Dr. Suzuki on Raising Your Ability to Play (summary by Margaret)

If you asked a musician what their favorite part of learning a new song was, their answer is most likely to be performing for an audience and then being done with that song. When this happens, they are not learning to raise their ability in the piece they are working on. Here are two of the most important things for you to work on so that you will learn and never forget your pieces.
One of the biggest things to help you remember a song is reviewing it every single day. Most of us don’t like review at all, but once you have done it, you will raise your ability in playing the piece more emotionally. When you review, always make sure you are playing the piece correctly, that you are using the correct fingering and dynamics, and that you are confident in the music you are playing. By reviewing, you will help your brain to be able to figure out harder music that comes in the future. “Sometimes we think moving on is advancing, but getting better is really by reviewing,” said Dr. Suzuki. I hope you will consider this everyday as you do your review chart.
Secondly, you need to listen at least 15 minutes to your review songs. By doing this, you will cause yourself to remember what comes next in that song. Listening can also help you discover notes that you are playing wrong and then you will hopefully be able to figure out the correct one. Often our excuse is that we don’t have any time to listen to our cd, but if you have time to practice, you can make time to listen. You might even want to put a cd in the car and listen to it on the way to lessons. As you listen, think deeply into the song and ask yourself questions like, “Am I playing that note the way it should be played?” You will find that the song becomes easier to play after you have thought deeply about it and asked yourself questions.
I hope that after you review and listen to your songs, you’ll be able to play them more emotionally and show others the never-ending excitement of playing your instrument. Remember to listen and review your songs every single day.

My First Pointe Class ( by Margaret )

I was so nervous a soon as I walked in the door to the Dancers' Studio in Carthage because it was my first pointe class. I was only eleven years old and I was also kind of hesitant because I was the only one there.

Finally everyone arrived, and we got our supplies out of our bag. First we put these squishy pink gel pads on that were supposed to protect our feet. Then, as soon as I got my pointe shoes out of my bag, I began to get excited because the idea of me dancing with my pink pointe shoes made me feel very graceful. After we put our shoes on, we walked into the dance room. " I can help you tie your ribbons," Danielle, my dance teacher said, as she bent down to tie my beautiful pink silky ribbons.

After we had stretched awhile, we went to the bar. Danielle had us start with the basic steps like plies and tondues. It felt so much different when we did them with pointe shoes on. Then Danielle had us walk across the floor on demi pointe which is between your flat foot and on your toes. Danielle said that we should do this often, " to break our boxes in."

The most surprising part was balancing without using the bar and walking across the floor because I discovered that I could do it. As we walked across the floor, Danielle would correct us by saying " Make sure you are getting all the way up on your boxes." "She also said that we should have tight thighs, knees, and that we should suck up really tall."We also got to grape vine and bouree across the floor, which was kind of tricky since I had never done them on pointe shoes.

Before class, mom had told me that I would have blisters and my toes would bleed.So after class I was expecting blood and blisters, but quess what , there weren't any! Mom told me I was "very lucky" because most girls do get blisters. After that mom said the we had to go home.

While we were riding home, I told mom that I couldn't wait tell next Saturday because I would get to have my pointe class again. That night I had a dream that I was a graceful ballerina performing the part of Clara in the nutcracker. I had to learn fifteen dances in the program and after the last one I fainted because I had been on pointe for too long. Then finally I woke up, and realized that of course it was only a dream and I didn't have to worry because I knew I wouldn't be doing fifteen dances. After that, I couldn't wait to go back to pointe class.

Let's Go Berserk!

The vikings lived in the years six hundred through one thousand a.d. When we think of vikings, we think of mean and violent people.That is true, they were mean and violent, but they were also were very clever. In their homes and villages, they would tell stories about their gods and their battles. They were farmers and they grew fruits and vegetables too. They also ate many other things like polar bears, seals, and other animals. Even though the vikings didn't go to school, they were still very clever. One thing they invented was the viking longboat.They used them to sail across the ocean.The boats were able to go very fast and they could also go up on shore. The vikings also believed in many gods like Thor, the thunder god, and Odin, the war god. Those were the main gods that they would pray to and worship. They also believed in spirits and idols. Something that I didn't know was that we got the names of the days of the week from the viking gods. Even though most of the vikings believed in gods, some of them were Christians also. The vikings would often go and attack other places. They stole things and they killed people. When the vikings were mad and furious, they would take their clothes off. We call that "Going Berserk." The vikings were also very good hunters and explorers. They explored many things and found lots of different lands, in fact they discovered North America. The vikings also had many weapons such as swords, shields, spears, and knives. One other weapon that the vikings used was a dragon head. It was placed on the front of the longboat so that it would scare away the enemies. The vikings are a very fantastic subject to learn about. I hope that you will read and learn more about the vikings too.

We've finished our Zoology Course!

We've been studying about swimming creatures of the 5th day, which is a zoology 2 course from Apologia Science. Today we finally finished up the course and took pictures of our "ocean boxes." We've been working on them all throughout the school year and each time we learned about a new and exciting creature of the ocean, we would recreate it out of clay, paint it, and put it in our "ocean." I think this has been a great program for us to study together as a family because it is includes upper level vocabulary, but is written in such an insteresting and easy to understand, conversational style, that my 6-12 year olds all got out of it what they needed to at thier individual levels. It was fun...but now we must focus on history, or should I say, "HIS-story" for a semester or 2.

Meet Hershey...

This is Hershey. His full name is "Hershey Kiss Kellenberger". He's a miniature Dachsund and he is the sweetest thing ever. We were going to get a girl dog, which we did, and her name's "Sammie," but Mrs. Solum just kept bringing the dogs up to us. What's really funny is that girls are usually easier to potty train but right know Hershey is way easier. He likes to run, kiss you, and play with his ball and bone. He plays tug-a-war with his friend Sammie. He has the prettiest brown eyes and black and brown fur. He is a snuggle bug and loves to sleep on top of you. He is a week younger the his friend Sammie. We got him in Jasper from a kennel. Because he is so little and almost flat to the ground it's very hard not to step on him. We also like his cute little ears in front of his face. Dashounds are the best kind of dogs to have. (written by Margaret & Bubba)

One Good Reason to Homeschool

You get to snuggle up with your little brother and read a book on a cold winter's day.

Our new pet!! "Winston"

We'd like you to meet our pet bird. His name is "Winston." He is a budgie also known as an Australian parrot. As you can see, he is very colorful and playful. His favorite toys are pennies, balls, and bells. He likes to ring his bells and often puts them on his head.

He is really easy to take care of because all you have to do is change his water every day and give him new food once every two weeks. You also have to clean his cage once in a while. Sometimes, when we are washing dishes, he will come over and take a little bath. He goes to sleep around 10:oo pm when mom puts the drape over his cage.

We got him in October when his owners moved to Saudi Arabia to work. They used to be neighbors with our Momo & Popo. To be honest, we really wanted their dog, but they took him with them. So now we have the bird instead.

Winston is really funny when he sits on your finger, shoulder, or head. He loves to eat spaghetti and macaroni and will steal them off your plate. We learned that we have to close his cage before dinnertime or he will think he can eat with us at the table.

He is a great pet to have and we love him dearly, especially when he gives us kisses.

Written by Margaret & Molly

Kellenberger & Luthi Fall Birthday Party!!!

Chad & I recently had the Kellenberger and Luthi families over to celebrate fall birthdays. We had a great time just being together and being ourselves. Here are Jared, Calvin, Chad, Nathan, Austin,Molly, and Madison...the special birthday people.





First, we ate chicken & noodles... (We total 14 children & 9 adults.)

Here's Austin, Bubba, Danielle & Margaret waiting so patiently to be excused from the table...

We enjoyed just hanging out together...

Here's Mary and Audrey telling secrets...


Molly and cousin Clint...

Margaret & cousin Danielle...

and Clint has decided that he's big enough to try to walk around...

Jessica enjoyed my chicken & noodles sooooo much that she was all smiles! HA,HA

THEN CAME THE PRESENTS...

Molly is old enough to read her own cards now...

We even gave Cal a special gift... Chad gave him back a saw that he had borrowed from him 3 years ago!

The main event for the night was, THE BOXING, of course. Ryan & Caleb showed us all how it is done.

Winston, our bird, even got a little attention from Aunt Jodi & Jessica.

Uncle Kyle gets a little goofey towards the end of the night.Amber gets in on the act.

Margaret has to show us her tongue too!

And all the excitement was just too much for grandpa to handle. " Night - Night, G-pa!"

Hi, my name is Margaret and my favorite things to do are piano, dance, and swim. I have a lot of fun dancing because I have many friends who dance with me. I have danced since I was 2 or 3 years old and I have loved it since forever. I play the piano for my instrument. I have played for 5 years. I think it is fun until the practicing comes along. I do not like practicing, but I do like to play it just for fun. My mom always says, "practice makes perfect." I have to say that in my head sometimes when I am practicing. Swim team is another thing I do. I love it because it is so much fun. My mom is my dance teacher and also my school teacher because we are home schooled. My dad is the best dad ever because he does so many things for me. He is always there to cheer me on during my dances or other things that I do. I also have a lot of friends. I hope this tells you alot about me and my personality! Bye!!