I desperately want piano parents to take an active and effective role in home practice routines. For this reason, I am on a perpetual search for creative ways to make their participation easy, encouraging and effective.
Finding the perfect solution to parent participation can be challenging. It has to be both easily manageable for busy parents and easily accessible for parents who do not have a strong musical foundation.
Today’s printable satisfies the aforementioned criteria – it is easy to simple to explain, easy for busy parents to implement and, most importantly, effective in encouraging regular piano practice.
Stickers For Parents – A “Practice-Saving” Printable.
The printable we’re sharing today is a set of Piano Parent Practice Stickers that you can print out and send home with the parents of your piano students. The stickers contain funny and encouraging statements that piano parents can use to acknowledge the positive and effective practice habits displayed by their children.
As parents listen to their child practice during the week, they choose a sticker and stick it to the top of the page of music their child played for them. That’s it! It’s simple, yet it gives parents a reason to be present during (at least part of) home practice in an encouraging and fun way.
Piano parents, especially those lacking a solid musical foundation, may not have the proper language and understanding to provide positive feedback during home practice sessions. Our practice stickers give them the ready-made advice they need to help out and be involved at home.
The Piano Parent Practice Stickers also happen to be a great way to monitor home practice… lots of stickers means your students are on a roll… but just one or two… and it might be time to connect with the parents to develop some different strategies.
To use the sticker set, simply print out the label sheet (Avery 5160 template) below and send it home. You can choose to set sticker goals (“Try to collect four labels per piece this week!”) or you can leave it up to individual families to set their own goals.
Print your Piano Parent Practice Labels here.
Why These Stickers Work To Improve Home Piano Practice
Our Piano Parent Practice Stickers give parents a very clear job with easy expectations for participation. And if they forget to participate, their children will be sure to remind them! The stickers also provide “on the page” encouragement to your piano students, reminding them of their parents’ appreciation of their musical efforts.
The bottom line? More piano practice will happen. And when more practice happens, greater progress occurs… resulting in piano lesson happiness and, ultimately, a healthier studio. What a wonderful cycle to encourage!
Inspire Piano Practice With Great Music!
Nothing pulls your piano students to their bench more than music they LOVE to play. Our mission with PianoBookClub is to put out books that act like “piano bench glue”! Find out what makes our supplementary repertoire unique and how just $8 a month can transform your music library here.
