100 Days of Practicing Club

I am so excited because I have finally purchased something I've wanted for a long time...a 100 Days of Practicing Club Plaque.  These are pretty expensive, but I really believe it will be a great motivator to recognize my students who are consistently practicing.  On the plaque are 36 spots for students' names who have practiced 100 days (or more) in a row.  If they do more than 100 days I make them a new nameplate to replace the existing one with their current number of 100 days (200, 300, 400, etc.)  This way they won't feel like they've got their reward after only 100....they can keep going!  I'm also counting any number of consecutive 100-day practices even if they are not all consecutive with each other.  For example, one student might practice 100 days in 2010, than miss some days and decide to start all over again and 2011.  The next 100 days will also count (and I will get a 200-day plate) so they can feel like no matter what they can always try again for another 100 days and get recognized for it. 

For the students who practice for a whole year, I get their own plaque to hang on my wall.  I've left some space at the bottom to add consecutive years if they do more than one year. 

I'm so excited for my students to see their names on my wall.  I already have two more students to add to the 100 days club since I made this and I will definitely make a huge deal out of it!  Practicing consecutively is awesome!

Mom goes out of town...What to do?

For those students who are fantastic and are trying to work on consecutive daily practice, a problem arises when the mom (or the practice partner) goes out of town.  Here is a fun solution - make a fun practice chart for dad (or whoever is going to take over practicing) that has everything that needs to be practiced each day.  Here are some examples from one of my students.

You can download all of these blank charts HERE!

A Little is More Than Nothing

I have a confession!  I have been the WORST at practicing with my 6-year-old.  The holidays really threw us off, then she got the flu for a week, and now it's super hard to get back into the routine!  She resists every single day with huge tears.  It's hard enough for me to find the time between her school schedule and my teaching schedule - not to mention I have to cook dinner and tend to my other four kids' needs.  When she throws such a fuss, sometimes I'm not even motivated to start the process.  We've been known to only get a couple days of practicing in a week.  THIS IS NOT ENOUGH!!!  I tell my students every week they need to practice AT LEAST 5 days a week.  We have a 100-day practicing challenge going on right now.  And here I am slacking with my own children!  So, I've made a new goal to practice with her EVERY DAY!....even if it's just a little because a little is more than nothing and right now I'm really close to doing nothing.  This girl has so much ability and I can't hinder her by not practicing with her!!!

With everything she's assigned each week she could easily practice 45-60 minutes per day.  Her attention span is just not that long so I'm assigning her 30-45 minutes per day.  On days we don't have even that amount of time we will do less.  This is how we are practicing this week:

I write down everything she needs to do on this whiteboard.  I also write the end time because that is very important to her.  Some things like "Book 2 Skills" is a bunch of warm-ups and technique exercises.  It probably takes 15 minutes to complete this job.  Others are just one piece like "Galop" and "Simple Gifts."  I have broken up the review into three different jobs: the last 3 pieces, Book 2 Review (3 other book 2 pieces), and Book 1 review (3 pieces.)  This week for Book 1 review we are doing the Book 1 review Bingo and she gets a treat for every Bingo.  This really makes her excited to review Book 1.

Each time she finishes a job she erases it.  With the shortened amount of time we are practicing we don't get everything done each day, but I write the next day's assignments in a different color.  We make sure we finish everything every two days.  Some things (like her current piece) need to be done each day.

We are always surprised by how fast time goes once we get started.  The whiteboard provides a visual for her to know what the practice and we can manage our time more efficiently.  Each day of practice is different and I've noticed that once we get started she actually enjoys her playing and practicing.  That's why I'm doing this - so she'll enjoy playing!  So, I'm happy with our practice progress this week!

Results of Consistent Practice

This is a practice chart I made a long time ago, but have never used it until now.  My girl's teacher decided to give it out to all her students to have a SIX-WEEK PRACTICE CHALLENGE.  Practice every single day (including the day of the lesson, Sundays, Fridays, Saturdays, Holidays, Birthdays, etc.) for six weeks.  If you can do that - go for 100 days.  If you accomplish that you could even try for 1 YEAR of practicing without missing a day.  Our teacher puts a plaque on the wall for all the students who practice for 1 year (or more.)  In her 30+ years of teaching, she has about 10-15 plaques on her wall.  It is no easy task to practice without missing one day.

We decided to do the six-week challenge and we are on day 8.  For my family, we usually don't practice on the day of the lesson.  I don't have any qualms with practicing on Sunday, but sometimes I'm just too (ummm, busy isn't the word....lazy?)  Fridays I teach from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with only a few hours in the middle when the kids are in school.  After teaching all day - I want my weekend so it's hard for me to practice with the kids that day.  So, practicing every day is a challenge for my family, but we are up to it.  After only 8 days here is what I've noticed!

1.  We were prepared for the lesson.  We did not have to be guilty or nervous about going to the lesson because we knew we did the best we could do.

2.  Initiating practice was easier.  Once in the routine, getting the violin ready and sitting down was just what we did.  It hasn't been a battle.  I have noticed that instead of saying, "It's time to practice now."  I've changed it to, "We need to practice (before you go to school, before dinner, etc.) - when would you like to practice?"  The kid's response was usually, "How about 10 minutes."  This gave them the ability to choose and once that ten minutes was up..."It's time to practice."  "Okay, mom."

3.  Review is actually fun.  We differ when we practice review.  Sometimes at the beginning, sometimes at the end, sometimes scattered throughout the practice.  But the pieces have been fun to play because they are easier.  Practice more - playing gets easier.

4.  We are learning faster.  We struggled for months through Minuet 1 and Minuet 2 (when I was sick).  Since the beginning of January, we've perfected Minuet 2 for the recital AND learned Minuet 3, Happy Farmer, and previews to Gossec Gavotte.  We are really moving.  My oldest daughter just started book 7!

5.  She is playing more beautifully.  We have been working a lot on tone.  My youngest daughter has really struggled with having a deep beautiful tone.  She likes to play skimming the strings with her bow.  Her legato bows and sticky tone in her pieces has really improved.

Humph!  It's amazing how playing gets easier when you practice!  I'm so proud that my daughters have been up to the challenge.  Let's just hope we can get all the way to six weeks!...100 days....maybe even a year!