I'm odd. I have missed being assaulted by strange sounds twice weekly. As I tucked into Wars of the Irish Kings I found myself thinking that a trained choir singing scales was rather a pleasant sound. Hm. Yes, well...To say nothing of Ditz, who was quite extraordinary last night. I have failed to appreciate the gifts that child has. Between fog & rain & errands we found ourselves running late last night & scrambling for seats just as Alison began class. To my astonishment there were two other mothers there but my curiosity wasn't particularly roused. There is so much oddity from week to week what is a little more?
Frankly I wasn't all that sure we were off to a good start. Ditz was off with the fairies & Alison pegged her with her first question. That woke Ditz up all right & she began paying attention properly.
The dictation has been over my head for some time & is now moving into more complicated time signatures that my poor little unmusical brain simply cannot grasp at all. What I do grasp, as a chronic people watcher, is which children are most likely to have the answers or to volunteer themselves; not Ditz, who has yet to master the art of raising her hand. Her idea of raising her hand is to rest her elbow on the edge of the desk & waggle a pencil vaguely in the air. Maybe I need to do a lesson on correct classroom procedure?
So asked to sing back what they've just heard I know which children are going to put their hand up to solo & if they fluff it who Alison is most likely to call upon; not Ditz, who has no qualms about subjecting me to her outrageous performances in the safety of her own home. I started paying attention when I heard the timing go all over the place & the high notes flubbed. One down. Another hand, another child, same problemo & no~one else was offering to be the sacrificial lamb. I don't even know if it was difficult but while I'm waiting to see how Alison will tackle the mutiny in the ranks Ditz does her little pencil waggle. Yep. Coulda knocked me down with a feather. She nailed it. That strange sound you're hearing is my jaw hitting the floor. That child is not consistent. She fluffs the easy stuff, nails the hard stuff, makes mad mistakes in stuff she knows backwards, forwards & inside out then makes wild guesses at stuff she's never heard of & gets it right!
As we're waiting for the advanced students to arrive for rehearsals another mother approached me to tell me what a great voice my child has. I am so used to Ditz I take her, her voice & her music for granted. I haven't spent time comparing her voice to other voices. I have only been concerned that she is behaving herself, that she is coping in a classroom situation, that she is coping with the work, enjoying herself... & that Alison is happy with her. It is very important that Alison is happy with her!
In rehearsals Ditz, who is singing seconds, stands next to the boy with the best & loudest voice & happily cognizant that he is effectively drowning her out she has been letting rip...until she realised he'd dropped out & it was her alone making all the noise! She was most put out with him & I got to hear all about it all the way home.
3 comments:
Is the "Wars of the irish kings" a good read? If so may I borrow it? I love war theory. What is a pacifist doing reading about war anyway.
Oh, Kimba, Kimba, Kimba, we're talking about the Irish. Their wars have little resemblence to Alexander or the Cesaers & at the point I'm at are probably imaginary any way unless you know of a band of one legged, one eyed giants roaming some obscure corner of the world. No, that's what I thought too. This is less about military tactics than people history & it's a library book if you want to put it on hold. :D
its so interesting to me how we mothers who know our kids so well and are so acutely aware of their wonderful-ness can be blind-sided by their true giftedness. your ditz sounds like a singularly delightful creature m'dear:)
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