We begin again

We start another school year on Monday--2015-2016--a final year of high school for my son--a final year of middle school for my daughter.  I haven't done a whole lot of prep work yet besides thinking about the year and pulling lists of books from our curriculum guide.  I haven't even planned in my head how the days of week will go or what our daily or weekly schedule will look like.  I know what I want to implement that has been lacking in previous years, but  I also know how busy the days and weeks quickly become.  I want to really study this year, even if that means not using every resource that is planned, as long as the ones we do use serve us well.

I would love the year to be simple and straightforward.  I would love to not feel rushed, to have time to think and talk and write about what we are learning, to absorb beauty and knowledge in each of our disciplines of study.  I sound like I'm the student, not the teacher!  I would love for my students to experience the year in this way.  Quality not quantity.

There are always loopholes in our educational journey.  In the past I've fretted over missing some of the richness offered in literature or language study or poetry, art, nature studies.  I remind myself at the beginning of each year that we are learning how to learn just as much as learning the content itself.   We are learning to love to learn I should say; the desire to know, to delve, to seek information, to seek beauty, to understand the world and all that is in it to the best of our ability at any one time in our life.  And to exercise that desire to learn all throughout our life, not just when we are in 'school'.

There is still some trepidation as I wonder how the year will unfold in reality rather than in theory (or in my head).  But I am still excited about beginning again.

The Usual Suspects

I attended the first concert of Aaron's band, The Usual Suspects, last night and was blown away.  Of course I am biased, but I thought the amount of raw talent in the room was amazing.  Almost all the band members learned their instruments within the last 6 months, with the exception of Patrick on keyboard and Aaron on guitar.   Several of the band members taught other band members how to play and all of them worked up their skills to play all their pieces from memory.  They played 17 rock n roll cover songs from various artists.

They were modest in touting their abilities, but it was clear that each one of them had worked hard over the last 6 months to hone their talent.   No, they aren't ready to make a CD or anything, but they really enjoyed the fruit of all their hard work and long practice sessions.  With each piece of music, you could see them getting into their groove and simply enjoying the music and having fun.

The audience, made up of parents, friends, and a row of teenage girls, loved their energy and talent.  I was proud of my son's behind-the-scenes work ( he wrote out piano music for the keyboards, helped teach guitar riffs, kept the rhythm and beat, and worked long and hard on his own instrumentals and vocals) and his stage presence was great.  All the guys were relaxed and were naturals on stage.

I know the time commitment was crazy at times, but the passion each of the boys brought to their music was evident.  I know they won't ever forget the experience.  They really are a 'garage rock' band (they practiced in a garage most of the time) and they should be proud of their accomplishments.