Not Another Homeschool Blog

My child is more mature than me.  I was bent out of shape.  Even her Administrator seemed bent out of shape.  I even heard that the judge who loved her was bent out of shape.  But my daughter took it all at face value.  She's so professional. One judge thought the sun rose in the morning when my daughter awoke.  The other... was non-plussed. So why would one person give a perfect score, and the other a.... meh. According to my child, we have to remember that they were both not judging her at the same time.  That meant there were variations in the performance. She felt that the first time, the time with the judge that was not impressed, it was 8am in the morning.  Her voice was still groggy.  Maybe, like the judge said, her diction was not as clear.  Also, she was more put together, wearing a blazer and losing the distracting leggings that had been peeking out from under her skirt.  Plus she felt that she stammered in her intro...

As I sit in the student lounge I reflect back on the week of competition at (a school who's name I won't mention). And try to put it all in perspective. My daughter took 2nd place in mixed media art which was a surprise seeing that art is hardly her major talent.  At least it is not something she focuses on. But this time it looks like the concept she had in her head actually worked out on paper (the 20th time) and that the concept was clearly well thought out and executed. Being an artist myself, who is yet to win a prize in a juried competition, I am very proud of her. That being said, I am bothered by the mixed messages that we are getting in the areas where she is truly talented. To be pulled aside by a judge who heaped praises upon praises on her, yet she didn't even make the finals is troubling to me.  Makes me realize that taste and subject matter are often more important than flawless execution and that makes me sad. It also makes me realize that I need to close...

 We returned from North Carolina last night after attending the CITA (Christians in the Theatre Arts) Secondary School Theatre Festival.  Our homeschool program (Artios) and four or five others theater and musical performances of all types.  There was so much talent there, I could hardly contain myself.  All of the kids in our group got excellent or superior ratings in one or more of their performances including my daughter who got excellent ratings in both her musical solo and her group scene.  One girl in our group got a best of her category award.  Of course, I am very proud. My daughter has done performances and been in plays before, but this is the first time she has been up against such as huge number of other talented performers!  I am very proud of her performances.  ...And she is already looking for theater pieces to perform next year.  While the school we visited over the weekend (where the event was held) had a tremendous drama a...