It’s that time again – January. That time of the year when your children have just had a couple weeks off of school and you are now going to have to try and and get them back into their regular routine – which isn’t always easy!

Although it may seem busy, it is really important to help your child establish a regular practice routine, right from the first lesson back. If you wait it will just get harder to begin this. Soon you’ll be trying to fit practices in between other activities and this can be really stressful as you try and ‘stuff’ in these practices. If you, right from the first lesson back, talk with your child as to what you expect from them (and depending on their age you might be able to have a conversation as to what they think) you will be starting on the right foot.

For my family we find that if we don’t practice before school then practices seem to get lost in the busyness of after-school activities. In saying that, though, there are exceptions. My oldest is involved in many sports and other activities that she needs to be at school an hour before it starts. She understands that if she doesn’t practice before she leaves then it will be the first thing that she does when she gets home. With this understanding she knows what’s expected and it isn’t a surprise when I ask her to practice. My son, not one to get excited about practicing, knows that every morning he needs to practice his piano. When I ask him to there isn’t the same arguing as there once was when we didn’t have it as part of our routine. This is because he knows that it is expected of him, just like I expect him to brush and floss his teeth.

This is just how it works in my family, with 3 children all taking piano lessons. Your family is different and your routine will look different, but if there is a routine and your child knows WHAT is expected of them and WHEN it is expected of them, you will find that your household is a bit calmer when it comes time to practice. I’ve talked to other teachers and parents about this and we’ve all found that having a routine is a constant in having an easier practice time with our children.

So, let’s start 2014 out right – figure out what practice routine works for your family and then see if you can be consistent in implementing it and know that I’ll be doing the same with my family!!!