September Music Thread

I am going to stop trying to emphasis words from a phone. Either my eyes are deteriorating faster or my fingers just getting fatter!

Thank you Raspberry, DD's applied for the first time as a result of this prompter!

mini fleur, goo and rara: loved their clips, including the ^comedy' one waffle. Your girls are all very cute.

Anyone with 13 year old Grade 6 and above, NYO Inspire applications have opened for next year.

Tours abroad, DC's school used to go on tour every year, so all three went at least once, DS2 was very lucky, Germany and Italy with school in July of Y7, and Latvia with Cathedral Choir the following October.

Family holidays are camping trips in the UK though

Ladies I am popping in to just quickly let you know Purcell school is playing at Wigmore Hall next Thursday and the ticket prices are very reasonable, lovely programme, piano, cello, horn and guitar.

No practice here for days on end, I need to get her back into a routine this weekend once she starts music lessons again. She also needs to decide her festival pieces with her piano teacher this weekend and I am tempted to enter her in a woodwind class as well.

Kutik: we only got back to practice the last ...3 days after ...3 months , lets see how things hold. I didnt teach my daughter any this summer regarding to our native language, in fact I didnt know what I did the whole holiday, it went in a tick! We have never had time for it during the school year. What else that I do is we only speak in our native to each other, I write notes, letters to her in our language( somedays when things are tough at work, I dont even see her at all). However our language is different to yours and much closer to English so much much easier to keep up and learn.

Loose: 6 prep talks , thats great, saving us the energy!

Double: my friends brought their children to 11+ mocks test couple of months back and send their children to summer full day work shop(year 4 children), thats why I hide or run every time anyone in real life mention 11+. We have never done any academic exam, test, mocks...any forms. Her knowledge is every where however not good for any test yet. I am registered with Bonds website and will look into materials this weekend. We did 3 small tests(maths, english, vr) last weekend and she only got 75% for them all, she didnt understand the questions mostly(surprised me to someone who reads well). I will have to break things in areas and buy material in each areas. Not a consolidated test yet, hopefully from summer next year when we have reviewed and equipped with skills to answer the test questions. She is although doing well at non-test format (be able to drill in a hard maths concepts, could write 500 words in 1 go, know how to structure her writing, reads well).

Thanks, drummers.

I speak to him in my language as shamefully my English is not so brilliant. But I know his use of vocabularies will suffer and also he will speak like a girl as I will be the main one to use the language around him! But it's still OK, he will be fine with listening and hopefully speaking also.

So a problem is his reading and writing. It's completely different from English so without daily use he will quickly lose it (sure he has already lost as there is no more weekly test which was compulsory at Saturday school). But yes, I'll try to keep it alive somehow somewhere!

Do - not D9. Brrrrr.

kuti it must feel very sudden all this homework. But it's better to get used to it in year 6 and make the transitionto year 7 smoother. D9 keep up your language, it can be an extra gcse and it would be a shame to lose it. A bit during dinner? A bit of reading before bed?

You are well prepared as always, drummers!

To be honest half an hour weekly homework is very reasonable considering what they are aiming for. It's just that suddenly everywhere DS is involved has started homework which didn't exist before. He didn't get much homework from school, yet suddenly he's started receiving daily homework. He does French which again no homework before but now started weekly homework.

I was going to give him mini-lesson daily or weekly to keep up his another language (mine) as he now left the Saturday school where DS had been receiving dual education since he was 3, but suppose it has to be pushed to the bottom of the list!

Yes kutik I had already read it - made DS read it before accepting! Homework is for theory, right? Not nice news buy you get to the point in which you say, well it's pouring anyway, I'm drowning, so what difference does it make a little more water?

Green, don't give up on messy play while she still enjoys it!
We also have a busy schedule, youngest one has 1 or 2 out of the house activities every day. Homework, 2 instruments etc.

I already mentioned 10 min bond tests (VR, NVR, maths),. I also use the time in the car with eg time tables, vocab tests etc.
Fiction books, I quite like reading some of the children's books she reads, and then we can get to talk about it wherever we can (that's your lessons in comprehension done....).

I am also impressed with Green's schedule - it sounds time-efficient. Suppose it's better than alternating days for each instrument since frequency is more effective/important than length. But DS has a tendency to get carried away once he is switched on. I try not to stop him when he is into it. So it's quite difficult to schedule one after another. Perhaps he is not made to be a multi instrumentalist, although he expresses his interest in other instruments (currently flute, trombone and viola). Prioritising things is so crucial yet so hard in this hectic world!

A series of events booked in this week and next week, so I'm struggling to manage DS's new schedule. Haven't managed proper practice this week, and piano in particular is pretty much neglected. Hopefully we'll get used to the new routine soon, and manage to secure time for music and homework between all the activities/commitments. DS has football x 3, swimming and tennis this term. Oh and, JD seems to hand weekly non-practical homework as well (did you read the documents, drummers?)...

Green it sounds pretty hectic to me! It's a big balancing act. But I'd have art/messy play on standby if it gets too stressful - for both of you!
I am impressed with your practice schedule and think DS2 could manage this quite easily rather than alternate days for each instrument. He's actually good at doing it if I nudge him - never complains but does have a tendency to wait until asked!
Another fun guitar lesson last night and a new tune for DS2.
DS1 says he's had about 6 pep talks at school about how year 11 is really important!

Oh Kutik, no art work/making mess time any more, it makes me feel so sad however we just have to prioritise this year for academic which we have never focused on. The evening will be for music( we still have 2 swimming evenings a week so we now have to do music practice in weekends evenings too). She still needs bed from 8.00 to 7.30 and always need to be woken up at 7.30 to be able to go to school on time. We also want to do more with chess(which she has been improving well during the summer), the weekend section is half day and I dont want to loose time with her. I am moaning here however mine schedule is nothing to compare with the previous posts from everyone.

Loved Rara's new video. And, she is always so cute... Haven't seen Goo's. Must go back and check!

string, DS joined a selective football programme when he was 5. Somehow they always organised training on Fridays... It's far away so after school + journey + training + another journey every Friday for the last 5 years... We often joked with other parents that we all lost our Friday night. Can you imagine? We all had to stand around the pitch for hours while boys were training, no matter how cold, wet or windy... Didn't feel like going out after that. Hanging around JD building all day sounds heaven to me...

Green, but your DD has a passion for science and drawing/painting. Besides, she is doing very well with her practice! Mine has hardly ever done two instruments practice in one go...

Wonderful new videos of Goo and Rara, thanks so much for posting.

And I really sympathy Drummers, String and Kutik Saturday music schedule and envy with anyone abroad music trip!

And loved to read Misti updates!

Fleur: fingers crossed for the best results to miniFleur, I always wish mine had a passion for music like her.

We started getting back to our usual routine too, 30 mins piano then small break then violin for 30 mins

We had a once in a lifetime opportunity to go to Australia when she was nearly 4 but haven't been abroad since. All our money goes on her expensive lifestyle - even "holidays" revolve around workshops/performances/shows.

First recorder lesson was better than expected- her teacher had her help her friends master B for this lesson, which she enjoyed, and after the lesson the teacher said she's going to bring some "proper music" for her to play for next lesson ("Mummy it was soooo squeaky and noisy all lesson....")

DS went on a tour to Holland this summer. It isn't a group that he plays with but their conductor also conducts the group DS does play with and he was asked to fill out the section. What that actually meant was all of the section going on the tour with their one trombone player. I was worried that he wouldn't know anyone and that was so far from reality that it was silly.

Ah string DS has been invited to one in Belgium as well! They may cross paths...

Dd ha anew. Invited to one in Belgium next summer....ditto re excitement.....

DS2 has been invited on a concert tour to Germany next summer. I might be slightly more excited about this than he is.

Drummers I think ds will be going his homework on Sunday once he gets back from his AYM weekend !! He's currently doing a quick bit before jazz band and will need to do some when he gets back too but he hasn't grumbled - so far ...

Thanks for the advice string!! Much appreciated. DS says he will do homework Saturday evening when he gets home

Waffle lovely playing by Rara, very soulful for her young age and nice sound.
mini I was under the impression that you had added a video? I can't see it. Sorry if I'm wrong.