I’m not sure parents really know how important their role is in the development of their child. My professional and motherly opinion is that parents ARE the difference. In this article I will answer the question ‘How parents can help with their child’s music lessons’.
When a child starts their music lessons journey, most parents feel intimidated and unsure that they can even help. They may wonder if they should be involved during practice, lessons, or both. Sometimes they wonder if they should be learning alongside the student, or just keep out of it entirely.
Parents make the biggest impact by involving themselves on a regular basis.
In the 28 years (!) I’ve been teaching youngsters how to play the flute well, I have definitely come across every question and situation imaginable.. well almost anyway. And, I KNOW that a parent’s involvement can either be incredible or a bit destructive.
Children of all ages nowadays are very busy. Gone are the days of picking one extra-curricular and excelling at it for life. But, no worries we have to just learn to get smarter about this new thinking that we can not only do it all (as parents), but our children can also. Or can they?
Parents make the biggest impact by involving themselves on a regular basis. This doesn’t always have to mean sitting with the child as they practice, but it definitely means mustering up all the positivity possible daily. Sometimes hourly (and minute-ly as well!).
Having something good to say about your child’s effort speaks volumes to them. I’m not sure how to emphasize this enough via text here, but my emotions run pretty high as I write about this subject.
I have brought along many-a-young musician, including my own children, and I know what it does for their self-esteem, confidence, and their over-all mental well-being.
Remember that a teacher’s job is to guide the lessons and progress. The instructor also should show the student how to practice the flute. But, we all well know that it’s the parents who are there during implementation.
Parents of music students should not only encourage the child to practice daily, but it is their (the parent’s) responsibility to ensure that the schedule is free to do so. Making sure that practice time starts and end positively is the number 1 (numero uno) way to solidify your child’s desire to continue learning.
I always make sure to listen to my child’s assignments a couple of days before their next lesson with another teacher. This way we do kind of a ‘check-up’ to be sure what skills had been assigned are the ones that have actually been practiced that week. I think you know what I mean… it’s easy for a child (or even an adult) to fill up their practice time playing everything BUT the assigned skills or pieces. This doesn’t help them move forward.. at all. So, by listening to their assignments a couple of days before the next lesson we can determine what still needs to be focused on or even hit harder before lesson time. Very effective trick!
I’ll definitely write more on this subject again. It’s very near and dear to my heart. Children are so moldable, and hold the potential of the world!
