It’s always a good time of year to review the materials and logistics your child needs to be successful in their music lessons. The start of the school year, or the calendar year, can be an especially great time to take stock of what you have, what you need, and what is coming up on the calendar.

You can make a big difference in your child’s progress this year by helping your child get organized. You’ll find suggestions below to consider as you think through what logistical help your child may need this year. Depending on your child’s age, they may be able to do some of these tasks with you or take on a few of them themselves.

As a music teacher, I am depending on parents to help make sure these items are taken care of. You can check with your own teacher to see what from this list applies directly to you.

If you notice any to-do items that you need to take care of below, I encourage you to see what you can get done today, and otherwise schedule time on your calendar to come back to this list and complete it in the near future.

Here are Some of the Items I like Families to take an Inventory of this time of Year:

This week Laura Nerenberg, performing musician, music educator, and parent, is sharing a practice tip with us that involves creativity and the outdoors, and I can’t wait for you to hear it! Laura first came on the Time to Practice podcast on episode 127 and if you enjoyed this tip, you’ll want to check out our conversation from earlier this year all about practice and improvisation. Meanwhile, I hope this practice tip inspires you this week and inspires creativity in your own practice! Thanks for sharing your tip with us Laura!

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below: 

Parent, and musician himeself since childhood, Anton Van Oosbree sat down with me recently to share 3 practice tips for parents of young music students. If you help support practice with a child in music lessons right now I think you will find these great tips and food for thought about how we show up for ourselves so that we can best support our child as they learn their instrument.

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below: 

136 | 3 Practice Tips for Parents of Young Musicians with Parent Guest Anton Van Oosbree – Time To Practice: Conversations for Parents & Teachers of Music Students

Claire Allen joins me this week to discuss and reflect on perfectionism and perfectionist thinking in the music studio, one year after we published our podcast series where we went in depth on the topic. We’re excited to share what has stuck with us and helped us personally as well as in our teaching and approach to music.

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below: 

135 | NEW – Perfectionism in the Music Studio Revisited with Claire Allen & Christine Goodner – Time To Practice: Conversations for Parents & Teachers of Music Students

This week, our practice tip comes from Alyna Bloecher, a parent, Suzuki teacher, and former Suzuki kid currently based in Tennessee. She shares two specific music practice strategies that are working for her family this summer to keep practice engaging and motivating for both adults and kids alike. We talk about avoiding burnout, how parents need to practice to feel engaging for them too, even though it is ultimately for the music student and more. I hope this conversation gives you some ideas, or even reminders, about what you can do to keep music practice engaging in your house this summer!

To Listen to the full episode with Alyna Bloecher you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below: 

134 | Alyna Bloecher: Keeping Music Practice Engaging & Avoiding Burnout – Time To Practice: Conversations for Parents & Teachers of Music Students

This week, we’re continuing our summer practice and motivation tip series with performing musician, music educator, early childhood educator, and parent Annie Reed. Annie shares a strategy that has transformed practice for her children the past few months. If you’re a parent or caregiver, you may find her helpful for thinking about music practice in your children’s lives.

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below: 

132 | Annie Reed: Gamifying Home Practice & Building Motivation – Time To Practice: Conversations for Parents & Teachers of Music Students

This week, we’re continuing our summer practice and motivation tip series with some fantastic advice from violinist, violist, and early childhood music educator Grazzia Rode-Sagastume. She shares tips for parents, reflections on being a Suzuki parent, and how both tie into the way she thinks about her teaching. To listen to the full episode with Grazzia Rode-Sagastume, you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link…

This week we cap off season 3 of the Time to Practice podcast with a fantastic interview with Laura Nerenberg: violinist, educator, and expert in teaching improvisation through CAD (Creative Ability Development). We talk about everything from her beginning years as a very young musician, when she knew she wanted to become a professional musician, the beneifts of learning to improvise for young musicians, and end with a fantastic tip about music practice. You can find links below to Laura’s website, her current offerings, and a resource she mentioned on the podcast.

To Listen to the full episode with Laura Nerenberg you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts,Audible, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below: 

Links in this Episode:

This article was originally published as a podcast episode on the Time to Practice podcast. It has been edited a bit for ease of reading in this format. You can listen to the audio version through one of the links below or anywhere you like to stream podcasts.

Here in the U.S., the school year is at a super busy time for teachers, students, and families alike. There are endless end-of-school-year activities, recitals, performances, preparations for summer camps, family trips, festivals, and on and on.

So, in busy times like these, I want to share a few reminders I’d like my own students to remember.

To listen to this Article in its audio format, you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below:

This week, I’m looking forward to sharing part two of our conversation with an award-winning classical pianist, educator, author, and podcaster, Jeeyoon Kim. If you haven’t heard part one of this two-part series be sure to go back and listen to episode 123 (either before or after you listen to today’s episode). Today, Jeeyoon Kim is going to share some of her thoughts about competitions for young musicians, speak about her new book Beyond the Keys, and share a fantastic practice tip to send us off into our own week of practice. 

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below:

124 | Beyond the Keys with Jeeyoon Kim (Part Two) – Time To Practice: Conversations for Parents & Teachers of Music Students