Practicing – The Parent’s Role
If you’re like many parents, getting your child to practice regularly can be, at best, challenging.
You want music to be a part of your child’s lives and so you correctly sign them up for lessons. However, poor practice routines can make you worry that the passion for music isn’t there.
Perhaps music isn’t for my child. But why?
Unfortunately, simply wanting your child to be musical, does not always translate into eager practice habits. To start out, music is a skill, one very similar to reading. Success comes after expending a good amount of energy and attention.
No matter how much you want your child to be musical, success often comes down to commitment, not just on the student’s behalf, but most importantly on the Parents’. Studies routinely show a direct link or correlation between a parent’s involvement and the child’s success in skill development, especially in music.
For instance, think of the time and effort spent in teaching a child to read, play a sport or to even walk. All of this involves considerable effort mainly on behalf of the parent.
Learning a new skill is time consuming and difficult thus not always unenjoyable. However, when the tough times arrive, as they will, this is when the parent’s engagement is most needed.
Music Practice Shedule
What to do
Set-up a practice time and keep to it.
Make practicing a part of the daily routine. Like you do with getting to the school bus, eating, or showering.
Keep in mind the development of a skill.
The idea that some children have a love of music and some do not is misleading.
A Personal Story
As I young student, I fought against practicing all the time. The same way I tried to get out of mowing the lawn or doing homework.
A few years later, that changed. Over those few years, the skill was developed. All I wanted to do was practice and play for hours. It took time, and honestly, it took commitment of my parents to achieve the goal.
For this, I am forever indebted to them.