was a lot of fun ... nice to be able to share information from your youth with your own children).  Here's some instruction via video:




Some more information about pois and traditional games can be found on this site:  Home of Poi.

For more information on how to do the Haka or twirl poi balls, head on over to Maori music. Put on the music, get moving and make some noise; that's what we're going to do!!

When you're proud

I know we all love our children, but it certainly does pull at your heart strings when your own do especially well.

The dance concert went extrememly well on Saturday night.  The children had an absolute ball. And as the parents, you can't help but shed a tear or two as you see how far they've come along, overcoming obstacles of shyness, co-ordination, perseverence and creativity.

At the end of the evening, each child was presented with a trophy to acknowledge their year's efforts, but in addition to those, Maestro received an extra two.  Honours for his Classical exams, plus an Encouragement Award from all the teachers to congratulate him on the extra effort put in throughout the year.

Running upstairs after a quick change for "Day-O", Under 13s competition ballet

Lining up in the stairwell, awaiting their number.

Under 10s tap: Chatanooga Choo Choo in the black/red/white

Under 8s ballet: How Much is that Doggie in the Window in aqua blue

More hats!

I have no idea how many glue sticks I've gone through, but I know I've certainly made enough hats to last me a year!

Here are the ones completed today. My children are modelling them but they're actually for other dance students.

Anne Boleyn style hat for the senior ballet troupe, doing a Renaissance ballet:

This was made from an image found on Wikipedia, so no 'pattern' used at all.  I simply traced a plate outline, then cut out the cresent for the curve.  The remaining piece from the circle was used as the anchor or base on the head.  All fabric was glued front and back, with fancy trim then glued to the top rim.



The wolf's headpiece for the "Peter and the Wolf" ballet:

Now this was a fun one (bringing on a mild state of panic!)  A long strip of fur, which was around 30cm wide, was glued onto the front of a cap (ie: moving from front to back). The cap had the front visor removed.  Once I got 1/2 way over the hat, I slit the 'overlap' and left these flaps for the ears. 

The ears were reinforced with stiffening: cut out 2 ear shaped pieces with a 2cm slit on the base. Overlap the slits and glue together to form the ears.  Insert into the fur slit and glue into place on the cap.  Glue the fur 'flap' onto the back of the ear stiffening and let excess overhang for floppy ears.

All the shed fur 'fluff' was then glued to the inside of the ear (to the best of my ability) to cover as much white as possible.  The back of the cap was then glued over with the remaining fur, with excess fur material hanging for the mane.

Silver caps and Rhubarb champagne

I'm having such a busy week, blogging's taking a back seat. You see, it's that time of the year when the dance concert is looming and I help with the costume making. I had a lot of fun making these cute little hats. (Mine is the silver one, copied from the gold original).


Lots more costumes have been done, but I've been unable to photograph any as I've lost my battery recharger ... argh! Oh well, I'll get time to do a better search later.

In the meantime, I was prompted to look for a recipe for Rhubarb Champagne. Seeing as the rhubarb is growing perfusly here at the moment, I'm hoping to make some up this weekend. Here's the page I found, with lots of other recipes for children also.


Have fun cooking .. I need to get back to my sewing. :)

Heel and toe, heel and toe, skip, two, three, four!

We had a whole heap of fun Saturday night: a bushdance!

When I was going through my teens, a dance was part of our regular social activities. Most of the time, quite informal with bushdances and some square dances. Then there was our annual dinner dance; all formal, ballroom. You had to be at least 16 years of age to attend, and most often girls were making their own dresses for the occasion. So much fun!

Well, we decided that our young'uns need to learn some of these social skills and how to have some of this wholesome fun too.

Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera along, so I can't show you any pics, but I can lead you to some of the resources we used.


Some may remember Mike Jackson for his popular folk music, although he's not as well known as the Wiggles. He has put out a series of cds to instruct on traditional bushdances called ... Bush Dance! We had the pleasure of meeting him once and he is just such a delightful gentleman with a passion for his music and for children to enjoy it; and no, I don't think you're ever too young to glean something from him. :)


Another source of music was from The Bushwackers, primarily this cd set. We also have in our possession 2 cds put out by The Wayfarers (pictured below), although I couldn't find a source for these cds anywhere.

It's seems such a shame that this sort of music isn't as readily available as I once remember it being. Hopefully they're still around somewhere because children thoroughly enjoy them, and they are fabulously fun songs to sing when together for a sing-along .. or is it just a dying art?


Adding on Thursday 6th August: a friend has posted a thread about folk music on the Rockpool Forum. Please go here to read.

We're back!

After running between country and city suburbs three days running, I think we can officially state that we've done our dash!

The children ALL did a fabulous job, especially on the later shows. This being our first year committed to the competition troupes, it was very much an eye-opening experience. We enjoyed watching the other dancers and learning from them, but I think the highlight was that the children got to actually get away and dance with their friends three times over.

Now that we're back, I've spent a relaxing day drinking too much tea and contemplating how we'll get organised again for next term. I'm mainly focusing on the homefront today.

One little challenge we've always had is how to share out the chores evenly amongst the children. One is better at sweeping than the other, and visa versa with wiping benchtops. Still they both must learn that it's a job needing to be done and that both need to practice it to get it right.

So, my thinking is that we'll use a similar system to what I've seen on FlyLady. Have you seen this before? A few years ago I was introduced to FlyLady and it made it much easier following her 'baby steps'. What's more is that all the information is FREE (because I really enjoy freebies, don't you?!) Each week is a focus on a different Zone of the house. Ie: week 1, zone 1, the entrance way and dining room.

So, I will allocate a zone to the children each month with regard to certain chores. This will be used in conjuction with a system we already have in place, called Accountable Kids.

This wasn't a free program, but it has certainly helped them 'check' their chores. When we first got this, Maestro got up so early to feed the chickens, just so he could turn over the card ... he was up before they had come out of the coop! (That was a few years ago.) We've also found it beneficial with little bad habits that need overcoming, as we can use this system to reward the children in their efforts.

It would be very easy to make up something like this yourself. There are plenty of ideas for children's chore charts, but this is one we've employed.

So, new as of today, it's Maestro's job to keep the bathroom tidy with a daily wipe of the vanity and general tidy up, twice weekly sweep and mop, toilet clean, plus bath/shower clean. Mariposa is learning about how to stack and unstack the dishwasher, wipe and tidy the benchtop and sweep/mop the floor. These will be their jobs for this month then we'll change.

Sound of Music

When someone shares a good thing, it's only fair to keep sharing with others.

A fellow homeschooler on The Rockpool Forum posted this up. We all enjoyed it so much, especially after watching the movie "Sound of Music" this week.

I really hope this give you a laugh/cry/feel good boost for the day, too! :)

Swan Lake

A beautiful friend forwarded this to me some time ago.

It's an excerpt from Swan Lake, performed by a Chinese ballet company. Absolutely stunning .. amazing!!

I hope you enjoy it too.

"No tv!" and a day at the ballet

We had a very interesting week this past week. Hubby and I set a challenge to the children to have a 'no tv' week all week. Why? Well, we got home from our vacation and all they wanted to do was sit and watch dvds. There is so much to DO ... let's go out there and do it! Now, I'm not TOTALLY against tv, after all, at least we choose some good viewing material. Also, since I grew up without one permanently in the house, I knew that one can survive the experience.

So, we put it to them ... then out came the paints and brushes (hadn't seen them in a while!) Canvas painting was attempted for the first time ever, which was a lot of fun and really captured Maestro's attention as it was so different to using paper. I can see a lean toward more of this, which is great! We also had visits with friends, creative salad making (as it was SOOooooo HOT, there was no way we were going to do any baking!), a day at a Rollerskating arena, more 'read-alouds' and visiting the library, then before we all knew it, it was Friday and the end of the week. They succeeded! I think we may set such challenges again in the future, making sure I've got plenty of materials to keep them busy creating. :)

Then today, Sunday, was a special Mama and Mariposa day out to the ballet to see Angelina Ballerina with the English National Ballet dancers. Just delightful!

There were so many little girls, dressed up especially in their beautiful dresses or tutus, on an outing with Mum or Grandma. We had the pleasure of meeting up with friends and sharing lunch together in Melbourne, along Southbank. Perfect timing, as there were LOTS of craft stalls selling their wares (and giving me ideas, lol!)

And what does one do when home from such an exciting event? Well, dance, of course!!! On went the classical music, the ballet shoes, and up went the hair!

The only regret of the day? That she didn't get to see the dancers without their costumes, and to talk with them.

Organising our schooling schedule

I've usually been pretty diligent about writing up our daily schedules every year. It usually gets a make-over every term as new activities come along or we find something isn't working well.

Our best schedule was last term. We focused on getting a bulk of the bookwork done in the morning, after a good breakfast and regular chores. After lunch, we then focused on either Science, Social Studies or Art. It worked well for me, also, as I had sewing for dance costumes in full swing, and the children had their dance classes in the afternoons.

One problem I'm currently facing is trying to squeeze in MORE as the children enjoyed Story of the World so much, and Spanish with these books, that they want to do more of it again this year.

So, what's our schedule shaping up to look like in 2009?

Every day:

• Handwriting (10 mins)
• Spelling (10 mins) - write out list words and a few activity questions from book.
• English (30 mins) - their books alternate between Grammar, Comprehension and Creative Writing, all within the same book now.
• Maths (30 mins)
• Music theory and practice (at least 15 mins. / day) The theory part will only be once a week.

Monday to Thursdays:

• Spanish or SOTW (15 mins) - I'll alternate the days we do these, and with Story of the World the focus will be on the story and then a quick activity.
• Science or Social Studies (30-45 mins) - again alternating the days we do these, also expecting the activity side of these subjects to take us beyond the time set.

Last year we did Art with another homeschooling family every Friday. I'm hoping that this can continue. The curriculum guide my friend has suggested is Artist Pursuits.

Dance classes will be in the 'after-school' hours. Maestro has his classes Monday and Tuesday, Mariposa on Wednesday and Thursday.

Also, private violin lessons for Maestro are scheduled for Tuesday, but as this is right after his dance lesson I'm going to need to check if we can change the time.

Mariposa will have a piano lesson scheduled with me at least once a week, possibly Maestro too if he's keen, but I don't want to add to much pressure to his schedule. At his age, mastering one instrument is a great achievement.

Now, let's see, is that everything? Probably not, but even though what I've written looks pretty rigid, we're actually pretty flexible and the children get through their work quite quickly for the most part. We'll also have days where we'll organise outings, excursions, days out swimming ... just like other schools do. :)

I should make note that I realise there a many, many ways to go about organising your homeschool. We have days where the children do get very involved in a particular subject / activity and I let them run with it. In the most part, though, this routine has slowly been developing and working well for us. It takes time to watch how children grow through their learning cycles and latching onto their current learning mode so that they can gain the best understanding.

Just as children have physical growth spurts, they likewise have intellectual growth spurts. What they didn't 'get' for some time can suddenly become an 'ahhhh' moment. I had one of these moments with Mariposa last year. I knew she loved manipulatives, therefore made sure I had lots of bottle tops on hand, coloured pegs, a counting frame and cuisenaire rods. After stuggling with word problems for addition and subtraction, we pulled out the manipulatives. She then proceeded to tell me the answers before she'd even 'proven it' with her manipulatives. I learnt that she could visualise the answer ... a talent I didn't know she had! Yes, 'ahhhhh' to me!!

Finishing up for the year

It's been a busy school year, but the past few weeks have gone very smoothly since the extra 'after school' activities have slowed down. I've been very happy with how the children are keen to get as much of their work done in the mornings, which has freed up our afternoons for a more relaxing pace, or time to plan other activities out of the home.

I thought I'd list the books we've used this year, for anybody interested. They are listed on the left columns under the children's headings (NB - character names, not real names, are used). I'll update our book lists again for next year at another time.

One of the highlights we have each year is the dance concert in November. Oh, how my alekittens have learnt so much!! We are, of course, so proud of their achievements. Both have been asked to join the competition troupes next year, which is exciting for everyone! It does mean a few weekends where we'll have to travel to some other areas of Victoria for their performances, but it's a wonderful opportunity for them to improve their skills and have occasion to dance in front of other audiences. I don't know how far they want to continue their dancing into their adult years, but so far it's been a great social and fitness activity. Both alekittens do ballet, jazz and tap dance. I've included a photo of them both in one of their ballet costumes for this year's Nutcracker theme.