Our first day of school was busy. We now refer to it as "freshman orientation". Because I had the whole day off from work, I decided we needed to touch upon each subject--something that won't occur on any future school day. Emily was really excited to begin, and willing to do a lot of work. By the end of the long day she felt like she had done a week's worth of school work, and I felt guilty! We have now experienced each of the subjects, and have a better idea how to pace them. We've put "health" on hold until second semester, when she will have completed her "education and career planning" class. That has balanced the curriculum for now.
The first piano lesson took place on Monday, and we had a joyful reunion with Gail, who formerly not only taught Emily piano, but also taught our homeschool choir for a year, when Emily was in 6th grade. Oh, we've missed piano!
Last evening was the tryout for the "Youth Symphony". Emily was horribly nervous! We had a 45 minute drive to get to the practice location. She played a couple scales for the director, Mr. King, and then a classical piece "Fiocco's Allegro", a light-hearted piece that shows off her quick fingers. She didn't have time to demonstrate her sight-reading ability, but did play a couple more impromptu scales at Mr. King's request. He placed her in 1st chair, and she beamed at Wayne and me when she was seated for the rehearsal. It's a very small orchestra, and I hope more kids join. They had five violins, three trumpets, a french horn, flute, some percussion, and that's about it. The parents held an orientation meeting while the kids practiced, then we had time to observe the rehearsal. They sound GOOD! This commitment will have us driving a lot. The symphony practices (for now) from 6 pm to 8:30 pm each Tuesday evening.
Today was the first day of school for the local junior academy. I delivered Emily there in time for choir, then waited until choir finished to make sure she had a place to go for her "study hall". After that was PE with the 9th and 10th graders (the school board said "yes" to our request that she be allowed to participate). Finally, it was time for "handbell" tryouts, so she got to audition again. There are three empty handbell spots, and eight students who want to fill them. The other handbell spots are filled by students who played with the group last year. We haven't heard the answer yet. It makes me a little weary to think of driving her to school at noon four days a week, then picking her up at 3:45. I don't know why that should bother me--we just finished two years of 8:15 drop off, 3:05 or 3:30 pick up. Maybe it's because I want full homeschool charge of the schedule. Still, when I reflect on my 20 hours/week work commitment, and think of how Emily would use unsupervised time at home (on the computer), I'm glad to have her participating in classes with other kids her age. I think it will create a better balance for her.
The next post will address Emily's response to her various classes and subjects. I may enlist her help with this blog, so her point of view is really well-represented!
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