"Why is it that some parents don't want to make their kids practice when the child isn't having 'fun'? The 'fun' comes when they can play music. It's normal for a child to not want to practice sometimes, even if they love the idea of making music."
Ah yes, practice: where fantasy meets reality, parent meets child, the face-off begins!
Practice doesn't always feel like music making, which is what your kid thought they signed up for when they chose an instrument. When they imagined themselves playing music they probably glossed over the hundreds-of-hours-of-practice part and skipped straight to the beautiful-sounds-and-wildly-enthusiastic-audience part.
As adults it's easy for us to understand that it takes plenty of 'not fun' time to get to a point where you are skillful enough that an activity becomes it's own reward. But kids live in the moment, and the moment needs to be pleasurable for them to want to keep doing something, like say, practice some difficult new material when the Wii is calling.
Most of us have our own musical histories, and some of them aren't all that pleasant. Were you relegated to a distant room for practice, oh, and don't forget to shut the door so the noise won't disturb everyone? Maybe it was an activity that you joylessly fulfilled to avoid punishment? You can help make your child's experience a very different one. If she is struggling with practice, your job as head cheerleader and motivator just took center stage.
After all, when your child was learning to read you chose fun books, praised them, marveled at their accomplishments, and undoubtedly followed up with every homework assignment. You saw them through difficult times until they were ready to read on their own for the sheer pleasure of it. You were totally committed. Put instrument practice in that same category. We've written plenty of articles to give you ideas and help you out. You are not alone!
How do you help make practice a fun activity for your child? Where do you get stuck? We'd love for you to share your experiences and ideas for practice here with other parents.
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