I asked my piano moms for ideas they use to successfully get their children to practice during the summer. Here's some of their responses:
My son says "knowing that I'll get (computer) game-time
after I practice and that I won't get bothered about it the rest of the day and
that I can play at friends' houses" is what motivates him.
My son seems to practice on his own without much
encouragement, but that's probably because he loves it, and because we're in
the routine of him doing it right after breakfast, and he knows that play time
(or whatever he wants to do) comes AFTER piano practice is finished.
Currently we have a
small box on the piano that holds our squeakies. They are small rubber figures.
Each song they play well, they pick one and if they complain I get to pick one. At the end of the lesson we have a squeakie
war where we just play make believe war, but the toys don't leave the piano
since they get lost if we do! Then after all my men have been killed/ no more
than 5 mins. We put them back for the next day. Squeekies came in a 12 pack at
Walmart and I will use my Micheals coupon to get them for a better deal.
I do use TV in the summer since we
don't watch it much during the school year, especially on school days. If
I really want to make it worth their while I promise to pop popcorn and we all
watch an Andy Griffith together.
The best thing for us is to pick a time each day and stick
to that time.
The boys get 20 minutes of
computer time each, every day, but they don't get it until after they do their
piano practice. So I don't have to keep telling them to practice because they
tell me "I'm going to practice now so I can do my computer time."
We do our piano, reading, learning
games (and chores) all in the morning during the summer time. The reward
is they can either watch a movie or have video game time in the early
afternoon. This structure has worked fairly well for all age groups and we've
used it over quite a few summers. :-)
1st- We TRY (the optimal word) to
get our music done EARLY in the day. That way there's no drama during the
normal late afternoon drama.
2nd- I do the "Ms. Cathy
cup game" with a sweet tart under one. This really works
WONDERS, and helps me keep my cool. (Although one time I got so
frustrated I picked up the cup and ate it right in front of my child..that
showed him....not). [side note: The Ms. Cathy game consists of hiding a sticker
under one bell out of 5-6 bells sitting on the piano. The student plays a tricky section and rings
a bell. If the sticker is not under that
bell, the student keeps playing the section and ringing bells until he finally
finds the correct bell. The students
LOVE this game]
Practice before breakfast!
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Did you notice how most every one mentions practicing early in the day and making it a routine? I think that is the key--consistency and putting it before play/tv/computer time.
Some kids are starting back to school in a couple of weeks and others of you around the country are still enjoying summer. No matter what your schedule though, some of the above ideas will continue to work. If they don't, analyze your new routines, find out the best time for piano practicing, and make it work. You'll be so glad you did as you raise a brighter, more caring child.
Well, I didn't say they wouldn't still be silly!
Thanks for reading,
Cathy
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