Simply Music Home Practice Kit

Setting up the Home Practice Space

In order for your child to make any progress in piano lessons they must have access to a piano at home. 

The location of the piano at home is extremely important. It must be in a space that is easy to access and where the child will enjoy being. For most children, a communal area like the living or dining area is the best space as they will practice more frequently and more willingly where family members can hear them and give them positive feedback. 

However, it is important that your child can practice the piano without competing with distractions like radio or TV. 

Using the Digital Home Practice Kit

1. Sit with your child at the start of their practice time.

2. Provide your child with an ipad on the piano stand or music stand so that they can watch and copy the guided practice session. 

3. Give your child a goal or challenge to repeat the song at least 5 – 10 times. Lots of repetition reinforces the neural pathways in your childs brain which helps them to memorize the patterns and learn the song. Building a strong memory for patterns like this is one of the reasons why music makes children ‘smarter’ academically. 

Hot Tips for Postive Home Practice

Just like in your child’s school learning, you as the parent are an integral part of your child’s musical learning. 

Without your involvement, your child will very quickly give up.

How to be involved:

1. Sit in on your child’s lessons. Some children will be happy to have their parent watch the lesson, however other children feel pressure by being watched in the lesson. Guage what is right for your child. 

2. Attend the last 5 – 10 minutes of your child’s lessons. If you can’t sit in on the whole lesson, watch your child show you what they have learned and ask the teacher questions about what and how to practice at home that week. 

3. Make time for practice at home at least 4 days per week.

• Your child won’t make practice happen consistently. They will find other more fun things to fill their time with! 
• Add piano practice to their daily routine list or job list and expect them to tick it off each day.
• Sit with your child for at least part of their practice
• Or station the piano near your kitchen so you can listen and give feedback while preparing meals. 
• Almost all children we’ve taught don’t particularly enjoy repeating a song over and over. As their parent, it’s your role to help them through this and help them to understand that working at a skill builds mastery and achievement. 
• Ask your child questions after they finish: how many times did you play that song? Were you happy with how it sounded? Do you think you’ve mastered it?
• Cultivate and reward a good attitude rather than actual achievement in playing.  A child who approaches playing with a positive can-do attitude will easily master their songs each week.  It’s amazing how your child can turn their bad attitude into a postive one through incentives and deliberate guidance from the parent 🙂 
• Introduce fun incentives like: marble jar – put a marble in the jar for each time you play a song. When it’s full get a prize – have a small prize box or have the prize as time together. 
• Perform and enjoy making music! Gather the whole family together including pets to listen to your child play. Getting positive feedback from the family and friends motivates a child to practice more than anything else.