In teaching young children, the fight to practice everyday often leads parents to feel that the struggle is not worth the results. Even if a child likes their lessons, it can be discouraging to parents to have their child complain and make practicing a chore. While no one likes to practice (OK, there may be a few quirky kids out there who really enjoy their practice time), but most children do not like it, and are not able to understand that doing something they don’t like will be beneficial in the long run. Here is where some creativity can really help!

Making practicing fun, or at least tolerable is our goal. In doing this though we cannot compromise learning. The following are a compilation of ideas I came up with myself, age old motivators, and some things I have adapted from others to help parents of young children make practicing less of a chore and more of a bonding time.

1. The old Rewards Chart or Sticker Chart. This idea has been used for decades by parents to help motivate their child to do everything from cleaning their room, to taking a bath. The good thing about this method is that the child can see their progress, be physically involved with checking off duties or picking stickers for a job well done, and they are working toward an achievable, tangible goal. This method can also be adapted for each individual child and can be changed as the child progresses and gets older.
2. Another motivator for young children is for the parents to take lessons along with the child. This may sound funny, but think about it, a child usually wants to do what they see their parents doing. What better way to create a desire to practice than if they see Mommy or Daddy practicing. They can’t join in unless they practice too, and because young children often progress faster than adults, children will love it when they can do something better than Mom or Dad! This is also a good way for Mom and Dad to better understand the difficulties a child might be having with one aspect of their technique, and can aid parents in helping their children learn an instrument they have no experience playing.
3. Another great idea, which I can’t take credit for but is a wonderful creative idea, is something I’m going to coin Story Book Practicing. This idea focuses around the fact that kids have active imaginations and often get bored with the monotonous repetition of practicing. The Story Book Practicing method involves the parent making up a story that revolves around them completing the tasks their teacher has assigned for the week during their daily practice time. As you progress in the practice time and complete the tasks at hand correctly you continue in the story. The story can be shaped and molded to fit whatever is needed to be accomplished that day. Here is an example.
   

   Parent: “Oh no!”

   Child: “What’s wrong?”

   Parent: “Monsters have just kidnapped the fairy princess, and somebody has to go save her!”

   Child: “I’ll save her!”

   Parent: “Okay, they took her into a dark cave. You’re not afraid of the dark, right?”

   Child: “No way! What do I have to do?”

   Parent: “There’s water in the cave, but fortunately there’s a rowboat. To row the boat, you need to play the first four measures of Twinkle. If you can do it three times with a perfect bow hand that will get us to the end of the cave and we can see where to go next.”

   Child: “Okay”

   Parent: “Get into a good play position, here we go!”

   If the child forgets to play with a good bow hand the parent could tell the child that they lost an oar, or that the boat tipped over and floated backward, or that they ran into a rock, etc. You can change the story line daily, or you can make it into an ongoing saga so the child can’t wait to practice to they find out what happens next. You can make stories that go along with the music they are playing to help the child get in the character of what they are playing. There are an endless variety of ways this method can be used, and when I came across it I thought it was just brilliant!

4. Let your child have a say. For me, taking an instrument wasn’t an option, but I was allowed to choose the instrument I played. Perhaps it has always been your dream to play the flute, but your child might not have any interest in this. If you try to live your dreams through your child you are most likely going to be met with resistance. Instead, ask your child what instrument they would like to play. If they pick they will be more likely to feel a connection with what they are doing and will eventually embrace it as their own.Also let your child have a say in when they practice. Do they prefer to practice right after school, or maybe they need a break but want to do it before dinner. Maybe after dinner is the best time, or perhaps they want to practice before school. Allow your child to have as much say in when they do their practicing as possible. This will allow them to take responsibility for their choice.

   Let your child pick the order they practice things in. Just because their teacher goes in the same order every week at lessons doesn’t mean you have to. As long as you get through everything that’s what matters. If you can give your child a list of what needs to be practiced and allow them to choose the order this will give them an additional sense of personal connection to their practicing and instrument.

   This is not an exhausted list of what you can allow your child to have a say in. Getting their input as much as possible and having open communication about things is key. This also teaches them to grow and start taking responsibility for making decisions that affect them, which is all part of the learning process!

5. Get involved! If your child only goes to their lessons and then practices at home they may not be having fun. Perhaps they would enjoy things more if they could be with other kids. Maybe you could ask your teacher about opportunities for them to take some group lessons in addition to their private lessons. Also getting them to participate in recitals or having them play for relatives or friends can be a motivator too. If a child likes to show off this can be a great way to get them to practice. If your child doesn’t like to get up in front of people don’t force them to. Perhaps they would enjoy performing in an orchestra more. I always loved this aspect of my instrument and always think it’s great for kids to play with others their own age. They get to be motivated by others that are better than they are, and they also feel good when they see that they are better than others in the group. Also getting your kids out to see other performers give recitals, or attending special events designed just for kids where their instrument is showcased can be a very positive experience for your child. Seeing what they can do with their instrument gives them a vision beyond the mundane four walls of your house or the teacher’s studio. There are a variety of ways for kids to have more involvement depending on your location and community. Ask your teacher about some possibilities if you don’t know where to start. Teachers are always more than happy to share ways to enrich the musical lives of their students!
6. Break up practice time. While a child’s lesson needs to happen all in one block of time, daily practicing does not. If your child has a short attention span do two or three shorter practice sessions a day. You will get the same amount of material accomplished without burning your child out. As your child gains the ability to focus for longer periods of time, up their practice time a few minutes each session. Eventually you will be able to eliminate practice sessions and ultimately go back to one practice section without all the stress!
7. While setting an amount of time to practice is good, it’s the quality of practice that counts. If children think they can whine and make your life difficult for 30 minutes a day and that’s “practice time” they need to be informed otherwise. Practicing means work. Your expectations of what practicing means needs to be clear so that children know what is expected of them. If 30 minutes go by and they haven’t picked up their instrument and done anything productive they may need to try again later. However, let the child know that if they do what they are being asked and cooperate they might be able to be done before 30 minutes is over and have extra time to play, read a book or watch TV. Make the quality of practice time, not the amount of practice time what matters. This is a reward system within itself that is actually teaching your child a very important life skill, there is only a finite amount of time and we need to use it wisely. Bringing this principle down to their level and giving them a tangible example of a responsibility they have and the rewards of doing it well will benefit both you and them.
8. Include your child in critiquing their practice time. Think of yourself as more of a facilitator for your child’s practice time. Instead of correcting your child all the time, ask your child what they think can be improved. Ask them what they think could have been better and ask them about ways to help them improve this aspect of their playing. Be sure to also ask them what they did well too. Having them critique themselves is a lot less “painful” than having you critique them all the time, and they are gaining an important skill for when they are older and will be practicing by themselves. Also ask them to remember from day to day what their teacher said to work on for each thing before you practice it. This helps them remember to actually try to do it the first time they go to play it, rather than always having to correct them after they forget to do whatever they were working on. I try to do this when I teach as well. It’s a great tool, and works to engage the child in what they are doing.
9. While we’re talking about criticizing let’s talk about a better way to criticize than saying “you didn’t do this right”. Try making criticisms less personal by criticizing the specific body part that is not behaving. By saying “your thumb isn’t behaving properly” or “we need to make sure that Mr. Pointer finger goes down in the right spot” you allow the child to feel that they have control over the different parts of their body and that they just have to make the body part do what they want it to do. This doesn’t make them feel like they are doing something wrong, but rather makes them feel empowered to fix “someone else” who’s doing something wrong. You can help your child have more fun and to work together with you to fix Mr. Pointer by saying something like, “Are you going to let Mr. Pointer get away with going down where he’s not suppose to? Let’s see if we can get Mr. Pointer to behave!” Your child will have much more fun with this approach and will become more in tune with how to use and control his muscles as well.
10. Praise your child! Last on this list, but certainly not least is to make sure you motivate your child with praise and affirmation. Try to get extra excited about the little things that they do well, and minimize the criticisms you give. If your child knows you are just going to be negative all the time they are not going to be motivated to practice, but if you are positive and energized by the good job they do, they will want to work to please you.

Good luck, and happy practicing!

When children love the music they’re playing and feel competent at it, they enjoy music more. Check out The Beginning Violinist: A Companion Book for Children and Adults, which helps teach the basics of music reading and playing in a way that students love!

Emily Williams is the creator of Strategic Strings: An Online Course for Violin and Viola Teachers

Tags: children, kids, motivation, Practicing, young

1st March 2010 Practicing Leave a comments

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