I have to decide what to do about piano lessons.  It’s important to me that my girls learn to read music.  I know it’s good for them.  I come from a musical family and I know that they both have some natural musical talent.  The problem is… piano lessons are a major stress for the whole family and I’m wondering if, especially with all we have going on with school this fall, we should take a break.

First of all, they’re on Saturday, which my husband doesn’t like because he wants to be able to take the girls and do fun things on the weekend.  But they have to be on Saturday because when he’s working, I can’t get home from work in time to take them on a school night.

Another reason is that it’s difficult enough for me, coming home from work and getting homework, dinner and baths done before bed, but then I have to also force them to practice piano.  Lily freaks out if she doesn’t feel like she’s ready for her lesson and gets worried that her teacher will be upset with her.  Zoolander just hates piano lessons in general.  She plays slowly and hesitates as she plays, which her teacher feels is a bad attitude, but I really don’t think so.

I feel like whatever issue Zoolander is having at school is also affecting her ability to learn to read music and play piano.  She has a very hard time learning the notes.  We do flash cards over and over, but when you point to a note on the staff, it’s like she’s never seen it before.  I’ve been googling Dysgraphia & Dyslexia to see if there’s any relation to difficulty reading music.  After seeing how hard it was for Zoolander to copy those words and how she got lost on the page, I can see how reading music would be very confusing for her.  The problem is, I don’t know how to help her, but I don’t want to give up on music.  She has a beautiful singing voice, just like her aunt.

Maybe a different method?  Suzuki?  I’m hoping the learning evaluation will help shed some light on my twice exceptional daughter #2, but in the meantime, I’ve got to discuss this with their piano teacher and decide what to do.