5 Practice Tips for Suzuki Parents

This post was originally published on the Plucky Violin Teacher blog on September 11, 2016 so links and resources may not be current.

Practicing with your child can be rough.  Tantrums, stall tactics, power struggles, Suzuki parents are on the front lines and we all need some extra inspiration occasionally.  If you are looking to breathe some new life into your practice routine with your Suzuki student, don’t fret!  I have gathered these practice tips for Suzuki parents from all around the web to help you make practicing more fun and engaging for your children.

1. I am crazy about review.  I love review.  I think that one of the best ways to keep your kids feeling confident about their playing (not to mention improving their playing) is to really focus on review.  My students know, I love review for working on technical issues and introducing new concepts.  These review spinners look like a great way to add some fun to your review practice, and they look like something I could actually make, which is a huge plus.
Review Spinners

2.  How do we get our kids to love practicing?  Joanne Bath, a Professor of Suzuki Pedagogy, SAA-registered Violin Teacher Trainer, and a former SAA Board member, shared her tips for doing just that in this article on the SAA website.  There were some wonderful tips and ideas here that I think every parent (and teacher!) needs to know.
“I Love to Practice!”

3.  Sometimes you just can’t get in a full practice session.  Life gets crazy, kids get tired, maybe your schedule is overstuffed…  Rather than skipping the practice session altogether, try some of these ideas for what to do when your child is too tired to practice…
Suzuki Violin Practice Tips–Alternatives to a Full Practice

4. One of the most important Suzuki parent responsibilities is taking notes in the child’s lesson.  It’s difficult to be the teacher at home if you can’t remember what happened in the lesson!  Here are some practical tips for taking notes at lessons.
Taking Notes at Lessons–Practical Tips for Parents

5.  Speaking of review, I just can’t get enough of it!  More review!  More creative ideas for making review fun!  Here’s a list of ten review practice ideas for your Suzuki student.
More Ideas for Review

Please share your favorite Suzuki Parent practice tips in the comments!

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Reader Interactions
Comments

1. Carol Jilling says
   September 11, 2016 at 2:33 am
   Listening to the CD is so important. At the entry to my studio, I have a list of last names of all families with 12 boxes ( Excel sheet ) . I have tiny stickers clipped to the page for the student to give the parent a sticker for turning on the CD at least 6 days the previous week. It keeps them accountable.
   • Brecklyn says
     September 19, 2016 at 3:40 am
     I love that idea! Listening is essential! I like to listen to the recordings in the lessons sometimes to show that I think it is important enough to use valuable lesson time making it happen.
2. Cynthia Faisst says
   September 22, 2016 at 7:14 am
   My biggest frustration with Suzuki Materials for parents is that they are scattered all over the place. Perhaps that is why I have been so dedicated to my Pinterest lately. I just want to make it as easy as possible for them to find and use the very things they are looking for.
   They just don’t have the time to do the research online required to bring practicing together so I have to put it at their fingertips. I’m learning from you not to put everything in one post because they barely have 5 minutes to read anything between here and there. If it is longer than that it will never get read.
   What Sensei says about the 5 min. lesson rings true for parents too.