11.09.2006

Lessons From Teaching My 3 Year Old

As many of you know, I am living in Spain with my family at present. Because we have little in the way of entertainment value, we decided a fun, bonding exercise would be to teach Caleb about the drums. To be honest, I was not crazy about the idea at first. I have had my share of bad teaching experiences, and most have come from very young people who lacked dedication, while I lacked a flexible teaching style.

So now, I am returning to the teaching seat with my son Caleb. I know that his only interest in drumming right now consists of the usual random noise. He may not take it very far, and I am not wishing that for him. But what I am seeing is that he is having fun with his chosen instrument. And that fun is contagious.

Generally, we are trying to identify how to sing note values up to 16ths and have a name assignment for every drum. My final goal would be for Caleb to know what goes where on which beat. Perhaps it's lofty, but he has sung "1 e an ahs" for Dad now twice. So after I have had him at least work with me on this, I let him bash away on the Tama Church kit. And his enthusiasm just sets a fire off in me and I have to sit down and play a little bit too. Except that I am trying to imitate him.

I can't think of a better way to stay fresh and inspired than to take someone and teach them about this wonderful craft that we enjoy. More than that, you might just get a new sub out of the deal, especially as you pass on why we drum for the Lord. Even more than that, isn't it exactly why God has given us any talent in the first place, namely that we might share it with others?

If your feeling a bit dry, one good way to shake it off is to keep your eyes open for a student to teach. You likely won't have to look farther than the stage after any given service.

Hope this helps.

Blessings,
Frank

Finally, YOUTUBE AND BLOGGER BETA!!!

The great Peter Erskine doing the job! And some serious horn work from the Brecker Brothers!

NICE!

Take Care All.
F.S.