Do you force your kids to do instrument practice and/or not let them stop when they want to?

[sunnydelight]

I'm not being as confrontational as the title suggests, honest, just curious.

I'm facinated at the number of conversations I've had with friends recently who seem to spend huge amounts of energy nagging reluctant kids to practice the piano or whatever. One perfectly pleasant woman won't let her 9 year old have anything to eat in the morning until he's done 20 minutes instrument practice, another trades minutes of practice time for minutes of tv/computer time. This kid has been begging for at least two years now to stop lessons but she won't let him as she feels it's good to play an instrument.

With three kids obviously I know how important it is to encourage "sticking at things", and I don't let my kids chop and change at a whim. Money spent on instruments is obviously also a factor. I do however wonder what is the point of insisting that kids continue with something that they really don't want to do. Surely "extra-curricular activities" should be something that kids enjoy doing, and a bit of a treat away from the usual school work, homework etc. What do you think?

DD (7) does violin with school and almost never practises... yet, her teacher is satisfied with her progress; she was the only girl in her starters intake (3 other girls) to do a solo at the end of year recital (preen moment).

Obviously I would prefer her to practise and progress faster, but I can live with things as they are. New teacher just started with the school, maybe she'll put pressure on DD (and maybe not). I feel DD is doing something different for fun and I can afford it (£5/week).

I would pay her to practise if it would work, but I know 10p or £1/week wouldn't be enough incentive.

DS tried piano for 6 months and his teacher was keen, said DS had a knack for it, but DS quit when I insisted about practice. I don't want to pressure DD in same way.

I think the practice issue really comes to the fore when they're taking exams. You simply have to put the time in at, say, piano grade 4, just to learn all the scales alone.

Thanks tshell, that's interesting. I know doing both would confuse the life out of me. Fingers get automatic after a time don't they? I'm going to gently encourage staying with violin although it's good to hear that the cellists can be included in groups quite early on.