Parent involvement in practise sessions
One of the more difficult parts of helping your child learn an instrument is figuring out how involved you, the parent, should be in their practise sessions. There are lots of nuances to this subject, and every child is different, so there will be a certain element of trial and error in figuring out the right balance. Most students will be somewhat lost and directionless without a parent to guide them every now and again. On the other hand, most students will get frustrated, annoyed, self conscious, etc with a parent that wants to hover over every minute of their practising. I try to follow two simple guidelines:
Try to give a bit of structure. Every so often you could sit with your child at the start of a practise session and have a conversation about what the teacher has asked them to do that week, and even read the teacher’s notes. Try “putting the teacher in charge” here by asking questions, such as “What did Tim ask you to practise this week?” or “It says here in these lesson notes that you should work on your technique as a warm up each day” This is often enough of a reminder to keep students on track. In the very beginning stages you may need to sit through a whole practise session in order to keep your child on track, but try to give them space to develop that routine and organization themselves as they make progress. I recommend eventually limiting this type of interaction to once or twice a week.
Ask for a demonstration. Kids generally like to show off for their proud parents. Ask them to show you something they have been working on. Give them the choice of what to demonstrate, even if it’s just a small snippet of a piece, or a little technical exercise. This could also be once a week, or whenever you sense that they are itching to show you something.
Parents don’t need any musical experience or expertise at all in order to engage with their children in this way, and these little interactions will really help your child begin to take ownership of their work. If you don’t understand something that your child has shown you or if they are asking questions that you can’t answer you can check the teacher’s notes, or just write down the question to ask the teacher at the next lesson.
