big kids
BY CHAS ARNOLD, BERMUDA SCHOOL OF MUSIC
How To Get Your
Child To Practice…
An Age-Old Problem
I
* ”When I was your age I would have given anything to be able to take music lessons.”
* ”If you don’t practice, we’ll have to stop lessons.”
* ”Just wait until you grow up. You’ll be sorry that you didn’t practice.”
* ”I wish my mother had made me practice when I was young!”
have often been asked by parents, “How do you get
your children to practice?” I find that many parents
perceive only two alternatives: Either grit your teeth
and coerce the child to the bitter end or give up and spare
everyone the daily battle.
Some parents give up because they believe it is not fair
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to force their own wishes on the child, all the while knowing
that the child has talent, which ought to be developed.
Others give up when the child’s interest wanes, and they
accept it as a sign of lack of talent, which justifies quitting les-
sons. Some parents are simply at their wits end to find a way
to motivate the child and are tired of all the nagging.
None of these alternatives need be the case.
People are motivated only if they choose to be. All that
parents and teachers can do is create an environment which
sparks an interest in music and an inner desire to learn. What
motivates one person may not motivate another. A child who
is involved in the study of music draws motivation from vari-
ous sources. As an individual gains experience in something,
the reasons he or she has for doing it may change.
Beginning with the lowest maturity levels and working
upward toward self-propulsion, an individual may find all
kinds of reasons to practice: