Have you ever had trouble asking your children to practice piano everyday, or have you ever heard them saying, "I don't want to go to piano class"? These are the most common yet most neglected problems that both teachers and parents are facing today. Often, it is the parents that want the children to take piano lessons because the parents know taking lessons will develop an additional skill for the children. This skill may become a useful tool for them in the future. However, many children do not want to attend piano class because they do not want to practice everyday or simply they do not find a purpose in going to these classes. The following will tackle the first problem as mentioned above and my second article will talk about how can the teachers and parents transform the children into saying "I LOVE piano class!"
"I don't want to practice every day."
Often, students do not like to practice every day because practice is equivalent to extra work for them aside from the day to day school. In fact, there is often enough homework from school that can take up the whole night for the children to complete. Thus, practice piano means there will be less playing time for them. However, have you ever thought do children really like to go to school everyday or sometimes they just go because it becomes a routine or a habit? This is the key to practice piano everyday. If the children practice piano everyday, soon enough, it will become a routine and it will be become a part of their lives like going to school. Thus, for beginners, the key is to ask the children to practice everyday. The duration of the practice can be short, for example, ten minutes. The purpose is to develop a practice habit and allow the children to practice everyday so it will become a daily activity for them. Since the materials at the beginners level is not difficult at all, practice for an hour everyday would not be beneficial to them. Instead, practice only ten minutes but everyday would help them to develop a habit and send a message to their mind that this is part of their daily routine.
Some of you may think, "I already know this, but the problem is to get them to even practice ten minutes a day." In fact, a lot of parents and teachers neglect one important aspect in helping the children to develop this practice habit: the parents need to sit down and practice with the children. This may some obscure in the beginning as some may think that since they have no knowledge of piano they cannot practice with the children. In order to sit down and practice with the children, the parent must sit in during piano class and learn together with their children. As the children is a beginner to piano, so is the parent. The parent will always pick up materials faster than the children in the beginning. Thus, the parent's role at home is more like a mentor than a teacher. The children will not be able to absorb all the materials presented in class. However, if the parents remind their children what they have learned in class, often, children can recall the memory quickly of what they have learnt in class. The key is to practice together. Once the children develop the practice habit, parents will not be needed to practice together with the child.
In summary, parents need to sit in during their children piano class and learn together with them. Then, parents need to practice at home together with their children everyday for ten minutes. Soon, the children will develop the practice habit and parents will not be needed to practice with them anymore. However, some parents may still have a difficult them getting their children to go to the piano and practice everyday, this is because the children do not see a purpose in practicing and they simply do not like piano. When they do not have an interest in piano, this is the main reason that they do not practice everyday. In my next article, I will be talking about how to motivate the children so that they will turn around and say, "I love piano class!"
David Liu, A.R.C.T
David Liu is the founder of Staccato Music School with over 20 years of piano experience. Students rank in Top 2% in Canada under the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) syllabus. 100% exam passing rate. The school offers piano lessons in Mississauga, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Markham. With many real scenarios, the school has successfully transformed many children from hesitating to play piano to practicing twice or even three times a day. For more information, please visit: http://www.staccatopiano.com/, or contact 647 463 0565.
No comments:
Post a Comment