Hello everyone! Apologies for not posting this yesterday – I had a family emergency I had to attend to and completely forgot.
Lizzie
What we worked on: We had a lot of fun today! We played through Lizzie’s favourite song in our book, and explored the Rainbow song in the book. We got a little distracted today – lots to look at in the studio, so we spent the last five minutes dancing around and getting our energy out.
Recommended minutes to practice: I would recommend Lizzie try and practice up to 15 minutes a day as possible. Even just playing around with the sounds is great!
How to practice most effectively: I recommend a lot of exploration of how we sit at the piano, how we hold our hands (in a C shape), and the numbers of our fingers. I’d love her to keep working through the book a bit, especially reviewing the exercises we’ve done up to them Rainbow song. We want to improve how comfortable Lizzie feels using all five fingers to play rather than one finger at a time. This’ll take time, of course, but it’s my next big goal with her. So encouraging her thumb always being finger 1 and the like. Once she’s comfortable with that (on both hands!), it’ll make playing full songs a lot easier for her.
How parents can support practice: Encourage always. And check in – I’ve found a lot of success in asking her questions about what she’s doing. It might also be beneficial to sit with her and just remind her of what’s on the page – I love playing around with sound and making up our own songs, but we still want to try the exercises.
Sahira
What we worked on: We worked through “Maybe” again. She’s making slow, but good progress.
Recommended minutes to practice: I would love to see Sahira practice more. We begin most lessons discussing that very little, if any, practice was done during the week. So, moving forward, I must encourage at least 15 minutes of practice a day. I suggested she tell everyone when she’s planning to practice so she can set her own schedule.
What to practice: Practice the song, “Maybe”. The goal is for her to be able to sing the song completely herself next week, so we can dig in deeper and start exploring more than just the notes on the page.
How to support practice: Perhaps follow up? Ask if she’s rehearsed yet that day. I’m not sure exactly how to encourage more practice other than just telling her to. If parents have any ideas or suggestions, I’d love to discuss!