Yesterday was Carissa's 12th birthday and we had spag bol and chocolate birthday cake with her and the family. All of her gifts were money -- in notes. She changed the notes into coins and put them in her money box. That money box was carted around and we all had to feel the weight. She used a small ruler in the slot to measure how full it was. Excitement plus!
Both girls were stalling off bedtime, as kids do. One innovative excuse was to perform a song that they had learnt at school. In amongst the excited chatter, I heard something but I had to replay to retrieve anything. It was the name, The Chambermaids, that had set bells ringing. That and the mention of some musical instruments. All I could get from the girls was a time to be at their school today for a performance.
Sue, Richard and I went; Steve didn't like the vague idea of it all ----- but he was quite disappointed when we came home and reported! It turned out that it was a quintet from Musica Viva, who do school tours. The 5 young women were very experienced and professional, as well as a lot of fun. The school had done a lot of pre-performance work and the kids joined in with great enthusiasm.
Quite a lot of work was done on examining how each of the 5 instruments worked --- the flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and English Horn. The kids (little ones and we big ones) were delighted when a "hosaphone" was played ----- it was just a piece of hose, with a funnel on the end, but a tune came from it!
Many, many musical concepts were covered in the same fun way, which we all appreciated. It was a wonderful way of teaching. As the school is both Primary and Secondary, the quintet catered for all ages. One of the teachers did a brilliant job of "composing", using only her hands and the people playing the instruments. A young boy did a similar thing using drawings on a whiteboard. Great afternoon!!!
Our plans are laid for Friday and more for Monday. Having Sue and Richard here is motivating!!
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Thursday, July 2, 2009
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