What do you hope your child gains by learning an instrument?

Fall is a great time to set goals for the school year. As a teacher, I always find myself finding ways to think intentionally about how I want to structure things in my studio and what I want to work on with my students as a group.
 
It can also be an excellent time for students and their families to set goals for the year ahead. For students:

What do we want to learn this year? What skills do we want to improve?

For families:

How can we support our student this year? What can we do to help provide an environment for them to excel in?

Even before we get to these goals, it can be so helpful to examine our why

Why do we want music to be part of our lives?
Why do we want our children to study and learn to play an instrument?
What do we hope they learn through the process?
What do we want to see developing in their ability to focus, to take responsibility, to be curious, and develop an inner motivation to learn?

I often ask parents in workshops what they hope their child will gain from studying music, and the answers often include things like:

–         Perseverance
–         A love of music
–         Technique on their instrument
–         The ability to work through hard things  
–         A work ethic
–         Sensitivity and empathy
 
What about you? What do you hope your child gains through this process? What do they love about music, even though at times it may be challenging?
 
I encourage you to examine your WHY as we all head back into our school year routines and remind yourself of it as the year goes on and then newness of the year wears off, and this all feels like hard work.

It is hard work, but it is also so much more!