Struggling with students not practicing is nothing new to the piano teacher. Even my students who love to play are not actually playing their lesson assignments. They continue to progress though over students who don't play anything at all through the week. I read a recent blog that suggested that practicing just 20 minutes a day will make you a better pianist at the end of a year. I'm challenging my beginning students with practicing even just 10 minutes a day... it's better than nothing at all. And if students who love to "doodle" at the piano just add 10 minutes of practice their lesson, those songs will improve. How nice they will see it is to move on to new things!
The next idea I am struggling with is whether or not to add a practice incentive. I don't like dangling a prize to get a student to do something. The reward is, yes, being able to do that (or know that) now. But, kids do seem to respond when there's something motivating them. I have a rather elaborate idea, but I don't want it to overwhelm my students and become the focus, or discourage them if they don't live up to it. So I am praying a while longer to see where the Lord leads. I do have one student who I promised a piece of ice cream cake to if he learned his five finger positions! So.... off to deliberate again....
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