While my cute gifted kids have amazed me with how much they know and how fast they read, it has always amazed me the most how easily they pick up learning a musical instrument.
Maybe it is because of their giftedness that it is so easy for them. I don't know. I know different kids can be gifted in different areas. It just keeps surprising me at how much these kids can accomplish. Maybe I am just jealous. I wish I could master an instrument.
Our cute little piano player is 7 years old now and about to compete in his first University piano competition this week. Here he is playing his pieces at a "practice recital"
And while he has always amazed me teaching himself to play the piano at only 4 years old, (he has been taking piano lessons now for a year with a wonderful teacher), I am now also amazed by my oldest son. He picked up a guitar and we let him start guitar lessons. After just 3 months he is able to play like this:
How do these kids do it? I mean it just seems to come so natural to them! I guess I love that their giftedness can spread from the classroom and go to the arts as well.
Well, our little 6 year old finished the school year. He's actually going to be in 2nd grade next year! How is that going to be?
It's been interesting to watch him this past year so small and so young in his classroom of 6-8 year olds when he started out as a 5 year old who was supposed to be just in Kindergarten.
How did he do? Well, academically he was perfect. He had all good marks and scores. Behavior-wise he was also great. His teacher raved at how much everyone loved him. Socially he seemed alright. He told me he had some friends and I watched him with his classmates.
But now, the big question is developmentally, how is he there? This is the one that will take some time. Sure he is smart and creative and friendly, but then here is an about to be 2nd grader who just barely figured out how to tie shoes and not very well. He can kind of ride a 2 wheeler bike, but he still can't start by himself. He still likes Sesame Street and Elmo's World, and he is still pretty clueless to how the world is.
I know this was a big issue when we were debating skipping him Kindergarten, but I think he will catch up in the end. I see all he has accomplished this year in school and I can't imagine what he would have been doing still coloring pictures about the ABC's in Kindergarten. I've seen him along his classmates and he is still pretty far advanced than many of them in terms of reading, writing, and math. And these are the year older kids. I still feel good about what we chose to do. I know he absolutely loved 1st grade and is happy he went there.
Who is to know what would have happened if we left things alone and had him go to Kindergarten? We look forward to next year where 2nd grade seems so old to a little 6 year old. I hope things will be alright.
Out of anything, I believe his gifted abilities take a more creative focus. He was always reading and writing at a very young age being that he wanted to create stories and little mini books. He found such joy in piano when he could take his reading to teach himself to read music and play.
Also ending the school year, he had his first piano recital from only 2 1/2 months of piano lessons and he was spectacular. We couldn't be more proud. If you are interested in that, here is the video:
Well, we have finally figured out things for our little piano boy. After all our wondering and searching, we decided to contact the University's department of music and get their opinion. We sent out a random email with some video links and we got one email back in particular asking us to meet with her so she could evaluate him and give her opinion.
We did some research into who this person was and found that not only was she director of several music programs as well as at 2 colleges, but she was also a concert pianist, child prodigy herself, and over the chamber of music concert series and had a long long list of many accomplishments and awards making her listed as "master class".
Yes, I suppose we were a little surprised that someone with so many credentials wanted to take the time out of their incredibly busy schedule to meet with some random people off the street to look at their son play piano, but we hoped it was for good reasons and that she really was impressed by him. So, we made the date and met up at the University to talk to her.
Now of course we weren't organized and forgot his sheet music and he ended up playing some random choo choo train song (only thing he had memorized at the time) for her while we sat in fear of what reaction we would get from such a weird little song. But after doing a little bit of music games with him and talking with him, she told us what she thought.
She said she will usually pick 1 or 2 new students at most a year to privately teach and she likes to start when they are young and that by the time they are old enough that they are exceptionally experienced and have the ability to apply to Julliard, and her students get in.
So as she proceeds to tell us all this technical and fancy stuff we are watching our son play with the piano keys and roll around on the bench and floor (remember, just because you are gifted, does not mean you are any more mature!) and we're trying to take it all in. She said it didn't matter what a student plays, like what song selection, but she knew right away that our son was quite gifted by the tone of what he played.
Well, all of this is pretty intense to our little world. We agreed to her as his private teacher, and he'll start next week taking lessons at the University Department of Music. We still can't quite digest it all, and it seems pretty overwhelming seeing a little 6 year old "go to college" in a sense, but we are incredibly happy and lucky that he has gotten this chance. He is very excited himself to have a real teacher. We'll have to see what comes of all this.
If you're interested in any video performances, we maintain a piano blog here.
OK, so as we've mentioned before, our 6 year old is obsessed with the piano. All he wants to do is play the piano day and night. He begs for more sheet music and piano books so that he can pour through them playing every song.
No, he doesn't have a piano teacher, although we've looked time to time. Before, our problem was that no one would take a 5 or then 6 year old kid as a student, but now as he nears the age they accept, we worry about what type of teacher can best suit him.
He's taught himself everything and he just reads through piano course books going through a level book a day if I'd let him. I buy him the next level up, but I try to slow him down. I'm nothing of a piano teacher but every week I sit down with him and assign him like 10 songs to practice during the week, just to kind of get him to play them more smoothly or to practice more on fewer songs.
I can't correct him and I don't know how to explain any notes to him, but I can hear if he misses a note and tell him it's not right. How to fix it is another story. He usually figures it out or if in the end if he can't we go ask a friend who plays piano for help.
I want to find him a good piano teacher, but I'm not sure who to find. He loves the piano so much but wants to go so fast. I worry that a piano teacher might slow him down. I don't mind him working on certain songs for a while, but I don't want a teacher who is going to make him practice so few songs and go so slow that he starts to lose his passion. I want him to be challenged and I want him to enjoy it. So far he seems to be doing fine on his own, so why change it?
Then, on another note, we've begun to wonder is he talented, or does he truly have a gift? Is he a piano prodigy, or are we just over proud parents that think he is really great when he isn't that good?
He's recently downloaded some sheet music off the internet to play and one of the song's he's been playing is the same exact song that we see a 6 year old girl playing on "Britain's Got Talent" and winning. Here, see for yourself, here is our version, and then the little girl on Utube:
OK, so I suppose the little girl is probably faster a bit, but really our little boy has only been playing this song for a week here, but it's still the same song. I think sometimes, gee, why isn't he going on some talent show or something.
Who is to know what he will become. No, he's not like those super skilled little kids playing the piano that you see on talk shows, but we still think he is something else. We just hope we aren't overthinking things. Is he really that good for a non-taught 6 year old, or did I just suck at playing the piano that much that I am a little too impressed?
Oh, and if anyone is interested, you can always check out his piano blog where he plays all his songs by clicking here.
Ok, so I'm not actually looking to ground the kids, but I thought I'd just share something funny about the kids. Yes, they get in trouble for fighting and normal stuff, but one of the biggest problems we have is when they won't listen or go to bed not because they want to watch tv or play video games, but because they want to practice the piano, or read!
I have a specially hard time trying to make my kids go to bed when they are begging me to just let them practice a few more piano songs, or if they are wanting to read read read. It's like gee....why not let them stay up all night and better themselves---but I have to remember to be good and steadfast in getting them to listen even when it seems like these things are so good.
They get to bed and yet I'll still find them awake reading or one of them trying to play more piano songs in the dark. It is just so funny. It's not just bedtime, but I often need them to help out with cleaning or dinner, and they are too busy reading, or my 2nd son is so into playing the piano, that they won't obey.
What am I going to say to them? "Hey--if you don't listen I'm going to ground you from reading!" Or, "I'm going to take away the piano!" It's like I don't want to ban them from doing such awesome things, but it's funny--I'm not grounding them from the tv, or taking away their toys or video games---it's books and piano!
Such funny kids! I love how passionate they are with their music or their reading and researching. It is just so inspiring to me, and I guess I'll just have to continue being guilty of letting them get away with reading, studying, or practicing the piano a little too much.
So, earlier we showed you the sheet music of the song our second son wanted to play. Remember, it was the one that had all the sharps and flats that I can't figure out, but he sure can. It is very entertaining to me to watch him play and see the weird expressions on his face as he does it.
So here is our 5 year old playing what he calls the "new version" of the March from the Nutcracker.
Yes, about 6 months ago my oldest was taking piano lessons, and not caring too much about it, but my younger son was intensely watching. One day he came up to me and said he wanted to play too. I didn't think it was worth it to try to find a piano teacher for a 4 year old, so I just got out a beginner book and showed him how to play middle C, D, and E on the right hand. Little did I know he would become so obsessed with it and passionate about the piano that in a couple months he would have read through the piano books himself, teaching himself how to play and how to read music. This is what he is playing right now:
And this is only the first 2 pages of the song. Maybe I am just totally lousy, but I can't even figure out the notes on half of this song to play. There are like 2 sharps playing on both hands at one time and it's too hard for me. (Of course I only took piano lessons for 2 1/2 years a long time ago.)
This is what he does though. I just go on the internet to see if I can print off any free sheet music, and then he plays it. He wanted to play "The Entertainer", so I printed that one off and he is doing that one.
It blows my mind how he can read the music and all the notes. It's almost like it's another language he has learned. I don't even know if he knows all the names of notes, but he knows exactly where to move and put his hands.
The question is--do I find him a piano teacher? I looked into it for a while and it was so expensive! First off, most all piano teachers wouldn't even begin to accept a 5 year old as a student, and second, if they did, they wanted over $20 for a half hour. That's $40 an hour!! That's crazy!! One gal wanted $300 for 3 months and that was for 3 lessons, one group lesson a month. I can't afford that!
So, for now, I just get whatever songs he wants, and assign him to play them during the week. I don't know if there is much else I can do. I can't even play the songs for him or teach him much. All I can do is tap a rhythm if he seems to be playing off. I love to watch him play though. His little hands still can't reach most of the chords, so he has to improvise in what he plays.
--An 11 year old with Asperger's Syndrome, in a regular public school but has skipped grades going from 4th to 6th grade. Recently graduating from 6th grade, he will enter junior high next fall. He is the very science oriented, computer loving intense thinker, yet also has a love for dance and music.
--An 8 year old boy who skipped Kindergarten and is about to enter the 4th grade. He has the gift of music through his incredible talent of playing piano and composing music.
--A 6 year old girl who went to Kindergarten for a month and then was promoted to 1st Grade. Her gift is in the beauty she brings to the world. She is the conversationalist, intense in her details, and showing optimism in everything, even the most mundane things in life.
--A 3 year old girl, sweet, solemn, yet intense in emotion. While not a huge talker yet, she amazes us by her creations of patterns and maps she creates with toys and small objects.
Oh, and US:
--A 34 year old mother, part time Customer Service Manager, freelance writer for various online news sites, previously Interpreter of the Deaf in the school system.
--A 34 year old father, GIS web developer, computer programmer.
FOR MORE ON OUR EXPERIENCE DEALING WITH ASPERGER'S SYNDROME, CHECKOUT:
Starting with our first child, I wouldn't say he was smart starting off, but when your Kindergartener is already reading chapter books, adding and subtracting double digit numbers, and configuring the earth's atmosphere and explaining scientific things to YOU, you realize something just might be different!
Then along comes child number 2. By now you have been around long enough to realize yeah, your first child was a lot more advanced than the other kids his age, but number 2 isn't going to be the same way. He doesn't seem to be picking up on much, until one day, out of the blue you are driving home from somewhere, and he is reading every single street sign and he's only 3. And then you teach him how to play middle c, d, and e on the piano, and the next month he is already in book level 3 teaching himself.
And wait--you thought you were done, but then one day #3's teacher calls you up to tell you they feel they are wasting your child's time in school because they already know the whole curriculum!
And then you start to think--gee, what happened here? How'd they get so smart? I didn't do anything!
And then you realize, what are you going to do now? How are you going to handle these kids who are so much more advanced than their peers?
So, after years of trying to figure out what is right and what is wrong, and dealing with teachers, doctors, principals, and the opinions of some friends and family, we decided to start sharing our story, what's worked, what hasn't, and all the fears and frustrations, as well as joy that has come with it.
