"Funny How a Melody Sounds Like a Memory"

Follow my blog with Bloglovin {Day 29,  Topic: 5 Songs}

Music is everywhere in my life, attached to most of my memories. I've always found it funny how a song can be connected to a moment in time, even if that particular memory isn't an important one, but simply just life. So what songs do I share? There are so many to choose from....

Childhood...

 

My childhood is marked by songs by The Beatles, Elvis, and The Beach Boys. Music is one of those things I never forget and I can still remember the lyrics to almost any song even if I haven't heard it in years. But stronger are the memories attached to these songs. What I think of when I hear songs from my Cocktail Soundtrack tape, who comes to mind when I hear songs by The Voice of the Beehive or The Bangles, or the mental picture I see when I hear Kokomo. But I am going to share a lesser known song. When I was young I had 2 favorite tapes- a recording of Shel Silverstein reciting his poems and Barry Polisar's Naughty Songs for Boys and Girls. I had them up until a few years ago when one of the boys' music players pulled the tape and I couldn't wind it back. But this one is one of my all time favorites: Never Cook Your Sister in a Frying Pan....and when I hear it I can see my younger self, my room, my toys, my tape player...

 Love...

 

Being a rather empathetic person I love most any love song. I can feel the feelings, good or bad, regardless if there are any similarities to my life. There are many, many songs out there that remind me of my love. But there are two song that I would say are "ours".

The fist takes me back to 17 years ago, at age 16, falling in love with my future husband. I was dating someone when we met, so we started out as friends. Head Over Feet came out right around that time, so it was on the radio all the time and the lyrics just spoke to me. And it didn't take long for me to fall head over feet for Paul....

 You've already won me over in spite of me
And don't be alarmed if I fall head over feet
Don't be surprised if I love you for all that you are
I couldn't help it
It's all your fault

And then there's Remember When,  which describes...

Our past- Remember when I was young and so were you, And time stood still and love was all we knew 

Our present- Remember when the sound of little feet, Was the music we danced to week to week

And our future- Remember when we said when we turned gray, When the children grow up and move away, We won't be sad, we'll be glad, For all the life we've had, And we'll remember when

Sadness...

 

I've mentioned my struggle with depression a time or two. It's a part of who I am, some days a bigger part than others. I know many people who surround themselves with happiness when they are feeling down- happy books, people, movies and music- but that's not how I work. I tend to surround myself with sad things and music is the front runner. Listening to sad music, while it may make my feelings worse for a moment, works as sort of a release. And I end up feeling better because of it. There's something about not feeling so alone. Hearing the lyrics, you know that someone else, somewhere out there is feeling just like you.

And 2 of the songs I listen to most are:

Runaway Train, by Soul Asylum. This one came out back when I was in middle school and it's been with me ever since.

 "Can you help me remember how to smile
Make it somehow all seem worthwhile
How on earth did I get so jaded
Life's mystery seems so faded "

And finally, the #1 song. If I could pick just one to share, a theme song of sorts, this one would be it. It's the song I play on repeat when I have bad days. It's the song I feel deep inside. And the one I can identify with the most....so if you ever want to know what's going on inside the head of someone who suffers from depression, this is it:

Full of Grace, Sarah McLachlan

I feel just like I'm sinking
And I claw for solid ground
I'm pulled down by the undertow
I never thought I could feel so low
Oh darkness I feel like letting go
If all of the strength and all of the courage
Come and lift me from this place
I know I could love you much better than this
Full of grace

So those are my 5 songs. What songs are on your life's playlist? (And in case anyone is wondering, this post's title [ "Funny How a Melody Sounds Like a Memory" ] comes from the song Springsteen, by Eric Church)

Fine Art

Our group met this week for some fine arts activities. We started with music and discussed the different instrument types. They got to view instruments from the different families and play a couple of them. We also played a couple games where they had to sort instruments into their families and listened and watched Peter and the Wolf.

Then we moved onto art and a drawing based on those of Amedeo Modigliani. I found this lesson on Art Projects for Kids.


They divided up their papers to help in getting the correct proportions. Then they drew the different parts of the portraits in sections.

I found it amusing that the littler ones stayed more real,

While the older ones added a little more artistic flair to theirs.


Except for the girls, theirs turned our very true to life. Here are all of the finished pieces:

Seeds and the Nutcracker

Last week we met with some friends to learn about seed dispersal. After a short video and discussing the different ways that plants get their seeds moving in nature, the kids explored various seed types.

Then they were presented with a challenge. To make their seed movable by wind.

Their seeds were almonds and they were given tape, scissors and paper to help them with their creations. As they finished they came to the fan to test and see if their seeds could travel by air. Then they went back to the drawing board if they were unhappy with the results.

Here is one of Cohen's- he eventually added a loop at the top to let the wind pass through, which helped his seed travel farther.

And Lakin's- he wanted a parachute, so I helped him make one.

Then we moved on to learning about The Nutcracker Ballet. I have fond memories of going to see The Nutcracker Ballet in Washington D.C as a child. I still have the sugar plum fairy and nutcracker Christmas ornaments I got one year. And I still listen to the Tchaikovsky Nutcracker CD often.

Reading The Nutcracker

To a very captive audience

Using a listening map

and instruments to play the different parts of the music.


For more information and other lesson plan ideas to go along with The Nutcracker visit Eclectic Momma.

Week 2....

In pictures.....

Music class with friends

In astronomy we talked about constellations...

And properties of the sun....

Then we painted it.

We went fishing and swimming with friends.

And made a rocket and space collage....which I will post in more depth about in a minute.

The First Week of School

We started school this past Monday. It went relatively well, considering they were up really late Sunday night watching fireworks. And we had to get up early on Tuesday to go blueberry picking. I've changed how we are doing a few things this year and I've added a few things to my schedule that always seem to be pushed aside. And now that the first week is done, I can tell a few more things I want/need to change for next week.

This year we are doing science 3 times a week and will be studying Earth Sciences. Starting with Astronomy. This week we covered the beginning/expansion of the Universe; galaxies and stars. Each day we read then do some sort of activity. The only one I got pictures of was our galaxy mobile.

Which turned out very pretty and is hanging from the playroom ceiling.


We are having a weekly music lesson- this is one of those pushed aside things. Starting with learning how to play the recorder. I am realistic and only really expect Cale and Rylan to learn how to play. I am hoping Cohen picks up as much as he can. And I am hoping to keep Lakin from blowing too loudly while I try to teach the others the notes. They practiced again today and Rylan and Cohen helped Lakin get his fingers right and he actually did quite well going from B to A.

We also relaxed a bit....or at least some of us did....

Another subject pushed aside? Art. So it is now written for every Friday in my planner. Today's lesson was symmetry. We discussed what it is, how to find it, what objects in their lives have symmetry. Then we drew butterflies....attempting to be symmetrical in the patterns on the wings...Some were better at that concept than others....

Cohen's butterfly

Rylan's butterfly

Cale's butterfly

Another big thing- swimming. We were up in Townsend at the pool twice this week....and the item that has been on my summer goal list for about 4 years now has been accomplished:

Rylan swimming.

A Biography of Eddy Arnold

Lately Rylan has been spending a lot of his spare time listening to music. He gets CD's from the library. He bought CD's with the money his grandmother sent for Valentine's Day. He keeps the TV on Comcast's Music Choice channels. He spouts off when Eddie Rabbit was born, how much older or younger certain singers are than each other or his grandparents. He can ID most songs by Johnny Cash, Eddy Raven, Oak Ridge Boys, etc... You can see the classic country theme here. That's his favorite. He spends time listening to current country, going through Paul's CD collection listening to anything from Guns N Roses to Led Zepplin to 3 Doors Down and Nickelback. So while in the Oversized section at the library last week I took out a book on Classic Country. It had 1-2 page bios on various artists. Lots of pictures.

Since I have been wanting to work on his writing, I went with his current interests, figuring I would get less resistance.
His assignment was to pick a singer out of the book and read the bio. He told me what he thought was important as he read though it and I wrote it down in his words. Then he cut each of his sentences up into strips and read through them, taking out what didn't seem as important anymore and ordering them in a way that sounded good. Then he added an introduction and wrote down his facts. We went through and edited and he wrote his final draft.

He is going through the Dance Mat typing lessons right now and wants to type this after he learns all the letters.

History with Billy Joel

My 2 oldest have a new favorite song. After constantly being asked to play the song off my playlist here I dug out my old Storm Front CD and handed it over. They listen to it every night now.

Which song? We Didn't Start the Fire. So I figure while they are constantly listening to it, why not explain some of the references made in the song? They already know a few. They know Buddy Holly and how he died. They know Elivs and the Beatles. I explained what "JFK blown away" refers to.

So yesterday at the library I picked up a couple books on 2 figrues named in the first stanza of the song. Harry Truman and Joe DiMaggio. Today we started reading Harry S Truman Missouri Farm Boy by Wilma J Hudson. They really enjoyed the chapters we read (we read 3). It starts off in his childhood- around age 4 and goes up to his death in 1972. While I was reading they colored the Harry Truman picture from this coloring book.

Sometime in the next week we'll get to joe DiMaggio too. I'll admit my boys know very little about the game of baseball. 3 strikes, running bases, and hitting might be about it. So we will probably play some and talk about the game in general in addition to talking about Joltin' Joe.