How much is your 2nd grader practicing her instrument if she plays classical

[Anonymous]

DC has been playing violin for 6.5 years. The first 2 years I would stay beside during practice, then she started to practice on her own when I told her it’s practice time. We don’t set how long she’s supposed to practice, just ask her to practice maybe 3 times for new piece ( one single piece would be 8 minutes long so practice time varies), review few for once, then scales and other techniques violin teacher told her to do, everything probably around 45 minutes with rest in between. DD practices probably 3-4 times a week. DD also plays piano but only has time to practice twice a week for like 10-30 minutes, can’t prioritize 2 music instruments at the same time, and there’re year round and seasonal sports DD also enjoys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG. Please don’t force your 7 yr old to practice more than once per week. What is wrong with you?

Seriously?

[Anonymous]

At that age, DD had 45 minute lessons, and practiced 15 minutes, 5x a week, to start. She quickly started wanting to practice more, and would go up to 30 minutes most days, but she decided when she was done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG. Please don’t force your 7 yr old to practice more than once per week. What is wrong with you?

I hope you're joking

Of course I’m not. Who in the right mind would force a 7 yr old to play violin every day- if they don’t want to. Is this for their benefit or yours?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG. Please don’t force your 7 yr old to practice more than once per week. What is wrong with you?

I hope you're joking

Of course I’m not. Who in the right mind would force a 7 yr old to play violin every day- if they don’t want to. Is this for their benefit or yours?

Not OP. There's actually a whole gray area between forcing and a kid remembering, on their own, to pick up an instrument and practice for the appropriate length every day. There's the gentle reminder to spend time well. There's telling a kid that they asked for lessons so they actually do have to practice. There's sitting with a kid to help them stay on task when you know they intend to practice but, hey, they're 7 for goodness sakes!

DCUM wants to turn everything into a dichotemy between prodigies who beg to do their chosen activity and tiger parents who force kids into things, but most kids are just...kids. Many like the idea of music, or asked for lessons, but practice is a pain some days and they have to be encouraged to do it. Making sure they practice is not forcing - that's parenting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG. Please don’t force your 7 yr old to practice more than once per week. What is wrong with you?

I hope you're joking

Of course I’m not. Who in the right mind would force a 7 yr old to play violin every day- if they don’t want to. Is this for their benefit or yours?

Not OP. There's actually a whole gray area between forcing and a kid remembering, on their own, to pick up an instrument and practice for the appropriate length every day. There's the gentle reminder to spend time well. There's telling a kid that they asked for lessons so they actually do have to practice. There's sitting with a kid to help them stay on task when you know they intend to practice but, hey, they're 7 for goodness sakes!

DCUM wants to turn everything into a dichotemy between prodigies who beg to do their chosen activity and tiger parents who force kids into things, but most kids are just...kids. Many like the idea of music, or asked for lessons, but practice is a pain some days and they have to be encouraged to do it. Making sure they practice is not forcing - that's parenting.

Yeah..and most 7 yr olds are not wanting to play violin daily

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG. Please don’t force your 7 yr old to practice more than once per week. What is wrong with you?

I hope you're joking

Of course I’m not. Who in the right mind would force a 7 yr old to play violin every day- if they don’t want to. Is this for their benefit or yours?

Not OP. There's actually a whole gray area between forcing and a kid remembering, on their own, to pick up an instrument and practice for the appropriate length every day. There's the gentle reminder to spend time well. There's telling a kid that they asked for lessons so they actually do have to practice. There's sitting with a kid to help them stay on task when you know they intend to practice but, hey, they're 7 for goodness sakes!

DCUM wants to turn everything into a dichotemy between prodigies who beg to do their chosen activity and tiger parents who force kids into things, but most kids are just...kids. Many like the idea of music, or asked for lessons, but practice is a pain some days and they have to be encouraged to do it. Making sure they practice is not forcing - that's parenting.

Yeah..and most 7 yr olds are not wanting to play violin daily

Not Asians

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG. Please don’t force your 7 yr old to practice more than once per week. What is wrong with you?

I hope you're joking

Of course I’m not. Who in the right mind would force a 7 yr old to play violin every day- if they don’t want to. Is this for their benefit or yours?

My 7 yo also doesn't want to shower, bush her teeth or hair or go to school. Keep it in perspective.

She picked violin as her activity, but that doesn't mean she likes to practice, just as many adults don't like to practice. As her parent I get to make sure certain tasks are done daily, including both teeth brushing and violin. If she stops wanting to play, that's different, but as long as she's taking lessons then she needs to practice most days.

[Anonymous]

Their age x 3 in minutes daily

1-2x a week is not enough!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For both piano and violin our teachers have requested at least 5 days/week of practice and then not so much a time committment as practicing each song a certain number of times (usually 3 or 4).

If you aren't practicing several days a week taking weekly lessons is pointless. The lesson is where something new is introduced. Practice is where the learning happens.

At that age I had to remind 2 of my 3 kids to practice but didn't get push back. One of them was (still is) entirely self-motivated.

Note they aren't practicing 2 hours a day. It's more like 15-20 minutes plus extra random moments when someone will plunk down at a piano and just start playing for fun.

It would be very expensive practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG. Please don’t force your 7 yr old to practice more than once per week. What is wrong with you?

What???

our piano teacher asks that the kids practice every day. They play through everything once, it takes like 5 minutes, but it makes a tremendous difference. Sometimes they will sit down and play around for longer.

[Anonymous]

Play every day.

I direct you to the Suzuki method, which is an excellent, pain-free way to introduce young people to strings. It's like brushing your teeth, it becomes a routine and the kid and their parent don't need to fight about it.

My teen has been playing for 10 years, is concertmaster of her orchestra, and unless sick, traveling or extremely busy/tired, she has played every day. At first, it was only a few minutes. Then it ramped up, but never more than an hour a day, unless right before a solo recital.

*PRACTICE SMART, NOT MORE*

1. This means practice every day, for maximum retention. A few minutes a day is better than 30+ minutes every two or three days.

2. It means practicing intelligently. It takes 10 times longer to correct an error than it is to learn something right the first time. A child that young does not know how to practice. This is why a parent who attends the lesson, takes notes, and supervises the child's practice at home can make the child progress much more rapidly than leaving them to their own devices.

3. Strings: tune carefully and pay attention to overall posture, finger position, instrument position, etc. The child needs start off right otherwise they might get injured or not be able to advance technically down the road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Play every day.

I direct you to the Suzuki method, which is an excellent, pain-free way to introduce young people to strings. It's like brushing your teeth, it becomes a routine and the kid and their parent don't need to fight about it.

My teen has been playing for 10 years, is concertmaster of her orchestra, and unless sick, traveling or extremely busy/tired, she has played every day. At first, it was only a few minutes. Then it ramped up, but never more than an hour a day, unless right before a solo recital.

*PRACTICE SMART, NOT MORE*

1. This means practice every day, for maximum retention. A few minutes a day is better than 30+ minutes every two or three days.

2. It means practicing intelligently. It takes 10 times longer to correct an error than it is to learn something right the first time. A child that young does not know how to practice. This is why a parent who attends the lesson, takes notes, and supervises the child's practice at home can make the child progress much more rapidly than leaving them to their own devices.

3. Strings: tune carefully and pay attention to overall posture, finger position, instrument position, etc. The child needs start off right otherwise they might get injured or not be able to advance technically down the road.

Shut up

[Anonymous]

We encourage our son to practice but we don't force him to practice. We still want it to be fun for him and not a punishment. I quit music in middle school because my parents made sucked all the joy our of music by forcing me to practice.

[Anonymous]

Unless your kid really loves to play loudly, I would not bother with the earplug. Little kids don't have the technique nor the quality of instrument nor the practice duration to do any damage.