Tip #16

Since we are in the middle of the holiday season, we wanted to cover some practice tips during holidays. After our winter break (12/23-1/5), we will continue with the TIP #17: Creating practice goals.

DON’Ts

“I will give my child a well-deserved break”

This is a sentence we hear from parents quite often. Holiday season is a time that our children receive gifts. When we give them a ‘break’ from practicing as a reward or a gift, it enforces the idea that ‘not practicing’ is something positive and something to be achieved. Although it comes with good intentions, it does not provide a productive message for their long term music education.

“My child needs to practice more since there is more time”

The fact that there is no school and there is more free time is not something they can control. There should not be a requirement for them to practice more.

“My child needs to learn more songs during holidays”

It is understandable that parents might want to make sure their children’s musical improvement does not stop during school breaks. However, especially for young children, it is not always a good idea to learn new songs while they are not taking lessons. This situation might cause them to build wrong habits as they do not get corrected by their teachers.

“My child needs to play holiday songs”

Parents might want their children to play songs related to their holidays they practice or popular songs that everybody knows. It is important to consider that students might not be technically ready to play those songs and would get frustrated knowing that they are expected to play a song however they are not able to. On top of that, it is also important to consider that our children might not simply enjoy the same songs we enjoy.

DO’s

Make it a goal to keep up with the regular routine

Instead of asking them to practice more or giving them a complete break, it is best to try to stay within the same regular practice routine or create a holiday routine together (TIP #9).

See if they would like to practice more and make plans accordingly

Some students will get excited with the idea of having more time to practice. Therefore it is important to discuss with your children their intentions for music practice and create holiday practice goals.

Create opportunities for them to play for family and friends

Holiday season is a time we see family and friends. Some children get excited with the idea of playing songs for them or create videos to send them as gifts. At the same time, some children might find this idea stressful. It is important to have a conversation with our children before seeing family and friends if they would be interested in playing. That way, they would get a chance to choose songs, practice and mentally prepare or have the opportunity to say ‘no’.

Ask them if they would like to play holiday songs, songs from cartoons or any other popular songs

Sometimes our children do not express their feelings about songs they like thinking it might not be appropriate with their music education or their teachers and parents would not appreciate those choices. We can ask them if there are any songs they would be interested in playing. At that point, it is important to contact their teachers for help with finding the level-appropriated scores.

Give gifts complimenting their music lessons

Finding gifts related to music and piano is quite easy as we have the ability to buy things online.

While these gifts might be fun little toys, they can also be things they will use with their lessons and practice.

Get them involved in music even while on vacation

Holiday season is a time most families are away from their home and do not have access to their instruments. Something to consider is to provide music games on paper, iPads or phones during car/plane travels and any free time they have (we will discuss online music games in the upcoming weeks).

In the past weeks, we shared tips on setting the right expectations (TIP#1), asking the right questions (TIP#2), how to be involved in the first practice (TIP #3), avoiding the words ‘hard and easy’ (TIP#4), accepting negative feelings as part of your musical growth (TIP#5), rethinking the meaning of ‘talent’ (TIP#6), considering practice a skill (TIP #7), recognizing the effects of our expectations on our children (TIP #8), creating a goal to have a practice routine (TIP# 9) and a practice structure (TIP #10), finding the right daily practice length (TIP #11), recital preparation (TIP #12), being a good role-model for our children (TIP #13), creating welcoming practice environment (TIP #14) and a practice tool box (TIP #15).

May you know you are making a difference, even if your child never tells you themselves.

We would be more than happy to answer any questions and provide more specific consultancy if needed.

Thank you for being a part of the PianoAlpharetta community!