Harmony

It has been nearly two hours since I kissed my girl goodnight. So can someone tell me why in the world do I hear an original harmonica composition coming from her room? Heaven help us, the girl loves her music.
When she was five, we were given an old piano. I spent a few weeks turning it into something beautiful and then enrolled Newt in piano lessons. She loved them. The lessons, that is.
The practicing? Not so much.
I begged. I pleaded. I bribed. I threatened. And then I came to the conclusion that she just wasn’t ready. Coincidentally, this epiphany coincided with our big move home to Oregon, so there was really no fuss about discontinuing her lessons.
Over the past year and a half, Newt occasionally asked me when she was going to start taking lessons again. I always replied with an enigmatic “When the student is ready, the teacher appears” and then I would catch a fly with a pair of chopsticks.
Not buying it? Okay, what I’d really say was something along the lines of, “I don’t know, kid. We’ll see.” And then I waited and watched for her to be ready. In the meantime, we began studying different composers and integrating their music into our day.
Three or four months ago, Newt pulled her old books out of the piano bench and declared that if I wasn’t going to get her lessons, she would just have to teach herself. She started “practicing” nearly every day.
The student was ready.
I sat down with her and we made a deal. I will pay for lessons and make sure she has time to practice each day but only if she will practice on her own. If she seems to need it, I will give her one gentle reminder. Other than that, she is on her own.
Know what?
It is working out fine.
Not only is she completing her assigned practices, she is also practicing scales that her teacher hasn’t assigned and working on original compositions. All this without a word from me.
But can someone tell me why it is that most of those compositions seem to make heavy use of the sustaining pedal and chords heretofore never imagined?
What’s the point?
I began homeschooling a little over a year ago – but even in that short time, I have developed a personal philosophy for education:
Give plenty of opportunities for learning.
Provide ample inspiration.
And then wait until the child is ready.
Everyday I am seeing evidence that it is working. From music to math and everything in between, she is choosing to learn.
And I couldn’t be more pleased.