Clear Goals

One reason that children love games and sports is because the goals are so clear. Toss the basketball through the hoop. Earn the most money when playing Monopoly. The objectives are simple and clear. Without such clear goals the game loses its meaning and no one has any fun. Just imagine how dull and pointless playing basketball would be without the hoops.

Next time your child seems lacking in motivation to practice piano, try sitting down with him or her and add some fun challenge by setting clear bite-size practice goals. Perhaps the first day of practice the goal is simply to play the first 2 lines of the song right hand alone with no missed notes. Later in the week the goal may be to play the whole page 3 times in-a-row perfect. Make it clear that it's not good enough to just get some or even most of the notes right. In basketball, you don't score any points for almost getting the ball through the hoop. In football, you don't score a touchdown for almost making it to the endzone. Remember to make each goal reasonable and attainable (not too easy, not too hard--please refer to my October blogs on this topic) so that the child can enjoy the success of accomplishing it. You and your child will be amazed at how fast practice time flies when you are focusing on a clear practice goal, rather than focusing on the clock.

As each goal is attained, be sure to recognize the achievement, then continue to set new goals until the practice session is over. If a child has worked on a certain goal for 10 minutes and still hasn’t reached it, it’s OK to say “Wow, that was great concentration and great effort. Do you want to keep working on this, or should we try it again tomorrow?” Sometimes a child needs a break and will welcome a chance to move on, but I have been surprised by how often children will rise to a challenge and voluntarily choose to keep working on a goal until it is achieved. Remember to always remain positive and supportive.

Your comments, feedback, and questions are always welcome!

Happy practicing!