If you have read my previous articles, you already know about the benefit of music education for kids and how your child may benefit from voice lessons or playing musical instruments. Today we will cover that invisible motivational power that forces some parents to enroll their children in music education.
I suggest that, before you do this, you define exactly what you would like from your children. If you’re pleased with the idea, they will likely complement well by using it, too. Your moods and thoughts imperceptibly creep in to the consciousness of your child every hour and minute of the day. Our little family members consider us, their parents, to become the authority in everything. Plus some people have the ability to maintain that authority through the teen many even until the end of the lives.
After i was writing “Voices in our Children”, I re-read several old records I’d kept from previous years. Many of them detailed conversations I had with parents who brought their kids to music school for the first time.
The first meeting among parent, child and teacher is very significant. Everyone reaches know each other and things usually go perfectly in these introductory stages. But according to available statistics, only one percent (!) of parents is convinced in the beginning that their child will end up at least a very good musician. Another 99 percent bring their kids with this thought: “Let’s do that and then see what comes from it.”
At one of the large conferences for music teachers organized by the Ministry of Culture of Russia in the Far East, I heard a phrase from one of the speakers that particularly drew my attention. He said: “It is really a pity that those who are not as focused on music education don’t hold conferences such as these. Imagine the number of mistakes might have been avoided during lessons?”
Whatever an individual does for a living, in order for him to make a difference, he or she must possess a passion and true love of what he does. The kid isn’t an exception. Parents know perfectly well when their child is interested in something, he persistently requests it. With no you will deny that the child’s true interest in music is essential during lessons and exercise homework. So, it’s integral that parents are highly cognizant of the children’s thoughts.
You may be thinking, “Is it necessary for my child to study with constant interest; that’s, with pleasure, all the time?” This is a good question, because sometimes it is essential to forget your “wants” and tune in to your son or daughter’s natural attraction to (or away from) music.
And definitely, every one of us must struggle and strain and make ourselves make a move – even those things that people are passionate about. But this only occurs occasionally. If you force you to ultimately be a musician again and again, you will put on depression and possibly lose interest in everything, as well as the dread of practicing homework, etc.
It is impossible to compare the mentality of the adult with that of a child and employ yourself for example, saying something similar to, “I too should not choose work; however, I do.” In comparison to children, our life experience is much larger and our attitude to specific events is much more stable. Quite simply, we should operate in order to make a living; to remain alive! Children do not have to be a musician to stay alive. So, they are two completely different life experiences, and it is amazing to me that parents sometimes just aren’t seeing it that way.
If you think you’re ready to force your child to prepare for music lessons, by all means get it done, but don’t create a habit out of it – and if your child is satisfied with every second lesson, it is always good to make certain that he constantly studies with interest. How can you do that? Hopefully, by finding a excellent teacher who, in due time will suggest techniques used in working with your son or daughter on the distinctly individual basis. It is simply through cooperation using the teacher you can constantly promote and support your child’s curiosity about music. If the options the teacher offers fail to work, make the required conclusions and modifications.
Where do parents get the information about how other youngsters are doing at music lessons or prepare for them at home? Is it possible to find out about it in magazines? Are you able to get the information in libraries?
Certainly, those are great resources, but you don’t have to go that far, necessarily. Parents can hear about this using their child’s teacher. A great teacher of music will openly and happily let you know about other students’ experiences. But the main “news source” for moms and dads is deceptively simple: other parents! The parental exchange of information is invaluable in that they can share stories that happened for their child, and vice versa. It is then easier for Dad and mom to compare the achievements that belongs to them children to others. This is when they learn about difficulties in music education, for example when children immediately or gradually lose the interest and need to study.
Unfortunately for moms and dads, however, this exchange of information and/or the recognition that their child may be losing interest occurs past too far, and no one can clearly show them the actual reasons the youngsters interest vanished. And without getting a “quick fix” or perhaps a fix for your problem, again, your chances of re-enrolling your son or daughter are slim, while he isn’t going to be interested in it! Also, by now, the following group of parents step into exactly the same “puddle,” and for that reason, your son or daughter won’t ever complete music education. “What can I do, then?” you ask. I suggest that you simply learn and then try to know very well what to avoid.
