Sitting in on lessons may be the number one thing you can do for your young child’s musical development. (If you have a teen aged student, your presence during lessons may not be so welcome ... Check back soon for blog post on helping your teen with music lessons).  If you’ve never taking music lessons yourself, you’ll be amazed at how much you’ll pick up during a single lesson which will equip you to provide your child with help.  Even dropping by for the last 5 minutes can be very beneficial; the teacher will often summarize what the child has worked on and is expected to do at home so you can know whether little Sally is really practicing what, and how, she is advised.  Taking a few minutes to talk to the teacher during the lesson is time well spent so you can get the most from your financial and time investment.

For parents who cannot attend lessons, I write notes in the student notebook to help both students and parents know what is expected at home.  You will be better positioned to help your child if you read the notebook as well.  Students may think they do not need to read their notebook because they remember what pieces they are to practice.   However, in addition to what the student is to practice, it is important to follow the teachers’ directions regarding how it should be practiced.  My notes are written to the student, but with the helping parent in mind. 

Without an awareness of what a teacher expects of the child, parents can be “played” by their children.  Just because you hear sounds from the child’s instrument, doesn’t mean little Johnny is truly practicing!  I once contacted a parent several times about his child’s lack of progress.  Each time the parent assured me his child was practicing almost daily.  I eventually discovered that the child was playing only the pieces that had been mastered the previous year, and was avoiding beginning her more-recently assigned pieces! 

A human tendency is to do only what we are comfortable with.  However, we learn by prioritizing what needs most work, rather than playing previously mastered music for fun.  To become successful we need to get out of our comfort zone.  Learning this lesson will help students in all areas of life.  You can encourage your child to stretch herself when you know what the expectations are.