Matthew Monday: Basketball Final

This was Matthew’s second year in basketball skills clinic, a one day a week class over the winter on Saturdays to learn how to play basketball.  It’s for kids from five years old to about ten, and they have it in the school gymnasium.  Like last year, the clinic ended with a game.  I forgot to bring a camera last year, but I remembered this year.

Last year for some strange reason they divided the squads between the big kids verses the little kids for the game.  I don’t know if it was intentional or it just fell that way, but as you can imagine it was a rout.  This year it was fairer.  I think they divided the kids by under eight in one game and over in another. 

Here’s Matthew before the game, first a photo and then a little video of him warming up.

Notice he can dribble, and not badly for a six year old.  But as you will see in the game, he forgets to dribble and just runs with the ball.  He wasn’t the only one, however.  Just about all the kids in the heat of the moment ran with the ball, no matter how many times people were screaming to dribble.  Matthew was put on the team with the yellow tanks, while the opposition got the blue.  You can pick out Matthew from the red long sleeve shirt he has underneath.

It was really hilarious watching the kids run around.  Unfortunately for the yellow team, none of their kids could reach the basket on a shot.  The blue team had a few kids that could really shoot, and they scored eight baskets to yellow’s zip.  So Matthew’s team lost again this year.  He was disappointed, but he still had a blast.

Here’s one more clip. 

I think the parents had more fun watching the game than the kids playing it.

Here’s the Yellow Team group picture.

They are so cute.  And here Matthew displaying his medal.  All the kids got a medal.

My handsome athlete.

Matthew Monday: First Piano Recital

Ever since Matthew could pick things up and play with musical toys, I seemed to see musical talent in him.  He always seemed to love to sing.  I gave him musical toys which he seemed to enjoy making coordinated sounds.  I gave him my harmonica, which he seemed make songs with.  I gave him a recorder, and though he hasn’t learned the notes yet, he seems to play like he knows what he’s doing.  I bought him a ukulele from a yard sale, and he loves strumming it.  Of course I got him a key board and we tried learning on our own, but that’s rather difficult, mostly because I can’t play.  However, he loved to make believe he was a pianist and playing concerts for me.  With all that I was intent to get him into a music class.

I finally found a music lesson place for children, a class where children and parents interact as the child learns.  It’s at the local JCC, but the unfortunate thing was that a beginner’s class ran after school when I was at work.  There was one that I could just make but it was for a stage above beginners, and they allowed Matthew to join since he seemed to be bright.

After six months, the children had a mini recital.  Besides singing and dancing for the guests, they had to play a song on the piano.  Here is Matthew playing a song out of his music book called “Dinosaur Dreams.”  The woman is Leah (I don’t know her last name) his music teacher, who I have to say is remarkable in her patience with the children.

The thing of it is that he played it flawlessly at home earlier that afternoon.  Still considering he’s playing with both hands and shifting chords, it’s not bad for just six months of lessons.