Our butterfly study/Motyle

Elizabeth got this Butterfly Treehouse for her Birthday last year. When we came back from Poland we sent the coupon and and we got live insects.

 

 

 

 

Little Flowers - Little Girls/Male Kwiatki - Male Dziewczynki

Today we had our monthly meeting for the Little Flowers Girls' Club, which we have been doing for the last three years. You can find more about the Club at www.eccehomopress.com It's always a joy to be a part of it. Elizabeth and Julia really like it. I was leading today. We talked about the virtue of responsibility and Saint Anne the mother of Mary. We made a list of our responsibilities and how they are connected with love. We carry out out responsibilities out of love for God, others and ourselves. We had a delicious homemade bread, cracers, grapes, cheese and juice brought by one of our mothers. It was wonderful as usual.

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Dzisiaj bylismy na comiesiecznym spotkaniu naszego Klubu Dziewczynek zwanych Malymi Kwiatkami. Mozesz dowiedziec sie wiecej o tym klubie na stronie internetowej www.eccehomepress.com Spotkania te zawsze sprawiaja nam wiele radosci. Dzis byla moja kolejka, aby prowadzic to spotkanie. Tematem byla cnota odpowiedzialnosci i Sw. Anna, matka Maryji. Dziewczynki wypisaly liste swoich obowiazkow i jak one sa powiazane z miloscia. Nasza odpowiedialnosc wyplywa z milosci do Boga, innych i siebie samych. Mielismy wspanialy chleb domowej roboty, krakersy, winogrono, ser i sok przyniesione przez jedna z mam. Wszystko bylo wspaniale jak zwykle.

Blue Lake Family Suzuki Violin Summer Camp

 

The girl in the red pants - that's Elizabeth.

Last summer we decided to go to a family Suzuki violin summer camp. It was our first time and boy did we have a good time. Both girls participated in private, group and technique lessons. And Karol who was only one and a half witnessed it all. It was intense and yet fun. Both girls really liked their teachers and so did we. They also participated in concerts for students. We came back from it refreshed and full of new energy. We are hoping to do it again this year. If your child is studying an instrument Suzuki method I highly recommend such an adventure.

W zeszlym roku latem postanowilismy po raz pierwszy pojechac na skrzypcowy oboz rodzinny w duch Suzuki. Bardzo nam sie tam podobalo. Dziewczynki uczestniczyly w w lekcjach prywatnych, grupowych i technicznych. Karol byl tego wszystkiego swiadkiem. Byl to cza bardzo intensywny ale, tez pelen zabawy. Wrocilismy z nowa nadzieja i energia. Mamy nadzieje, ze uda nam sie pojechac takze i w tym roku. Jezeli Twoje dziecko gra na instrumencie metoda Suzuki to bardzo polecam taka przygode.

Suzuki Violin - a Family Affair/Skrzypce w duchu Suzuki - Rodzinna Przygoda

 

Today I'm posting a picture of my husband playing the violin while holding our tiny son, who is two years old now, because I want to talk about parental involvement in learing to play the violin. When we started I was pregnant with Karol and took a few lessons just enough to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. It was my husband though who was the one learning more songs and playing them at home. A very good motivator for the girls. As our older daughter started playing more songs things became more competative. Ha ha ha! My husband who is not involved in our violin home lessons, as we call them, would ask me: "What is Elizabeth playing now? Can she play Minuet 1 by Bach?" That's the piece he was working on at the time and he wanted to make sure Elizabeth was not a not ahead of him. Some day she will be. But shhh don't tell him that. Actually he know it. Anyway having Daddy play at home and participate in the lessons as much as he could have been a wonderful thing for the girls.

As for me I haven't memorized as many songs but I have been there to the lessons - private and group. I have been collaborating with the teachers. I have been giving home lessons - making sure we were working on the things the teacher had asked us to do. I have been doing a lot of Suzuki reading and it has been good for my soul. I have been trying to expose us to beautiful music at home. I took the girl to Hill Auditorium to hear world famous violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter in concert. It was a fun outing. I have tried to make the violin home lessons fun. We generally do better when we start our lesson at home with a prayer. I'm trying to say at least 5 positive things before I point out something that needs improvement.

Last year we decided to spent some of our vacation time at Blue Lake Family Suzuki Violin Camp. Oh what fun! We are hoping to do it again this year. I will write about it next time. Stay tuned ...

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Dzisiaj zdjecie mojego meza trzymajacego naszego malutkiego synka i grajacego na skrzypcach. Chce bowiem napisac o nauce gry na srzypcach w duchu Suzuki jako rodzinnej przygodzie. Gdy zaczelismy sie uczuc Karol byl w moim lonie. Ja nauczylam sie tyle, abym mogla pomoc naszym corkom. Moj maz byl tym, ktory uczyl sie wielu piosenek i gral je w domu. Stalo to sie wspaniala motywacja dla dziewczynek. Fdy nasza starsza corka zaczela grac wiecej piosenek, zawrzala troche kompetycja. Moj maz pytal czy nasza corka juz go przgonila. Jak dotad jeszcze nie, ale on wie, ze kiedys to nastapi. Gra Tatusia w domu i uczestnictwo w lekcjach prywatyne na ile to tylko bylo mozliwe to wspaniale skarby dla dziewczynek.

Jezeli chodzi o mnie to ja nie umiem grac tyle piosenek z pamieci. Ja zabieram dzieci na lekcje prywatne i grupowe. Daje im lekcje domowe, tzn. ide sladami naszej nauczycielki. Staram sie duzo czytac o tej pasjonujacej metodzie. Okazuje sie to dobre dla mojej duszy. Staranm sie, aby nasz dom wypelniony byl piekna muzyka. Zabralam dziewczynki na koncert skrzypcowy swiatowej slawy Anne-Sophie Mutter. Byl to wspanialy dla nas czas. Staram sie, aby nasze lekcje domowe byly pelne uroku, zabawy i nauki. Staram sie przykluc najpierw uwage do pieciu pozytywnych szczegolow dotyczacych grania, a dopiero pozniej zwrocic uwage na cos, co wymaga poprawy i pracy.

W zeszlym roku spedzilismy czesc naszych wakacji na Rodzinnym Obozie Suzuki. Bylo wspaniale. Ale o tym nastepnym razem. Do uslyszenia ...

Where love is deep, much can be accomplished (Shin'ichi Suzuki)/Gleboka milosc pozwala na wielkie osiagniecia (Shin'ichi Suzuki)

 

This is me, holding my son in Baby-Bjorn and my three year old daughter

I'm planning to do a few posts regarding our adventure with the Suzuki violin. Two years ago I went to the Michigan Catholic Home Educators conference and I attended a session on the role of music in homeschooling. The speaker Andrew Padwa ecnourage us to start young children with Suzuki violin lessons. I took his advice to heart, especially since my grandmother from Poland gave us a half size violin, which belonged to my grandfather's grandfather. Anyway... I found a wonderful teacher right in our parish. My oldest daughter was almost five and my younger one was two and a helf years old, when we began the lessons. It wasn't always easy with attention, practice, etc. It has been very rewarding though. Our house is filled with music. We participate in private and group lessons every week (except in the summer time). We have gone to classical music concerts. Our girls have played at their own concerts.
I like the Suzuki adventure not only because it brings so much beauty to our lives but also because what I have learnt from Dr. Suzuki. Namely paying attention to the love and respect for the dignity of every child! We are learning to play the violin so that we might become more beautiful human beings and not necessarily to become virtuosos. I'm very grateful that God "put" Dr. Suzuki on my path. It is defenitely one of my most treasured relationships.

To zdjecie to ja, moj kilkumiesieczy syn w Baby-Bjorn i moja trzyletnia corka

Bede pisac kilka razy o naszej przygodzie z gra na skrzypcach metoda Suzuki. Gdy bylam na Michigan Konferencji Katolickich Edukatorow Domowych dwa lata temu bralam udzial w sesjii dotyczacej muzyki, w ktorej wykladowca zachecil nas do zaoferowania naszym dzieciom lekcji gry na skrzypcach w duchu Suzuki. Postanowilam to uczynic. Znalazlam wspaniala nauczycielke w naszej parafii. Moje corki mialy wtedy prawie piec i dwa i pol lat. Nasze przygoda nie byla zawsze latwa, ale byla zawsze wynagradzajaca. Nasz dom jest wypelniony muzyka. Uczestniczymy w prywatnych i grupowych lekcjach. Chodzimy na koncerty. Nasze corki graly na ich wlasnych koncertach.
Jestem zadowolona z naszej przygody z Suzuki skrzpcami nie tylko, poniewaz wnosi ona tyle piekna do naszego zycia, ale takze ze wzgledu na fakt czego "nauczyl" mnie dr. Suzuki. A w szczegolnosci zwracania uwagi na milosc i szacunek dla godnosci kazdego z naszych dzieci. A takze ze gramy na skrzypcach, aby stac sie piekniejszymi ludzmi, a nie koniecznie aby zostac wirtuozami. Jestem bardzo wdzieczna, ze Bog "postawil" na mojej drodze dr. Suzuki. Jest to dla mnie niewatpliwie relacja, ktora bardzo cenie.

Dreams/Marzenia - Sny

We are so close to Christmas now and I'm thinking about dreams - the dreams that Mary had ... the dreams of Joseph ... the dreams of the shepherds ... the dreams of the Three Wise Kings and the dreams of the Little Baby Jesus. I think that we are in God's dreams, the dreams of love and peace for all of us. I want to share this fun song about dreams too. Enjoy and open your heart to big and beautiful dreams in Jesus.

Swieta Bozego Narodzenia juz tak bliziutko i ja mysle o snach i marzeniach Maryji ... Jozefa... pasterzy... Trzech Madrych Kroli i Malenkiego Jezusa. Mysle, ze my jestesmy obecni w "marzeniach" Boga pelnych milosci i pokoju dla nas. Chcialam tez podzielic sie ta piekna piosenka. Zycze wszystkim otwarcia serc na wielkie i wspaniale marzenia w Jezusie.

St. Nicholas/ Swiety Mikolaj

At this time of the year many people ask: "How do you handle Santa?" For us it's an easy answer. My husband and I agreed that we would celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas. My husband dresses up as St. Nicholas - the bishop and we tell our children that we give, parents them gifts because we want to remember the goodness and spirit of St. Nicholas and imitate him. We celebrate many feast days in our homeschool so our children are used to commemorating the lives of the saints. This year we experienced something really funny. On the feast of St. Nicholas we were at a party and there was a man who dressed as "Santa". Only for some reason his mustache ended up on his nose rather than under it. When we came back home our four year old daughter said: "I knew it wasn't the real Saint Nicholas because he had this thing on his nose." We all laughted and then our seven year old daughter said: "I knew it was not real Saint Nicholas because his body is buried in the ground and his soul is in heaven with God." I couldn't be prouder of both of them.

W czasie Adwentu wiele osob pyta: "Co wy mowicie Waszym dzieciom o Swietym Mikolaju?" Odpowiedz na to pytanie jest dla nas bardzo latwa. Moj maz i ja postanowilismy swietowac ten piekny dzien Sw. Mikolaja mowiac naszym dzieciom, ze tatus przebiera sie za Swietego Mikolaja Biskupa i przynosi im prezenty od mamy i taty. W naszej domowej edukacji wspominamy wiele Swietych, wiec nie jest to dla naszych dzieci nic obcego czy niezwyklego. W tym roku przydarzyla sie nam bardzo smieszna historia. W Swieto Swietego Mikolaja uczestniczylismy w polskiej Wigilii. Pan, ktory przebral sie za Mikolaja zakladajac brode polozyl wasy na swoim nosie zamiast pod nosem. Kiedy bylismy juz w domu nasz czteroletnia coreczka powiedziala: "Ja wiedzialam, ze to nie byl prawdziwy Swiety Mikolaj, bo on mial to cos nas nosie". Bardzo sie wszyscy z tego powiedzenia siemlismy. Nasza siedmioletnia corka dodala: "Ja wiem, ze to nie byl prawdziwy Swiety Mikolaj, bo jego cialo jest pogrzebane, a jego dusz jest w niebie z Bogiem". Bylam z nich bardzo dumna.

Discoveries On Our Journey To Bethlehem... Chapter 1/ Odkrycia w drodze do Betlejem ... Rozdzial 1

It's hard to belive that we only have a few more Advent days left during this Liturgical Year. We have been very busy and ... peaceful. In addition to our regular schoolwork we have been focusing on peace education, which turned out to be one of the greatest treasures this season.

I challenged myself to do all the Christmas presents shopping before the beginning of Advent so that I could spend more time at home rather than beating the crowds at different stores. And what a blessing it turned out to be. It freed my evenings to do a lot of beautiful peace education works. I introduced the PEACE CANDLE. We light it every time we do a work in our peace corner. My two year old son often asks: "Mama, peace candle" and she really enjoys singing This Little Light Of Mine when we light the candle. I also intoduce the PEACE TREE. It is a Norfolk Pine. We decorated it with flowers circles, which I made on the computer, printed them out and threaded some strings in them. They were blank on one side and each family member wrote some of his/her hope on the blank side. We hung them on the PEACE TREE. It turned out to be a wonderful work for us. We have been doing many works. One of my most favorite ones is our PEACE FLAGS. Each one of us got a piece of felt and decorated it so that it reflected the idea of PEACE. We hang them up in our living room so that we can see them everyday.

All of these works provided a lot of descoveries for all of us - discoveries of our feelings, thoughts, experiences, likes and dislikes.

Nasz Adwent okazal sie wspanialym czasem pokoju. Ja zdecydowalam skompletowac wszystkie prezenty Bozonarodzeniowe przed rozpoczeciem Adwentu - Nowego Roku Liturgicznego, abym nie spedzac mojego cennego czasu w kilometrowych kolejkach i tlumach. Tak bardzo sie ciesze z tego osiagniecia, mialam bowiem wiele czasu na edukacje pokojowa w duchu montessori. Jak zawsze zrobilismy wiele projektow. Przedstawilam SWIECZKE POKOJU, ktora bardzo polubil szczegolnie moj dwulatek i prosil mnie, abym ja zapalila i abysmy spiewali This Little Light Of Mine (To Male Moje Swiatelko).

Przedstawilam tez nasze DRZEWKO POKOJU. Udekorowalismy je kwiatkami z brystolu, na ktorych napisalismy nasze nadzieje.

Moja najulubiensza praca tego Adwentu byly FLAGI POKOJOWE. Nauczyly nas wiele o nas samych i naszym pojeciu pokoju. Zawiesilismy je w naszym "salonie". Bardzo lubie na nie patrzec, bo pokazuja mi wiele, o tych z ktorymi mieszkam - moim mezu i dzieciach.