Back to Work ... and blogging

Today, after nine weeks of varied activity and travel, I finally return to teaching my wonderful students. It seems like an age since I have seen them. I'm sure all the young ones will all have grown like mushrooms and some of the older ones will look more mature. It's amazing what a difference a holiday makes.

Will they have practised? Some will, most will not. Is this a good thing? I think it is in some ways. There seems to be some process that goes on in the brain when you take a break from playing. As a child, I rarely practised in the holidays. Sometimes I did, but I think that was probably when I ran out of other things to do! And it did me good. I remember coming back to pieces that I had struggled with in the previous year, and, miracle of miracles:  I could play them! It intrigued me, and still does, as to how a break affects one's playing.

When my children were born I had an even longer break from playing. I had four children in the space of 6 1/2 years - there was really no time for much playing for me, especially as we were home-educating as well!

So, 10 years later, I started teaching and also playing again. Yes, 10 years! It was hard at first. My brain knew what I wanted my fingers to do, but my fingers refused to co-operate. It was hard work. My muscles got a bit sore - not just fingers either. Arms, shoulders and sometimes my back, all complained at the "ill-treatment". But I kept at it, and I started remembering things, things I'd learned way back when I was at the Conservatorium as a student. I'd remember things my teachers had told me, ways of practising difficult passages and scales, double stops, different types of bowing etc.

And then I noticed something even more interesting: I was playing far more in tune than I remember myself playing before. My fingers just seemed to instinctively know where to go; my double stops were working well and the sound seemed a lot less scratchy than I remember. Perhaps my memory of my previous playing was bad? I'm not sure. I have one recording of my final performance at university. I don't like listening to it. My memorisation was patchy and it shows in the playing.

Yes, I passed the course but it's only now that I feel I'm really playing well. Is it a confidence thing? Maybe. Becoming a mother certainly has something to do with it! But all in all, the break did me good. And I'm hoping this long holiday will have done all my wonderful students just as much good.

Review: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

William Kamkwambe was a school drop out – not because he was lacking in intelligence, but because his family could not afford school fees during a time of famine. Even though the family made it through the famine, they still could not afford to send William to school.

So, how did young William spend his time when he wasn’t helping his father on the family farm? He spent a lot of it at the Wimbe Primary School Library. There were books on English, history, science, and secondary texts from Zambia and Zimbabwe, and novels. At first he chose books on subjects similar to those his friends were studying in school so that he could keep up and hopefully re-join them when his parents could afford the fees. But then one day he came across a fascinating book entitled: Malawi Integrated Junior Science. Then, continuing to pursue his interests, he finally came to a book called Explaining Physics  and through chapters in this book on hydro electricity and magnetism he came up with the idea of building a windmill to generate electricity.

The remainder of the book details how he went about this, using just basic scrap metal, old motors and engine parts. He was greatly misunderstood but kept pursuing his objective and eventually was recognised in the world of science for his amazing achievement.

This is a truly inspiring story, and one all aspiring wannabes should read!

For information about William and more links go here. Click here if you would like to browse inside the book. Links to purchase are on the left-hand side.


William Kamkwambe addressing the 2009 TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Conference.

Kid's music - how soon should I start?

It's summer in Australia and consequently all educational institutions have been having a lovely long break. My girls are both at university and over the last few summers they have invited their friends over to see a bit of the best part of Australia, Tasmania. They have a great time and we get to know our daughter's friends a little better.

We have lots of interesting conversations too.  One day, for some elusive reason, we were talking about babies. One of my daughter's friends, had an extremely interesting experience.

During the year she had heard a piece of music that seemed quite familiar to her. She looked up the title but did not recognise it. It wasn't a piece she had played or sung recently, so why was it so familiar? Puzzled, she went to her mother and asked her about it.  Her mother recognised the piece immediately! She said that she had played that piece to her when she was pregnant!

People often say that if you sing to your baby before he/she is born they will be soothed by that particular piece or song afterwards, but to actually recognise it as an adult is pretty amazing!

You can find out more about listening to music while pregnant here. And if you are interested in finding out what you can do after your baby's birth, and don't feel too confident to do things yourself, you can check out Kindermusik or similar programs. Read more about how music helps your child's development and download Kindermusik's free research booklets here.

Homeschooling and the Secular State

In a recent article, Bill Muehlenberg, a well-known commentator on social and cultural issues, decries the “joke that is public education”. He says:

“Not only do plenty of kids come out uneducated, illiterate and innumerate, but increasingly the public school system is becoming just a hothouse for force-feeding kids politically correct propaganda. Anti-faith and anti-family values are being pushed all the time in the modern school system, and plenty of parents are appalled at this.

Thus they are moving to homeschooling to ensure that their children get a proper education, coupled with decent values. And the results have been consistently shown to be much better. As just one example, a recent study found that homeschooled college students significantly outperformed their peers

As one news report states, “Among the major findings: Homeschooled students earned a higher first-year GPA (3.41) when compared to other freshman (3.12). Homeschooled students earned a higher fourth-year GPA (3.46) when compared to other freshman who completed their fourth year (3.16). Homeschooled students achieved a higher graduation rate (66.7 percent) when compared to the overall student population (57.5 percent).

“Other research has shown that parents spend on average $500 per child, per year to homeschool. In comparison, the average public school spends over $10,000 per child, per year. Homeschooling is proving itself everyday to be a credible and cost-effective method of educating children.” ‘

As home-educators of our four adult children my husband and I can concur very strongly with Bill’s conclusions. All four of our children studied at university level (two are still studying). One is two-thirds the way through a doctorate in a biochemistry related topic. The other has one more year to go in a double degree.

This is not to say that achieving academically through conventional schooling is impossible, or that everyone should home educate. Home education can mean a lot of sacrifice on the part of the parents and should never be undertaken without a good deal of  thought or consideration. It involves a lot of time, effort, research and frustration but is also very rewarding and fun.

Parents who choose home education should be supported by governments, not ostracised, supressed, restricted or abused. After all, we save the government a lot of money. Home educated children are more responsible, more mature, conscientious and dependable, and  become reliable citizens, workers and parents.

Read full article: The Secular State’s Homeschooling Crackdown » Bill Muehlenberg’s CultureWatch