SHOULD MY CHILD PRACTICE EVERY DAY?
This is a question parents usually ask as they are signing up for guitar lessons. The answer is, “yes.” However, out of the 18,000 students who have been in the Childbloom guitar program, we know of only 1 student who has practiced every day since he began about 6 years ago. And, yes, he plays very well. (That student is Linden Meyer of Austin, Tx. Congratulations to Linden!)
Regardless of the absence of daily practice, there have been thousands of students who have progressed to high levels of skill and satisfying achievement. Why? We think that the most important thing to develop motivation is not establishing routine, but establishing “meaning.” The activity must have some meaning to the child. The time and frequency of playing will respond to how the activity fits into those aspects of the child’s life that bring meaning and purpose. This changes, as it should, with the child’s age and the relationship he or she has with the world of family, friends, peers and the cosmos.
We have had a smattering of extremely high level players – child prodigies, if you will – come out of the Childbloom Program. None of them practiced every day. None.
Don’t worry if your child doesn’t play every day. Loving your student (and all that means as a caring parent) will create the meaning that will create the motivation that will encourage practice. Replace worry with love and see what happens.
(From the June 2016 Childbloom Newsletter).
© 2016 The Childbloom Co.