Ingrid Bauer/Jean-Claude Catry

Hi all,

While sitting watching my son's (he's turning 7 very soon) violin lesson
today, I was wondering about something and thought i'd ask the group here
for expereinces and feedback. Ayden has been playing violin for about a year
(and was "playing" 2 sticks for years before that). He loves it. His younger
sister (2.5yo) also goes with him to lessons now and stands behind him and
saws and scratches away on her little violin with much enthusiasm while he
plays. Both children clearly have a good ear and a passionate relationship
with music and violin.

I have two questions i'd welcome feedback on.

1) Today, while sitting in on the lesson (sometimes i stay, sometimes i do
groceries) I again noticed how much the teacher praises. She really does it
quite a bit and says things like "That was excellent!" or asks things like
"Now doesn't that feel good when you play it without mistakes?" things i
would never say and wish she wouldn't either. Despite this, she is really a
great teacher--she's young and hip and very creative and down-to-earth and
inspires the kids with her own obvious love of music, fiddling etc. Above
all, they both absolutely adore her and feel very safe with her (she's the
only "stranger" I've ever been able to leave my 2.5yo with!). i really like
her too. She has a special relationship with Ayden and she has kept him on
as a student even while cutting other more experienced students when she
reduced her schedule.

I haven't seen the praising interfere with Ayden's learning or his
enthusiasm (yet) and in some ways i hate to get in there when it's all going
well and he's happy, *but* i also feel uncomfortable with the praise and
somewhat "schooly" language. I sometimes think she only does this because
she thinks she "should" and that she would be open to learning how to do it
differently. She's been very open to my input so far and i know i can talk
with her but want to be succinct, specific and helpful. She also gives
stickers, which Ayden loves (the stickers) but i don't like her giving them
for "good playing" even if his playing is always "good". Any thoughts of
how i could quickly and easily explain why i'd rather she didn't use praise
as "motivation" and how she could speak instead? Or should i leave it alone
as it doesn't appear to bother ds?

2) Practicing. I've spoken with the teacher about this and told her that i
will not force Ayden to practice and after a year of watching his enthusiasm
while other kids drifted off, she really got it and encourages but doesn't
push it. However, we all see (including Ayden) how quickly and noticably his
playing improves when he practices. He says he would like to practice more
and wants my help because he doesn't always think of it but i'm not very
organised and have baggage about being nagged to practice so i tend to just
shy away, often forget and am not very helpful in this regard. Could someone
share with me really concrete ways they help their children to remember
practicing in a way that really respects their integrity and natural
learning?

THanks!
ingrid

[email protected]

On the first part, maybe you could gift her with a copy of "Punished by
Rewards."

On the second part, maybe make a little abacus thing (wire with beads to to
move from one side to another and upward loop?) with seven big beads, and after
he practices seven times in a week he's done with moving the beads. He might
practice twice some days. And if he doesn't practice seven times, maybe you
could leave the undone ones and he could see if he "caught up" by doing more
than seven, but anytime you want to start over, just move the beads back to
"start" without penalty or noting it.

It would be an indicator without words or numbers or a written record to
haunt him OR for him to save for years to be proud of. Fleeting, so that the
playing is more important than than the record of having played.

Sandra


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Tia Leschke

>Despite this, she is really a
>great teacher--she's young and hip and very creative and down-to-earth and
>inspires the kids with her own obvious love of music, fiddling etc. Above
>all, they both absolutely adore her and feel very safe with her (she's the
>only "stranger" I've ever been able to leave my 2.5yo with!). i really like
>her too. She has a special relationship with Ayden and she has kept him on
>as a student even while cutting other more experienced students when she
>reduced her schedule.

I'm curious, Ingrid. Do you mind saying who the teacher is? My
granddaughter (9) recently started taking violin from a young woman who
plays both classical and fiddle. She has done some things my daughter
wasn't comfortable with (fining kids in a group class if they played out of
turn for instance) though they're mostly quite happy with her. Just curious
if this is the same person, since we're in the same area. Skye's teacher's
name is Vell. (I have no idea how it's actually spelled. That's what it
sounds like.)



>2) Practicing. I've spoken with the teacher about this and told her that i
>will not force Ayden to practice and after a year of watching his enthusiasm
>while other kids drifted off, she really got it and encourages but doesn't
>push it. However, we all see (including Ayden) how quickly and noticably his
>playing improves when he practices. He says he would like to practice more
>and wants my help because he doesn't always think of it but i'm not very
>organised and have baggage about being nagged to practice so i tend to just
>shy away, often forget and am not very helpful in this regard. Could someone
>share with me really concrete ways they help their children to remember
>practicing in a way that really respects their integrity and natural
>learning?

The one thing that seems to really get Skye playing a lot is spending time
with her friends who also play. They always take their violins to each
other's house and almost always play together. Does Ayden have any friends
who play?
Tia

Ingrid Bauer/Jean-Claude Catry

She has done some things my daughter
> wasn't comfortable with (fining kids in a group class if they played out
of
> turn for instance) though they're mostly quite happy with her. Just
curious
> if this is the same person, since we're in the same area.

nope but they're family. Ayden's teacher is the sister of Skye's teacher,
who in my very limited experience with her seem definitely more "strict" and
not quite as open as Ayden's teacher. However, Ayden's teacher, Jaime, is
very much in demand and pretty well impossible to get in with.

> The one thing that seems to really get Skye playing a lot is spending time
> with her friends who also play. SNIP> Does Ayden have any friends
> who play?

THat sounds great. I wish Ayden had more friends who play--he doesn't
particularly connect with the boys in his age group lesson and the girl his
age is away all the time at private school. Most of Ayden's friends are
young active boys who are very curious about his violin but inevitably just
twist the pegs and untune it :-).
I think i'd like to see if we can connect more with older kids who play.

The other thing that inspires him is listening to music but we have a pretty
limited selection. Can anyone recommend some great violin music? We have a
bit of Celtic fiddliing which he adores, but he also seems to really love
classical and i'm at a bit of a loss. I'd probably have to mailorder it so
it would be good to know what we're getting into. He seems to love pretty
harmonious music, not too intense (doesn't like tchaikovsky). For example he
really loved Vivaldi's music in the story/music tape "Vivaldi's ring of
mystery" from the Classical Kids series (great series!).

I like Sandra's idea of the beads on an abacus as long as i put it somewhere
we can see it. He's been drawing pictures on a large sticker to keep track
of his practicing but the problem is it's inside his violin case. We need
something to help us *remember* to practice more than to record sessions
after the fact.

ingrid

Tia Leschke

>
>The other thing that inspires him is listening to music but we have a pretty
>limited selection. Can anyone recommend some great violin music? We have a
>bit of Celtic fiddliing which he adores, but he also seems to really love
>classical and i'm at a bit of a loss. I'd probably have to mailorder it so
>it would be good to know what we're getting into. He seems to love pretty
>harmonious music, not too intense (doesn't like tchaikovsky). For example he
>really loved Vivaldi's music in the story/music tape "Vivaldi's ring of
>mystery" from the Classical Kids series (great series!).

I'm never sure whether you're in town or on Saltspring. Do you have access
to the Victoria library system? They have tons of classical CDs. I pay the
non-resident fees each year in order to use that system. It's pretty high,
$150/year, but I figure I get my money's worth just from the multi-media
stuff. The Vancouver Island Regional system is starting to get more CDs,
but I guess Saltspring isn't part of that system.
Tia

Ingrid Bauer/Jean-Claude Catry

> I'm never sure whether you're in town or on Saltspring. Do you have access
> to the Victoria library system?

i'm on saltspring but fortunately I have access to a (free) library card
from a friend who doesn't need 240 books a month for her family (that's how
many she could get with her cards!!). However, it's just a child's card--do
you know if i can get music or videos with a child's card?? I can't find any
info on the library site on the internet about it but i'm compiling a list
of books and stuff to get when we go into town tommorrow and wondered if i
should bother perusing the music section.

ingrid

Tia Leschke

>
>
>i'm on saltspring but fortunately I have access to a (free) library card
>from a friend who doesn't need 240 books a month for her family (that's how
>many she could get with her cards!!). However, it's just a child's card--do
>you know if i can get music or videos with a child's card?? I can't find any
>info on the library site on the internet about it but i'm compiling a list
>of books and stuff to get when we go into town tommorrow and wondered if i
>should bother perusing the music section.

If you go to the downtown branch I think you'll find *something*. They have
lots there. They have signs over the various sections telling you how many
items you're allowed and how long you can keep them. I think it would say
there if you can take them on a child's card.

I know you used to have to have an adult card for videos and CDROMs. I
think that's still the case. I don't think you need an adult card for CDs
or cassettes. You might want to call to find out in order to avoid a wasted
trip. (If you go into the main branch without a card, and you're anything
like me, you'll be wanting your own card. At least that's what happened to
me. My husband bought me a non-resident card for my birthday that year. It
was only $50 then. Sigh.
Tia

[email protected]

In a message dated 1/10/04 6:42:47 PM, instinct@... writes:

<< We need

something to help us *remember* to practice more than to record sessions

after the fact.

>>

That's what I was thinking, and yet it wouldn't be marked "VIOLIN PRACTICE
CHART," but would be just like an artsy bit of art (though if babies come by
they'd need to play with it! <g>).

And it's transitory/impermanent, unlike stars on a paper.

Get this: I still own my piano-lesson report card from when I was five years
old. Some weeks have blue stars, and some have silver. I could tell you
which weeks I did better than not and that was 1958.

I could give you all my grades from elementary school too.

I like having those. They affirmed me better than my mom did.

School was very, very good to me. Sad huh???


Sandra

veejie72

--- In [email protected], "Ingrid Bauer/Jean-Claude Catry"
<instinct@s...> wrote:

snip

> The other thing that inspires him is listening to music but we have a pretty
> limited selection. Can anyone recommend some great violin music?

My husband loves classical violin music and has some really great recordings, mostly
by Heifetz. If you email me at berryhead@... with your mailing address we
can easily (and cheaply) burn a few CDs for you on our computer and pop them in the
mail.

-Vijay