3 Mindsets To Develop When Practicing Music With Children

This post is the first in a series on the type of mindsets that adults can develop as they support children and teens’ music practice. 

This past year has been an intense one for parents working with their children. Many of us have been working, parenting, and even schooling all in the same space with each other day in and day out. 

We might feel tired. Maybe we feel shorter on patience. We might need extra support and inspiration for ourselves as we strive to give that to children we are practicing with. 

Over the past year, I have spent a lot of time researching, reading, and having conversations. I even got trained as a facilitator of Circle of Security Parenting classes.

As I start to put together my thoughts about how we can help more students thrive and more families feel supported, I want to share what I am learning and thinking about. 

Strategies + Mindset

I have been reflecting on how I want to help parents and caregivers just starting to learn to work with their children in practice. I also want to help families that want to make music practice more positive and reduce conflict in the practice room. 

Parents can use many strategies to improve practice, but I believe it is wise to start by thinking about our mindset.  

I believe three mindsets can transform practice. I feel confident saying that developing these mindsets works when establishing a good practice relationship and good practice routines from the start. 

They are:

a connection mindset,

a growth mindset,

and a teamwork mindset. 

Do we see practice as a way to connect with our children and find out how they learn, focus, and stay motivated? 

Can we encourage effort, see mistakes as a way to learn, and celebrate how far we’ve come, even if we still have much to learn? 

Do we see ourselves as being on the same team, working together with our child to accomplish the following week’s lesson assignments? 

In the coming weeks, I will share an in-depth article on each of these mindsets, but I encourage you to reflect today on these three practice coach mindsets and think about how they apply to how music practice is going right now.

We can reflect together on how we might adapt these mindsets that help students feel supported and help the adults working with them enjoy the process along the way.