I’m off to Kansas today for Suzuki Camp! I am taking Teacher Training for Book 5 with Susan Kempter at Ottawa Mid-Southwest Institute.
Picture of the dorm last year.
What is Suzuki camp? Well, firstly I should quickly answer the question, what is Suzuki? The Suzuki Method is a way of teaching children (primarily) to play musical instruments. The concept is that you learn your instrument the way you learn language—by starting early and hearing it all the time—and without pressure and with love. That is how I learned the violin and that is how I primarily teach the violin. I started at the age of five, and I listened to the music I was learning all the time. Was there pressure? Well, yes, but as you know I put pressure on myself all the time! In ANY case I am not going into my childhood story here but simply giving you a little information as to what I am up to this week.
Here’s the link to the Suzuki Association’s page “What is the Suzuki Method?”
The camp part is the next part of the question. Basically people come from all over and get together for the week for an intensive week of learning and camaraderie with other like minded people. For me, it’s continuing education. I am fully trained to teach the Suzuki method for all levels (there are 10 books), but I really wanted to take another class (here’s a link to last year) with Susan Kempter. Taking courses makes me a better teacher (and frankly, a better person!). I am really excited!
How many of you learned an instrument with the Suzuki Method? How did it impact your life?
I pretty much grew up immersed in the Suzuki Method, since my dad was a teacher. I was not aware of all the ways it impacted my life at the time, but coming back to it as an adult (when I started teacher training) was a really moving experience. And now two of my children are learning violin the same way, and I will be taking them to their first institute later this summer (can’t wait!) I can’t really quanitfy how it impacted my life–it’s very much a part of who I am, even though I have taken time off from it at different points in my life.
Have a wonderful time!