I am hoping these adorably chubby hands will soon be playing the violin.
Yesterday was Phoenix's first violin lesson. Why violin? Our family LOVES fiddle music AND someone gave us a violin. So here we are. We found a Suzuki instructor close by and we're giving it a shot!
As for the Down syndrome part, this is how I handled it. First, I just inquired about lessons. We set up the schedule. Then I told her Phoenix had Down syndrome. (You never know how people are going to react to your child with special needs so I wanted to tell her ahead of time. Believe me, we sadly get some pretty cruel looks from strangers from time to time. So I was protecting both myself and him.) She was totally fine with it. I gave her an out and she didn't take it. She doesn't have any experience with students with special needs and I kind of like that. She treated him like any other student.
First lesson, he didn't even play! He practiced standing, holding the bow properly, balancing the violin under his chin with no hands and bowing. It was great! He learned new words and had another opportunity to practice following directions (we prayed about that part on the front steps outside her home!).
When we got in the car after the lesson I rhetorically asked him, Did you play the violin? He shook his head NO. That's right! He didn't play it! LOL! Just a lot of prep work!
