A New Challenge

 

At the end of September, Luke finished the physio-neuro therapy program he'd worked on since March.  We were all so glad when this ended.  Some of the exercises in the program were fun and engaging for Luke, others were tedious and grueling.  It was hard for him to stay focused on the exercises (one of the reasons he was doing them in the first place) and get them done in a reasonable amount of time each day.  It was frustrating for all of us.  But we all got through it and we all celebrated with dinner at a local burger place the day he finished!

It's hard for me to say how much of a difference the program made for Luke, though I do think it helped some: he's been better at getting his homework done this year and is getting his classwork finished at school too (though that's partly due to his teacher's no-nonsense style).

Now that he's finished with having to do those exercises every day, he can finally start taking piano lessons!  (I wanted him to start last year but our teacher didn't have room in her schedule until the second half of the year, around the time when Luke started the physio-neuro therapy program, and I knew that would be too much.)  He says he doesn't want to learn, but he's not fighting me about it (yet) AND he's also talked about the songs he wants to play when he's good enough.  Just yesterday at the music store when we were picking up his books, he saw the sheet music for "Old Town Road" and asked me how long it would be before he's good enough to learn it.

His first lesson was tonight and it went very well!  Between his awesome music teacher at school and the piano influence of his older siblings, he knew a lot already.  He knew where Middle C was on the piano, he knew where the low and high notes of the piano area and how sound is made, he found the bass clef and treble clef Middle C flashcards out of the whole deck, and he identified the bass and treble clefs.  New concepts such as body positioning, finger and hand technique, dynamics, and finger numbers came to him very quickly.  (Even though I would have liked for him to start lessons in 2nd grade, I'm seeing the advantages of learning when you're a little older because concepts can come so much easier!)  He also had a great attitude and was very responsive when Sarah was teaching him things.  I was so pleased with how well it went!

On the way home we talked about the lesson and he said he was both pleased and confused (but I think when he said confused he might have meant a different word, such as concerned).  He was pleased that he knew so many things already, but confused (concerned?) about how hard it would be to learn the notes, and that his fingers were struggling to stay curved and strong.  He said he needs to develop more strength in his hands.  I reassured him that he knows a lot already and that he'll be able to learn everything he needs to learn and his hands will get stronger as he plays.

I think we're off to a great start, but I guess tomorrow - his first day of practice - will be the real test!