Christine Goodner

This post is part of a series on the type of mindsets that parents, caregivers, and other adults can develop as they support the music practice of children and teens. You can read the first post here.

Growth mindset is a concept coined by researcher Dr. Carol Dweck  and has become familiar to many parents and educators. Believing that we, and the children in our lives, can learn, grow, and change is so important. If you are reading this, you likely have heard this term already and may already understand its importance. 

As a Suzuki teacher, I think a growth mindset is already baked into our method. We start, often with very young students, from not knowing how to hold our instrument or get a good tone. As teachers, we learn to see each student as an accomplished, advanced player and to teach from the knowledge of what they will need to get there. We believe that each child in front of us truly can learn at their own pace. 

As parents, and caregivers, practicing with children, it’s harder sometimes to think about how we put this idea of growth mindset into action. How do we tangibly cultivate a growth mindset in our practice sessions and our home? I believe this, along with connection & teamwork mindsets, is one of the practice mindsets that helps make practice more positive and productive for everyone involved. 

Here are a few ideas on how to make it work for you: 

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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…

2020 has been a stressful year for so many:  For medical professionals For essential workers For those out of workFor those working nonstop For parents For students For Teachers  I want to take a moment to acknowledge all that you’ve been through this year. It’s customary for many people to reflect back on the past year and all that’s been accomplished.  This year I am still doing that for myself but also acknowledging all that was hard and that I’m still here and still going. …

A common question from parents is how to help their child with building focus during a practice session. I have written before about how to put together a practice toolkit for young students. 

Lately, I have been thinking about how important it is to have something like this for older, more independent practicers as well. 

While the toolkit for young students may include more physical items and helps increase repetitions in practice, I believe that older students need a way to organize practice and practice strategies. 

Here’s what I recommend including: 

I am excited to be bringing more interviews to the blog this school year, starting with an interview with musician & author David Cutler, who just launched an exciting, Suzuki-licensed project through Kickstarter called SuperNova. You can read an excerpt from my conversation with David about this exciting new project and creative performance practice.

This is not a sponsored post, I personally supported the Kickstarter and am sharing it with you because I think it’s a valuable resource. This interview has been edited lightly for length and ease of reading in print. 

Christine Goodner:

Thank you so much for speaking with me today. I wonder if you could tell everyone a bit about who you are and what you do? 

David Cutler: 

It’s such a pleasure to be able to have this conversation with you. I’m David Cutler. I’m a pianist and a composer, an author and a whole bunch of other things.

I work at the University of South Carolina, where I serve as the director of music entrepreneurship. And like so many musicians, I wear a lot of hats. I balance a portfolio career, which means a multiple income stream career and do a lot of different exciting things, which keeps it interesting.

Christine Goodner:

I have been giving a lot of thought lately to setting music goals for the coming school year. Whatever your school year looks like, chances are it’s a very different year this fall of 2020. I love setting goals and working with my students and their families to develop them, as well. This year, I think it’s essential to reassess and reframe our goals in light of our current reality. Many of us might have very different situations, whether we…

Now more than ever, it's critical to focus on the big picture when we work with our children during music practice. It's easy to get distracted and frustrated by the details that aren't going the way we want, but if we can step back and focus on what will be important years from now, we can keep perspective and keep music practice going along productively. So how do we keep the big picture in mind during music practice? Here is…

Recently I asked readers to let me know what kinds of resources they were looking for during this unusual time of online lessons. I got a great response and plan to address many of these topics in upcoming articles.

Today I am tackling the topic of games for preschool students. 

Here are some things I have found that help with lessons with preschoolers as I learn what works (and doesn’t work) with my students: 

Lesson Format & Technology

Option One: Turn off the video of the student during their lesson so they can only see their teacher (but are still visible to the other participant) is a big help. Here is a tutorial about how to do that in zoom.

alternately

Send videos back and forth between student and teacher twice a week rather than meeting on video for a formal “lesson.”

You could also arrange to have two shorter lessons during the week. 

Have a routine that signals the start to the lesson. Many teachers start with a bow, but I also have a rest and play position song that begin with each lesson & I find that when it’s hard to get started hearing me start this song often helps students settle in.

Games to use during practice or lessons: 

Jodie St Clair & Christine E Goodner

As we navigate through this unprecedented time, it’s natural that we want to connect with our SECE families. Families with young children often feel isolated in normal circumstances, and we want to find ways to connect with them when everyone is experiencing isolation. We understand that many of you have found success in offering video SECE lessons. That is great! If you, like us, have some reservations about it and are looking for alternate ideas, we hope this article gives you some food for thought and actionable ideas.

The important thing is to find what works well for your studio, and hopefully, through that, you continue to connect with your families and find meaningful relationships through music.

After teaching online in our own programs for a few weeks, we have both decided not to offer SECE classes through the video format on an ongoing basis. While parents want to have something to do with their child to give a sense of routine and to feel less isolated, we think there are other ways to better offer them that opportunity than trying to provide the full class online. We want to both support parents and help them continue musical activities and the connections and bonding with their child that this class is so great at providing. We want to provide support and connection but not lose the sense that this is a calm, focused class when we meet in person again in the future. 

Here’s what made us pause and re-evaluate our own teaching plans: 

You can find last week's article for parents about keeping music going at home HERE. This is an unusual time. In my studio all lessons, and even early childhood music classes, have moved online for everyone's safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. I love the way the Suzuki community is rallying together to help each other figure out technology so we can keep making music and keep connecting with the students and families we work with. As we all settle into…