One of the most popular reasons that students quit their music lessons is because they are not practicing. If your student is having trouble practicing at home, here are five ways to motivate those students to practice.
1) Challenges
Give your students challenges to complete at home when they are working on their music. Any of those challenges could include "practice for five days this week" or "finish this piece by next week". If the student can complete the challenge, then the student will be rewarded with a prize. Another type of practice challenge is the "100 Day Practice Challenge". This type of challenge requires students to practice for a number of minutes each day for 100 days in a row. A day of practice that they miss, and they will have to go back to day 1. Read more about the 100 Day Practice Challenge here.
2) Earn Points
In our studio, students earn awards based on our point system where they can earn points by completing music, worksheets, and even practicing. Tell students that if they practice for ____ minutes then they can earn _____ number of points.
3) Enjoyable Music
Maybe all your student needs to practice was a new, fun piece. Let your students have the choice of music to practice at home. If the students does not find their music enjoyable then they have the reason to not practice it. Our store has a variety of music that our students have blast playing with.
4) Celebrating Achievements
Show your students how much of a good job they did with their work. For example, you can write down their achievements, give out stickers, small certificates, and share the achievement with other students. Doing these things will make the student feel more accomplished for their work, which will encourage them to continue working hard in the future. In our studio, we have a cork board that we use to pin achievements of the students. You can find more information about our billboard certificates here. We also have signs that students can take photos with to share with others about their achievements. Click here for all of our printable signs.
5) Practice = FUN
Practice can sometimes have a negative connotation, but you want to show your student that practice is actually positive. Show the student that "practice" is associated with games, activities, challenges, achievements, etc. instead of long, boring hours of work. You can even send home some games for the student to practice with along with their music.
Do you need some more ideas on how motivate your students to practice? Click here to watch our livestream (you have to join the group first in order to watch the video.)
