It goes without saying that in order for a child to grow and improve on their instrument, or overall musical skills, quite possibly THE most important thing is practice.  It also goes without saying that life is busy enough as it is with school, homework, extra circular activities, maybe a sports practice thrown in there as well, etc.  So, when in the world am I supposed to find time for my kid to practice?!?  That’s a great question.  It’s not easy, but it is doable.  There are some key aspects to finding the “right” time to schedule a time for your child to practice their music.

The first thing we need to realize is that scheduling a regular routine time for your child to practice is super important.  Kids thrive on routine.  They need that repetition to help build stability in their world.  Don’t just think “oh, we’ll get to it sometime today”.  Schedule it into your days.  Make it a set time every day.  Make it a priority.  As much as they may roll their eyes or huff and puff when we remind them it’s time to practice, they need that regular repetition.  So set that standard for your child that their practice time will be at the same time each day.  

And keep in mind, the first time of the day you select may not work out.  You may need to try a couple different times until you find one that really works for your child.  So what time of day is the best?  Well, that’s up to you and your kid.  Could be right after school, or after they finish homework, or after they get their jammies on but before they brush their teeth before bed.  It may even be early in the morning before they go do school.  Just make sure you’ve had enough coffee to be able to handle your kid pounding on their drums first thing in the morning.

So, you’ve found the right time for them to practice, but how long should they practice?  15 minutes, 30 minutes, 2 hours?  This is also not a set answer for each child.  It really depends on how long they can stay focused on the music and practice material and keep a positive attitude about it.  I would rather have my child practice 10-15 solid minutes of focused attention and them be excited about it, then try to push for an hour or more, have them get burned out and frustrated and bored halfway through and waste half of that time trying to get them back in the right mindset to keep going.  In determining the length of time your child should practice, they can do more in less time.  Just be intentional about it.

It really all comes down to when will they be most productive to get the most out of their practice and how long do they need to practice to get the most out of the time they are practicing.  You want to make sure that they are comfortable at that time, at their best mentally and emotionally, and have a good attitude about it.

Did you know that we have an excellent way for our students to get into a great practice groove?  We have a 90-Day practice challenge for our current students.  They have 100 days to practice 90 days and then they earn an Amazon gift card plus a gold star with their name on it on our bulletin board.  Stop by the front desk to pick up your practice chart!

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Keep up the great work, students! Dawn Elmer, Academy Director