A Little Practice Buddy

Sometimes it's just a little buddy that will kickstart practicing again. In my case, it's this little Practice Monkey that I got for my Shoppe but any stuffed animal would work.

We use our practice monkey as an audience, a critic, an object for concentration, and a reward for good practicing. This little guy is always sitting around watching for good tone and happy playing. 

Today this little guy is making practice fun. 

Check out this video of our practicing today complete with chocolate on the face. It's over six minutes long. That's with all the parts I edited out. Caroline practiced this section for at least 20 minutes. It was really a tough one for her, but notice she is still smiling at the end of practicing. We also included another little guy we like to practice with. 

A SMART way to practice

My ambitious, excited 4-year-old wasn't so excited to practice this week. The first day after her lesson we started practicing and we only got three things done and my daughter sighed, "Mom, I'm running out of gas! I'll finish later." Well, after this was said there was no use. I tried to be upbeat, but I started to get irritated so I just quit practicing. And, because of my busy life - it didn't get done later either.

So, the next day I pulled out some treats from my studio. Smarties to be specific. There are 15 little Smartie treats inside a Smartie package and I told my sweet daughter that she could have one little treat every time we did something for practice. So, we bowed and said "Good Afternoon" and she got a treat. We did a bow exercise and she got a treat. It turns out that A LOT of practicing can get done with 15 little Smartie treats. Aside from the first day - this has been the best week of practicing.

{other things we practiced: Up Like a Rocket, Stirring the Witches Brew, chin holds, Tuca on E string, Tuca on A string, elbow stick, Pop Goes the Weasel, clapping rhythms, and everything all over again.}

Happy Practicing

I love the feeling after a happy practice.  We are able to go the full length of practice without having a melt-down I give my daughter a hug and ask if she likes playing the violin.  She always says yes!  Here is a chart to help have THREE weeks of happy practicing.  This is great for someone who likes to draw.

If you want to download this chart click here.