As a parent, you are the first teacher of your children. Most parents are involved in their child’s studies to encourage them to do well in school. Showing your support for your child’s education provides great motivation for them to improve their school performances in the whole year.
There are many ways in which parents can help their child become successful in their music education, especially through their music lessons. Your involvement in helping your children learn music lesson should be in a positive and moderate way. This will help your child experience music as an enjoyable subject and not feel they are being force to study. It is essential that you let your children enjoy their music education.
How to Support Your Child’s Music Education (At Any Age)
Every parent should provide the support of their children to make them successful in learning music. However, even though you are always by their side to support them, you still need to ensure that the music teacher of your children has the right philosophy and style in teaching for your child. This is because every student differs in their learning style and the teacher needs to be able to adjust their lessons to fit a student’s learning style. The end goal should be that your children learn how to be a self-reliant musician. They should be able to enjoy and learn music to the fullest extent on their own as they grow old enough to direct their own development as musicians.
Unfortunately, many of us can think back on a negative experience with music lessons. However, I believe music lessons can benefit every child when they are taught in a positive way.
Here’s how to ensure your child has a successful learning experience.
1. Keep them company until they are comfortable taking lessons alone.
2. Have them practice and learn music they enjoy.
3. If they really don’t seem ready, take them out of lessons for a few months.
4. If they really don’t work well with their initial teacher, try another one.
5. Don’t punish them when they don’t practice, encourage them to continue.
6. Don’t force your child to perform if they are not ready.
7. Remember that their music development is for their enjoyment first and foremost.
Between sports and other extracurriculars, your child’s schedule is likely full. Kids today are in more activities than ever. If you’re unsure about adding music lessons, remember the benefits that come with violin or piano lessons. Your child may not pursue a career in music, but she may have an easier time learning math, manage her studies, and working in teams.
How Prevent Your Child From Quitting Music Lessons
1. The first way to combat music lesson dropout is to treat music as important as learning sports and doing homework. After studies have shown that kids who study music score higher in math and reading, work better in teams.
2. If your child is getting frustrated with music lessons, it may be that they don’t have the right tools or practice habits. In other words, they don’t know how to improve. Talk with their music teacher and with your child to figure what they need to make progress again.
3. Remember that music students who are necessarily naturally gifted can get a lot from music lessons and develop enough proficiency to play well. They just have to develop on a slower schedule. It is important to be patient. Kids develop at different speeds across a wide variety of skills.
4. Encourage your child to continue practicing over the summer just like you have them continue to work on their reading and athletics. Many music schools offer low-cost music camps to help keep kids motivated.
5. Seek out opportunities for your child to get performance experience.
This can be a great positive motivator for them to practice and develop their skills.
To be realistic, practicing a musical instrument has its ups and downs. Kids need to be encouraged to practice, but not so that it extinguishes their desire to learn. It’s a balancing act and every child responds to different kinds of motivation. However, I firmly believe that all children are capable of thriving with a musical education, and students will be grateful to their parents for not letting them quit.
Rent an instrument for your child and let your child experiment with that instrument before a while so that your child can
Also published on Medium.