In their early years, children need tremendous support from their parents to cultivate good habits. You are their primary teacher and the more that you model good habits for them and create an environment that supports those habits, the more likely it is that your child will adopt them as their own. While there is no parent out there with perfect habits, there are some things we can do to encourage positive piano practice habits in our children.
In this post, I will be giving you some insight into helpful mindsets for practicing piano with young children, why practice routines are beneficial, and ways you can work with your unique child and navigate the challenges that can come up during practice time.
YOUR PRACTICE MINDSET
Young children really respond to the energy of their parents. This is why it is crucial for you to be an attentive presence at their piano lessons and be an enthusiastic practice partner at home, encouraging your child and showing interest in their learning process.
If this doesn't come easily to you, consider why you enrolled your child in piano lessons and what you are hoping to get out of the experience. Do you want your child to have music as a creative outlet? Has music been a strong part of your upbringing that you want to pass along to your own children? Have you always wished that you had the same opportunity when you were a child? Think about what truly drove you to want to do this for your child and keep that top-of-mind to help you support and encourage your child along the way.
Another helpful mindset to maintain is a long-term mindset. When we have a long-term vision for our child's progress and the skills we hope for them to develop through learning music, it helps us to be more dedicated to the process. A young child's progress on the piano is largely fueled by a parent's commitment to prioritizing practice.
WHY PRACTICE ROUTINES ARE BENEFICIAL
Children (and, frankly, all humans) need routines to experience a sense of consistency and security in their lives from day to day. When you view piano practice as a "to do" item, it likely won't happen or will be done inconsistently because it hasn't been folded into your daily routines.
Routines are predictable and, after we establish them, automatic. We don't have to give them much thought once we are used to them – we just do them. This is why making piano practice part of your family's daily routines is so helpful. See my previous post on creating a practice routine that works for YOUR family for ideas on how to do this. ***
Some of the many benefits you will likely notice as a result of establishing a practice routine are:
the progress that is made consistently and how your child is growing in confidence as they improve their skills.
a strengthened bond between you and your child. Your little one's cup will be filled by you participating in this adventure with them and by your encouragement as you notice and praise them on their progress.
your child developing positive character traits like discipline and perseverance through working through challenges and overcoming difficulties in their learning journey.
an intrinsic motivation fueled by these other benefits and the consistency you have helped to create.
your child being rewarded with the pleasure of playing music skillfully and beautifully as a result of their effort and your commitment.
As a musician and a piano teacher, it brings me great joy to witness these benefits unfolding in my students' lives. And it truly does start with you, the parent, making that decision to be committed to helping your child learn and practice.
WORKING WITH YOUR UNIQUE CHILD AND OVERCOMING OBSTACLES
When you are spending time with your child at the piano every day, you are most likely going to encounter some challenges along the way. Depending on the age, developmental stage, and personality of your child, you may run into one or more of these obstacles. Thankfully, I have some quick and easy solutions for you to try if you find yourself working with any of these challenges.
Short attention span
Keeping a young child on task can be difficult. My best practices for this issue are:
Keep practice sessions short. A lot can be accomplished in 5-10 minutes of focused practice. You can break practice up into multiple sessions throughout the day if necessary or just rotate what gets practice from day to day.
Make practice a game.
Use flash cards or a spinner app on your phone for the pieces your child is currently playing.
Line up 5 M&M's on the piano and let your child eat them at the end of 5 successful repetitions.
Use a practice tracker like this one to let your child color in as they practice throughout the month.
Getting frustrated easily
Some children get really frustrated when they are trying to learn a new song or correct something they have been playing wrong in a song they have already learned. Some tips for navigating this:
Watch for the signs. Your child might start playing faster, louder, have a change in facial expression or some other physical cue when they are starting to get frustrated.
Model calmness. When you show up with a calm and positive attitude towards mistakes and challenges, it helps your child understand that mistakes are a natural part of learning and they are nothing to be ashamed of.
Practice mindfulness techniques. If your child tends to get frustrated easily, it can be very helpful to start your practice sessions with some deep breathing, listening to a piece of music and visualizing, growth mindset affirmations, or another mindfulness practice. These can also be used to deescalate before your child loses their cool.
Know your child's threshold and set achievable goals. Make sure the task isn't too big for your child. If they are getting frustrated, it may be because what they are trying to accomplish feels to big for them.
Silliness
Sometimes, rather than getting frustrated, children all of a sudden become puddles of silly goo when they are practicing piano. How to deal with this:
Stay calm yourself. It can be infuriating for us, as parents, when our children get silly and whacky while they are supposed to be concentrating on something important. Remember that this is just their brain's way of processing an overload of sensory input and they may just need time to regroup.
Balance time on the piano bench with physical activity off the bench. For example, have your child play the left hand of Lightly Row with you 2-3 times, then stand up and do jumping jacks or play freeze dance.
Embrace a little bit of silliness by incorporating silly stories and games. Sometimes, we just have to immerse ourselves in our childrens' worlds and dust off our own imaginations. This one can be particularly hard for some of us, but if you can manage it, your child will love it and you may just find that they learn a lot through this way of practicing.
Refusal to follow directions
When you have a child who tends to want to go their own way rather than following your directions, it can present a huge challenge when it's time to practice. I may have one of these children * wink wink * and these are some strategies that can help:
Offer choices. Don't make practice a negotiable thing, but do offer choices on what to practice and how to go about it. You can say something like, "It's time to practice piano, would you like to start with Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star or a song that you make up?"
Tap into your child's interests. For example, if your child loves building Legos, you can let them build onto a creation they have started each time they complete something on their practice list. Another example might be that your child loves dolls and stuffies. You could bring a couple down to the piano to be your child's practice buddies and incorporate pretend play with them into the practice session.
I hope you picked up some helpful strategies to make piano practice something you and your young child look forward to each day from this post – thanks for reading!
If you have any questions or want to share your family's experience with practice, I would love to hear what you are doing! Drop a comment below or shoot me a message on Instagram @alyssaalexander.music
Comments