Yesterday after Sunday morning meeting, we went to Kelly’s end-of-year piano recital. There were only three non-Asians who played out of about a couple of dozen students. The last three were absolutely amazing. I had not realized how much Kelly has advanced in her piano playing (She was not one of the last three.). I am incompetent when it comes to music. Lorena is much better than I, but still not great. We were only fortunate enough to get Kelly a slot in her current teacher’s schedule because Mrs. Hickenlooper, Kelly’s teacher from Oregon, made a big effort on her behalf. She called many people in North Carolina until she found just the right teacher. Even then, I think the only reason she accepted Kelly as a student is because Kelly is homeschooled and could come to piano lessons during the day. We are glad she did. Kelly made amazing progress. We were thinking Kelly might end her lessons after next year to concentrate on only academics. That all changed yesterday. We are very much encouraging her to continue–through college, if possible.
A couple of small events prompted us to notice a very interesting phenomenon yesterday. The first was when the young Asian girl seated beside Kelly heard that Kelly is homeschooled she said, “So you have a life?” The second was, at the end of the program, the teacher said that three of her students had been accepted at the North Carolina School of Science and Math (NCSSM). NCSSM is a highly selective residential high school for gifted students with a strong work ethic. It requires public service as well as a high level of academic performance. Acceptance at that school requires an amazing level of time and commitment. Add to that the time and effort required to play the piano the way they played and there is not much time left in the day for those kids to have a life. Still, on the whole, they seemed to be very nice kids. These kids and their families form a subculture that is not unlike that of many homeschoolers. I think a significant difference might be that homeschool tends to be less regimented.
Note: I finished the Old Testament today in my read through the bible.