If your middle schooler is in band

[Anonymous]

Does DC regularly practice at home? If so do you enforce it or does your kid willingly practice on his own?

[Anonymous]

I do not have a current MS, but 2 kids who participated in band throughout high school. I did not push practice throughout these years. Grades were much more important to me. They did not plan to be music majors (thank goodness).

[Anonymous]

When ours was in MS we had to sign off on her practice sheet each week that documented practice minutes. It was factored into her quarterly grade.

[Anonymous]

What both PPs said. I had one kid who was in MS band and now is in HS band and one kid currently in MS orchestra. Practice time is between them, their private teacher, and their band/orchestra director. If they aren't practicing, their private teachers make their displeasure known. And their band/orchestra grade suffers. No need for me to interfere, andI have bigger/different battles to fight. I am not going to battle with a young teen on everything.

BUT-- I do not sign practice logs for class if I know or suspect they are not accurate. My signature indicates it's true to the best of my Knowlege. So I won't sign a lie. I have had kids need to amend practice logs and get crappy participation grades. Oh well. *shrugs*.

[Anonymous]

They have to turn in their phones until homework is done, and that includes music practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They have to turn in their phones until homework is done, and that includes music practice.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have to turn in their phones until homework is done, and that includes music practice.

+1

Tiger.

[Anonymous]

Some form of musical class was required at my kid's MS. They either had to sign up for band, guitar, or chorus. Unfortunately, once you picked your option in 6th grade, there was no switching except going from guitar/band to chorus. You couldn't go from guitar to band or chorus to either instrument.

Neither kid was interested in learning a musical instrument and neither can carry a tune. My son wanted to learn percussion, but too many kids picked it, so he was one of the ones selected for his second choice instrument, which was trumpet. He hated it. I hated it. He practiced some, but not as much as was required. I didn't force it. I signed off on all of his practice sheets at once and he just wrote the dates & times in before turning them in. I was fine with this. My daughter started off in guitar, but after struggling all of 6th grade because of her short, stubby fingers, she switched to chorus in 7th grade. The chorus teacher and I had a good laugh about it at back to school night when I apologized to her about my daughter's voice. She was very much anti-forcing kids to take a music class.

I'd have rather they just let them pick a specialized art or tech class over forced music. When I was in MS, we were able to pick from the musical options or art options like watercolors, pottery, oil on canvas, simple coding, etc.

[Anonymous]

I expect them to practice the amount that their teacher asks them to, just as I expect them to do assigned homework. So, that's 20 minutes per day. DS chose to do band but complained constantly about practicing and didn't seem to actually enjoy playing his instrument, although he liked the social side of band. When he wanted to quit, I encouraged him to do so and pick theater as his elective instead. A much better fit for him. The band teacher also was not sad to see him go and told me theater would be great for him, which made it even clearer that band was not working!

DD also chose band but rarely complains about practice and is eager to try out different music on her own. We still remind her but it is not the battle it was with DS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When ours was in MS we had to sign off on her practice sheet each week that documented practice minutes. It was factored into her quarterly grade.

Did you know for sure that they did it, or did you just trust that they were telling the truth about practicing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They have to turn in their phones until homework is done, and that includes music practice.

+1

Are you home to make sure this happens? I would love to do this, but I don't get home till 6. Often homework has not been done and they will tell me that they practiced, but I can't say I really trust them.

[Anonymous]

My didn't practice at home. Though she had an instrument at home and at school but still she didn't practice. We tried to encourage her but it wasn't working and she quit after two years. The clarinet sits there untouched!

[Anonymous]

no I never make them practice nor do I hear them practicing much, unless a concert is coming up. My three play oboe, baritone sax and guitar. Somehow they sound great during their solos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What both PPs said. I had one kid who was in MS band and now is in HS band and one kid currently in MS orchestra. Practice time is between them, their private teacher, and their band/orchestra director. If they aren't practicing, their private teachers make their displeasure known. And their band/orchestra grade suffers. No need for me to interfere, andI have bigger/different battles to fight. I am not going to battle with a young teen on everything.

BUT-- I do not sign practice logs for class if I know or suspect they are not accurate. My signature indicates it's true to the best of my Knowlege. So I won't sign a lie. I have had kids need to amend practice logs and get crappy participation grades. Oh well. *shrugs*.

I am not paying for private lessons for kids who don't practice.

[Anonymous]

When my DS was in middle school, he usually did the minimum practice required to get an A on most of his practice records (180 minutes - he counted the 45 minutes he spent in a private lesson). There is so much improvement in playing when a kid goes from once a week sessions in ES to daily classes in MS, your kid might find they enjoy playing more as the year goes on.

In HS, his director just has them do a "practice recording" - a video of them playing an excerpt from music the orchestra is working on.

As a junior, he practices 5-6 days a week, still takes lessons, and mostly works on the music his private teacher gives him. He also does jazz band and pit orchestra, so he may not be typical. Music is his main EC so I encourage him to do a lot of it (but would never force it).