Recent Comments
Sunday chill out time after chores were done involved various activities, including book reading, playing with dolls and plasticine, and that great stand by, chess.
Tai, seen at the laptop, was ,for once, taking a break from his studies and downloading some music for May 2.
What a great Saturday, so much happening in one day.
After breakfast all the children helped finish off the base painting of the playground walls and the fence posts we put in yesterday.
With help from a couple of the boys I attached the chain link fence, finishing that early afternoon.
In anticipation of the afternoons music session the children got everything ready for Freds arrival and got into some practise.
For a while I joined in with Gu , Tai and Jack with them playing drums and keyboard and me playing flute.
For a while it was sounding sweet and I’m sure we will be doing much more of that in the future.
A little after 3pm Fred arrived with Ally and Li Li Tan.
Its been a while since we’ve seen Li Li and the kids were all very happy to see her.
While the music lesson went on Li Li did some work on one of the unfinished Murals, ably assisted by Som. Jor , May and Nu also joined in after the music had finished.
It was another great lesson by Fred, with the children working on the Beatles classic “Let It Be”.
Saturday afternoon was once again music lesson time and what a session it was.
I thought last week was good but by the end of this afternoons “hour” there was some real form to the tune they practised with this week.
Just check out the videos and you will see and hear what I mean.
Pride over flowing for the kids and much admiration and thanks for Freds excellent teaching, and to his merry helpers too:)
End of term was last week but there have been activities going on for some of the children at Mae Salaab School getting ready for todays end of year show.
Our three eldest girls have been going to school through the week practising for their performances.
So this morning we all went along and joined everyone there to watch performances by all the different age classes.
It was a great morning with much effort by all involved with several different traditional dancing displays and then award giving at the end of the ceremonies.
Well done to all and good luck to all in Prathom 6 who move up to Mattayom next year along with May 2.
So much rain today! Good for the garden but how to keep the kids occupied in the house all day.
Actually the children did a good job of keeping themselves occupied in the morning, doing minor chores around the house and playing with their toys.
Then after lunch they all got together for a bit of music practise doing their best to remember what they learnt with Fred last Saturday.
After all the hard work in the garden this weekends music session happened before lunch. Fred, Ally and this time Ann too arrived just after 11am.
After spending a short time showing Tai some chords and being very impressed with Tais speed of learning, Fred then called all the kids together to make some music.
By the end of the hour they once again started sounding like a great group in the making.
Thanks again to Fred and Ally and many thanks too to Ann for all your help.
Everyone is looking forward to next week.
Saturday afternoons now host music lessons for the children with Fred Holtman. After last weeks brief intro and warm up they got down to a bit more structured learning.
Freds easy friendly manner had our talented group relaxed and ready to listen.
All the kids joined in and did amazingly well in the hours session.
Ably assited by Ally, Fred soon had the children working together to get a good rhythm going.
I am no longer surprised by what these kids can do when given the opportunity but my level of pride in them all is boosted everytime.
And today(Sunday) the house has been constantly full of the sounds of freeform practise.
I am a very happy man with 9 very happy kids…thankyou Fred and Ally.
Saturday afternoon saw a welcome visit by Fred, Ally and Li Li , here to discuss and set up an extended music course for the kids here.
Fred brought along a few things to add to our musical instrument selection for the duration of the course which is likely to run for 10 weeks at a minimum.
During the visit all the kids had a little practise with the various instruments.
Our good friend Li Li Tan donated some school bags and drinks bottles.
No photo yet Li Li, but May 1 got dibs on the bunny bag.
Ally spent time talking guitar with Tai and encouraging the other kids too.
We’re all really looking forward to next weeks session.
On Saturday three of our girls, Jor, May and Nu attended school for extra learning on the environment with World Vision. At one point they were up by the little bridge close to our home doing studies involving the river and preparing to go on a short boat trip.
I took the opportunity to go and grab some photos of the class at work.
Whilst there we were informed of a Kantoake meal being held at the local Church with performances in music and dance by local youngsters.
We were all invited and accepted the invitation.
Skipping dinner at home we went along to the Church shortly after 6pm. preparations were well underway for the meal which started at around 7.
The food was delicious and there were some fine performances on stage.
We’d all like to say thankyou very much to the organisers and well done to all the children that provided the entertainment.
Could we be about to form our own ,Thai version ,Von Trapp family? I doubt it, but music will definitely feature high on our agenda after a very successful, impromptu session last weekend.
I have played the flute for many years now, mostly for my own meditation. On Sunday I woke up in the mood to play a little in my room. Suddenly I heard the sound of our congas being played and then the Kan, and then the circular pan pipes. When I went to investigate I found the 3 boys playing a way and making quite an acceptable sound. I was especially pleased to see Jack playing the congas. He was holding a good beat and the other boys were following his lead.
Jack has some problems in many aspects so life so I was so happy to see a natural ability show through and will be doing my best to introduce regular music therapy into his routine.
