Have you ever tried to herd cats? I imagine it would be difficult, extremely difficult. I once heard another teacher refer to teaching preschoolers piano as “herding cats.” The first thing I thought of is, wow! She’s right and that is exactly what it is like teaching piano (or any instrument) to preschool kids. But personally like a challenge and think that working with the young children is something that is a lot of fun!

Have you ever tried to herd your young child to the piano for practice time and found it nearly impossible? Well, smart planning and creativity is the key to getting a young child to practice any instrument. Try these tips for practice.

• Set a regular practice time each day, children thrive on regular routines and that includes music practice time.

• Sit down with your child and listen to their practice. Being a part of your child’s practice is very important, because most children don’t like to be alone. Sharing time with your child during music practice is a great way to build and encourage your child to love music.

• Encourage your child to play their music by “requesting your favorite songs” (hint, every song can be your favorite)

• Have a weekly family “music night” where your child can perform their songs for family and or friends. If there are other children in the family that do not study a musical instrument, have them perform a skit or dance or some other creative activity.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 at 4:39 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.