Tips for your kids' piano lessons

Learning the piano is a lot of fun and provides your children with a skill that they can use throughout their lives. Following these tips will help your children get the most out of their piano lessons.

• As a parent, it can be helpful for you to attend piano lessons with your children, if you have time.
• When you observe the lessons, you will understand what your children are learning and will be able to help them practise and stay on schedule at home.
• You can talk with the instructor about what your children need to do to improve their skills and ask for advice regarding how they can continue to become better piano players.

• Your kids should treat piano practice sessions like school. Set a specific time each day to practise and make sure they follow the schedule, even if it's only for a short amount of time, and set goals for each practice session.
• Goal setting will help your children focus and will help ensure that they make progress. The goals can be as simple as repeating the scales 10 or 15 times, learning a few new chords or a whole new song.

• Using familiar songs can be helpful when your kids are learning to play the piano. They will be more interested in playing songs that they recognize, rather than learning ones that they don't.
• Recommend some of their favourite songs to the instructor.
• You can teach your children the new songs at home if you learn to play them.

• One of the most important things to remember while your kids are learning the piano is to continue to be encouraging. They will probably get frustrated in the beginning; it's your job to support them and stay positive, even when they get something wrong or have a hard time learning something new.
• Praise them when they meet their goals, when they consistently follow their practice schedule and encourage them when they feel frustrated.