LUV it! Mind if I use it in my studio policy? I'm always ready to make changes in hopes of (hopefully) inspiring students to practice.

BTW, thanks again for telling me the codes to use for the bold and italics!

Jalapeno,

Please feel free to use anything I've offered up on this site for your studio policy. I'd be honored! Let me know if the change in semantics from

"Students must practice at least 30 minutes a day"
to
"Students should be given the privilege to enjoy playing the piano at least 30 minutes a day"

makes a difference in your studio!



[This message has been edited by Eric Rockwell (edited 20 November 2000).]

Thanks! I'll keep ya posted. I'm all for using whatever works.

I have a sentence strip for each student on the wall. Next to their name I put their picture. Then I stamp smily faces in each row. Each face is big enough to hold four small stickers. The student receivesm one heart sticker for coming to the lesson, one heart sticker for practicing the minimum no. of minutes suggested, one food sticker for practicing the maximum no. of minutes, and a music sticker for each new song they cam play from memory. They can all look at one another's stickers and see who has the most. When they leave they one piece of candy for each sticker for that day. We have a Contest from sept. to dec. tomsee who has the most faces filled. The winner gets a grand prize, maybe a runner up prize too. Also, they can trade stickers in for small prizes. 50 stickers for one paint pen or a gel pen. So they are not practicing for a prize because it takes a few months just to get a pen. By looking at the chart they can see which students are practicing their min or max and how many are memorizing songs. Many of them COME RUNNING in each week saying "I practiced my maximum.' i I SAY I can sure tell that you practiced your max because....and I tell them specifically what I like about their playing. Or I have tape it on the digial piano and we listen to it and I say "Did you hear how good that sounded?" They check out the chart each week to see who has the most stickers. They can tell who has been practicing the max. On the chart I also place labels next to their names., Like NOTEMASTER (when they have passed a notenaming test involving notes from low c to high c, and RHYTHM MASTER when songs from lesson book 2 involving eighth notes mixed with quarter notes are played flawlessly with the metronome, and CHORD MASTER when they can play the chords and inversions by sight. At Piano Parties, I refer to them by title, Notemaster will or rhythm master Jaclyn etc. This kind of reward, I think is more rewarding than the prizes and the candy, but it all helps. Sometimes when their parents, I will say "Emily has taped her song. Listen to how well she plays it." From what I gather some of the parents are on another floor when they practice. I make assignment pages and run them off at the copy store. Each page has a picture of the keyboard along the bottom and the grand staff above it for writing new notes, scales etc. Their is a place for them to writein how many minutes they practice each day and a place for the parent signature. If they do not have the parent signature they do not get any stickers. Some parents say I just hate nagging them about practicing. I say "Don't nag them. If they don't practice they will not get many stickers and they will be behind everyone else. After getting only one sticker when most of the kids get two or three, they usually come around and at least practice their min.

I love, love, LOVE the idea of awarding kids those titles! It's another variation on the old "catch them being good" theme that works so well. I may change the idea slightly to add "meister" at the end like the German guilds do. (Rhythmmeister, etc,) Thanks for the great suggestions!

What a clever idea! I like that, too. I just love this site.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by allegra:
<<<<>>>>>
Allegra, would you explain what you mean by "practicing the maximun number of minutes"? *Minimum* I can understand, but how can you set a *max*? BTW, I love your ideas and hope to implement some next semester!!!! kathy

I'd like to know why a student gets a sticker just for coming to the lesson. That seems a little excessive if you ask me. Furthermore, I consider it the parents' responsibility to get the child to the lesson every week, on time, and pick them up at the appropriate time. The child, therefore, is not really earning that sticker, right?? Not meaning to be contrary, just don't see giving stickers for everything.

In my "rewards system," the student gets a point simply for coming to the lesson for a few reasons: 1) even if they know their practice wasn't up to par (for whatever reason, good or bad) I still want them to come to lesson, and the point they earn is one way I encourage good attendance. 2) Students sometimes have conflicts in their schedule, and again, I like to encourage piano lesson to take priority over other activities (naturally!) 3) I'm a softie and by giving a point for attendance no one ever shows up and gets "zero." It's all supposed to be fun and motivating anyway--though I know there are differing views on the merits of stickers, prizes, etc. My students seem to work hard for these little acknowledgements of their achievements.

I think it is a good idea to give a sticker for coming to the lesson because I have had parents tell me their child isn't coming because she doesn't feel like it tonight, says she's sick, didn't practice, etc.

I have a question though - how do you have students record their practice time? Do you use a special assignment book or just have them write it down? Are the parents generally good about signing the practice time? Do you think they ever sign even if the child did not practice?

AND what is a good minimum practice time to set? I know that we should be counting the quality, not the quantity of the practice, but let's face it, with kids a time limit is sometimes needed. What kind of limits have you suggested and for what age groups?