10 Effective Ways to Start Practice with a Young Child
How do we start practice? Especially with young children, getting started is easily the hardest part.. This is even true for me as an adult.
There are countless things that get in the way of getting starting. Often the hardest part is leaving one activity, that we’re already engaged with, and getting started concentrating on something new.
I hear from my own students that they are always glad when they have practiced, but that getting started is often a challenge. One way to help smooth the transition is to start (and end for that matter!) each practice with something fun. Get your child engaged in the process without doing something more challenging right away. In effect, this eases them into the mindset and mode of practice.
As we wrap up a month long series on practice with preschool students I wanted to share the following list of ways to get started when practicing with young children.
“I have a new game to show you today!”
This can involve flipping a coin, rolling dice, or creating an audience out of stuffed animals. The game doesn’t have to be elaborate but the element of surprise and novelty can catch your child’s interest and get them excited to get started.
Start with keeping a steady beat together
Research actually shows that children who kept a steady beat and moved together with adults to music exhibited more cooperative behavior afterwards. Use this to your advantage and find some music to play with a steady beat (most children’s music would work great) and find the beat together. You can keep the beat on your knees, head or on the floor.