The Joy of Parent Lessons

 If you've been following my posts, then you've already learned that parent lessons are one of the steps to prepare your child for lessons and that this is one distinction between traditional and Suzuki lessons. To be honest, when I first started teaching I was terrified of working with my students' parents. In my continually growing experience, I've learned that parent lessons are not only extremely important, but they're fun too! They give me a chance to get to know you, hear you describe your children, and build a bond with you which makes future issues such as behavior in lessons, practice habits, unwillingness to practice, etc, easier to discuss and address.

 Here are some things we talk about in parent lessons:

 The Suzuki Philosophy - I don't believe there is any way this can be understood better than Shinichi Suzuki's slogan, "nurtured by love." We, teachers and parents, should always be aiming to educate first through love. Once you've learned what this means for you and your family, you can apply it to all aspects of parenting. "Discipline through love," "be an example through love," "advise in love," and the list could go on.

Shinichi Suzuki

 Posture and Technique - Of course to help your child at home, you must first understand the fundamentals of playing the instrument. Even if you've taken lessons in the past and know how to play, it is still important to understand the steps your child will take to learn and tips on how to fix problems at home.

 Developing Good Practice Habits - The question I most often hear is "how long should we be practicing at home?" Don't feel bad if you've asked me this! It is a good question because it brings up a very good point. Time doesn't matter, goals do.
 For a very young student, encouraging them to practice is usually not an issue. They're excited to repeat the new things they learned that week for you to see! Your goal is to lengthen their practice sessions by going as long as they can before they lose focus, then just one minute longer. This will naturally lengthen their attention span. Your goal is also to have as much of the practice session be positive as possible. Play games, let them pick their songs (this instills confidence), let them earn stickers, pennies, or candy(!) for accomplishing tricky repetitions, and do recitals for family members.
 For older students, the goal is to successfully finish their practice sheet from that week's lesson. Generally, if they're having a good practice day it won't take very long, which is great! If your child is tired from school and other activities, which is completely understandable, it may not be a great practice day. These days, you should do as much as you can together before your child gets frustrated, finish with a review song (again, to instill confidence) and be done. These steps will prevent practicing from becoming a chore, or something your child dreads each day.

 Positive Learning Environment - All of the things required for making good, daily practice habits also go along with creating a positive, home learning environment. I've had many parents comment to me that their child is much more focused in lessons with me than at home. There are many reasons for this and, unfortunately, the two biggest are something you cannot control: in a lesson your child is not at home and I am not you. There are things you can do to discourage distraction at home:
 - Turn off your phone,
 - Have your piano in a room away from the TV, computer, video games and toys,
 - Make sure your child is not hungry,
 - Have your child use the bathroom before each practice session,
 - Choose a time of day which is best for your child.
 Obviously, all of these things may not be possible for you, but try to do as many of these as possible.

Role as a Parent - One of the things that the Suzuki Method relies on is the Student-Parent-Teacher triangle. Our jobs as the teacher and parent are to be the foundation for the student through support, encouragement, and "nurturing through love."

 - Effective communication between the parents and teacher is important in this step to prevent bigger problems from occurring in the future. If you sense that your child is bored, not seeing success, not being pushed, being pushed too hard, or anything else, communicating this to me as soon as possible will help us both address the situation and hopefully prevent it from becoming a problem.
 - Presence in lessons, taking notes and asking questions during lessons are also very important in supporting your child at home. The more you understand about what your child is working on, the more you'll be able to help if they get stuck at home.
 - Praising your child for their accomplishments is one of the best ways you can encourage your child to persevere when they come across something difficult. I'm not advocating lying, saying they did well when they really did not, but you can always find something that is praiseworthy.


 I've had many parents eagerly take on the responsibility of learning the piano in order to help their children. If you've ever regretted quitting piano lessons when you were young, this is a great way for you to learn while encouraging your child!