My daughter’s piano teacher made it clear to me that memorizing and reciting mnemonic phrases for musical notes is not the same as playing the music correctly. My daughter knows “every good boy does fine” and “grizzly bears don’t fear anything.” These two phrases have helped her learn the notes. But as her music gets more complicated she must improve her ability to play those notes correctly; on demand; no matter the order in which they appear on the page; no matter the tempo; no matter the Continue Reading
The Really Heavy Doors
My girls are so excited about our upcoming trip to Washington, D.C. As a matter of fact, since the day they found out about the trip they have not stopped talking about it and asking questions. The latest conversation about the trip was quite interesting. Olivia says, “Mommy, we are going to be able to see the White House, but we are not going inside because the doors are really heavy!” “The doors are really heavy? What do you mean?” I looked at my husband hoping to gain some insight but he was Continue Reading
What’s Right?
Could you imagine walking into a room bawling your eyes out in response to some really bad news? As you approach a friend, this friend sees you swimming in tears and says, “hey girl, what’s ... (wait for it) RIGHT?” Yes, she asked, not “what’s wrong?” but “what’s right?” You’d probably be thrown off by that. I, on the other hand, might assume they’d been reading “Discover Your Strengths” by Tom Rath, based on the research findings of psychologist Don Clifton. This book encourages the reader Continue Reading