Not improving/not practice penalty

[Anonymous]

I’m assuming OP’s kids are elementary aged?

I think OP’s husband is being too narrow. Rec sports and activities at that age serve a few purposes - to keep active, learn a skill, socialize, and be exposed to novel experiences. They are not apprenticeships.

[Anonymous]

it boggles the mind that a parent would pull a kid from a sport because they weren’t good enough. Assuming the kid is enjoying it why would you do this? What else is your kid going to do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eh, I think that's too rigid.

Some activities, you can improve without extra practice if you are attentive during class/practice and really make an effort.

Some kids will not improve even with practice if it's just not the right fit for them, or they may improve and then plateau if they aren't receiving the right coaching and guidance.

Also, yes, some activities are simply fun, or good exercise, or teach teamwork, regardless of weather a kid is practicing OR improving. A lot of rec sports are this way. It's a social outlet and gets the kids moving and off screens.

So to me it's just case by case, and the metric is more whether my kid is engaged and putting effort in, and seems to be getting something out of it. Of course expense and my own time also matters, and the more expensive/burdensome the activity, the more I want to see my kid deriving value. But that value does not exclusively need to be constant improvement and lots of outside effort. It just depends.

I think the question here is the quality of the practice. At least when it comes to music I doubt that a middle or high school student applying the correct practice techniques wouldn’t be able to improve. But in my experience most of my violin teachers did not teach me how to effectively use my practice time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It never even occurred to me that kids playing a rec sport would practice outside of, well, practices. I do tell my kids that I will not keep paying for piano lessons if they don't practice, though, and they love piano so they do it. (I hated it as a kid!)

Kids who enjoy their rec sport play outside of the scheduled practice. They have a basketball hoop or go to the local court. Soccer kids kick the ball around and work on their fancy foot skills. They play informally because they enjoy it.

And how do all these adults think they are experts on what constitutes improvement? If your child has ballet classes they shouldn’t be practicing at home. They need to be with an instructor to ensure every move is correct. Unless you were a dancer you really can’t judge.