Most students go through periods of motivation and un-motivation in their musical journey. When they practice through these periods again and again, they can gain Discipline, which they can apply in all other areas in their lives. Here are ways we can do to get students going through an un-motivated phase to practice. #1, this is paramount:
Schedule a time that works every day (or week days) for them to practice so that it becomes routine.
If they’re older, they can come up with the time to commit to.
If a routine isn’t set, while the student goes through a period of un-motivation, it creates a lot more friction in the household to get them to practice! Even though they may still resist, a routine sets the expectation.
2) The teacher may give them Page Points. When the student earns 30 points, they get a prize from their parents! The instructor will keep track of their points in their lesson notes.
At their lesson, they get 1 point for 1 page they complete. This includes:
Songs - 1 point for each page, so a 2 page song = 2 points. In order to earn a point, there needs to be improvement - evidence that they practiced what & how they were directed to practice last week (and in their lesson notes). If it sounds the exact same as last week before working on it with the teacher and it’s clear that they didn’t practice it, then no points are awarded for that song during that lesson.
Theory & Note Speller homework - 1 point for each page completed
Sight Reading – 1 page for each page completed, but they need to get their parent to sign off on each, and be prepared to show this to the teacher at the lesson.
Ear Training – for RCM kids, their parent can sign off on each daily exercise of Ear Training online that they do. They can use the chart inside the back cover of their 4 Star SR book to keep track of that. They get 1 point for each exercise they do!
To help a student be accountable for their practice, they can use a:
3) Practice Calendar: The parent gets them a calendar, for which they earn a sticker for each day that they practice. The amount of time isn’t necessarily specified, but they need to practice the things in their lesson notes. If you use a Practice Calendar combined with the Page Points System, they can get a point for every day that they practice that week!
Also, some parents have had success with:
4) Earning Screen Time: The student earns their screen time based on the amount that they practice. Eg. If they practice for 20 minutes, they get 20 minutes of screen time that day (or they can earn screen time at 2x the amount of practice time, or whatever the parent decides).
I find that the Page Points system works better in the long run, whereas Earning Screen Time and the Practice Calendar (by itself) gets students through brief periods of un-motivation (eg. A few weeks). Have a discussion with your teacher about which you want to try!
Let’s work as a team to help the student continue benefiting from your (and their) investment!
It will be well worth it.
Kim
North Peace Piano