Parents can help make practicing fun!
As discussed previously, we know that practicing can be difficult. A teachers attitude makes a lot of difference. It is good if the student and teacher get along and the student wants to please the teacher. But, it should be noted that parents can make all the difference! You are there every day being the task master. Teachers understand your battle but most of us don’t know why you would bother paying for lessons and driving a student around so that lessons are nothing more than another practice session.
Here are a few hints if your teacher hasn’t provided you with any:
* Talk you student through the lesson. Your teacher probably writes in a notebook of some kind. Make this notebook your business and get familiar with the books. Explain the lesson to the student and help them understand what is expected of them. This will help you both clarify what goals you should have.
* Give a reward for the number of times the student plays a song or segment correctly. Perhaps a Tootsie Roll or something small for every 5 or 10 times they repeat correctly. Nothing like incentives to get any of us to take action!
* If the teacher has not specified how many times to play something you can use dice. Have the student roll the dice and then that is how many times they play the song or segment. Alter this to meet your students needs.
* Break practicing up into shorter segments. Think of this like some people see exercise. Most people wouldn’t mind jogging for five or ten minutes but the thought of 30 straight minutes or an hour is just overwhelming. This is generally how practicing feels to the student. Breaking it into smaller time frames and just doing it here and there through the day will help every one in the house.
Keep a positive attitude. Remember that if your child is not enjoying the lessons at all that there may be bad chemistry with the teacher or they may be struggling. We usually like what we are good at and piano students that have fun actually learn more.