How do you help your students when they keep playing the same mistakes? I tried different method and section or so-called “smart practice” with him, but somehow, he still makes the same mistakes even though I have said that a thousand times!

What a relevant question for all of us music teachers! This is such a broad issue that we could approach it dozens of different ways, but let me just offer 5 tips for addressing persistent mistakes:

1. Identify what the root issue is that’s causing the mistake. As the teacher, you basically have to be a super sleuth – watching every little detail as your student plays so that you know what’s going on and what issues need to be addressed. For example, let’s say that your student is playing the wrong note every single time in a particular place. As the teacher, you have to observe and figure out why – is he reading it incorrectly? Or is he using a poor fingering choice that’s causing him to miss the note? Or is he playing by ear and has the wrong note stuck in his head so that it sounds like the correct note?
2. Guide the student to identify the problem. Start more generally and move to specific targeted questions, like, “Are there any spots where you’re having trouble?” “Do you like how the piece sounds when you play it?” “Do you have any questions about any of the notes?” “In measure 5, do you realize that you’re playing a note differently than what’s written in the printed music?” “Can you tell which note it is?” And so on.
3. Help the student hear the difference between the correct way to play it and the incorrect way that they are playing it. This seems similar to the previous point, but it’s one step further. I actually hit on this crucial step after one of my lessons one week. At my first practice time following the lesson, I stared at my printed music, thinking, “I know there was something about this section that I needed to fix, but now I can’t remember what it was!” As I thought about this disconnect in my own experience, I realized that teachers often hear a problem and tell the student what it is and how to fix it; but unless the student actually hears the problem for himself, he won’t be able to take the appropriate ownership to make a difference in his playing. Basically, you want to get the student to the point that when he plays it incorrectly, he immediately hears it and is compelled to fix it.
4. Determine the student’s level of interest in fixing the mistake. Is this a piece that the student has been working on for months and is sick of playing? Do they like the piece? Do they want to play it better, or are they happy with where it’s at? Of course, you don’t want to enable students who have a tendency toward laziness, but I think there are plenty of legitimate reasons to move on even if a piece is not perfected. As the teacher, just make a note of the concept or skill with which the student is struggling and find another piece of repertoire that will address it.
5. Be up front with the student. Maybe it’s because I’m impatient with lack of progress, or maybe it’s because I’ve just learned not to gloss over things with my students, but I have no problem saying to a student. “OK, you’ve been playing this same mistake for the last three weeks. Are you really still having trouble with it or are you just not putting in the time to fix it?” Put the responsibility back on their shoulders if you’ve given them the tools and instruction they need to fix the mistakes and play the piece. Above all, welcome communication. Find out what’s going on and why they aren’t making progress. I used to have a habit of tip-toeing around things like this because I didn’t want to hurt my students’ feelings, but nobody enjoys doing something repeatedly that they’re not good at, so if they’ve been stuck on the same problem for a considerable length of time, be up front and work with them to figure out how to get past it. Encourage them and let them know that you have confidence that they can overcome the difficulties and play the piece beautifully. Everyone – including the student – will be much happier in the end!

Like I said, there are many other ways of addressing situations like this – and we all face such situations! So, does anyone have other tips they’d like to offer for helping students overcome persistent mistakes?

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!

How can I help my students express with their bodies when they are playing? Many of them just SIT THERE and play. Even the students who play with all the expression (dynamics, phrases, articulation, etc.) feel intimidated when I ask them to move a little and not play like “robots.”

Years ago, when I was going through a class on storytelling techniques, one of the principles I learned was to move with purpose. Make your gestures match your words. I believe the same principle applies to playing the piano. Movement should be with purpose, subservient to the greater goals of beautiful sound and natural technique. That said, usually “robotic” playing is conducive to neither of these. Here are a few thoughts from working with similar students:

1. Start small. Be content with little bits of progress. For example, my first approach with students is always to get them comfortable with using the weight of their arm. I have them drop their arms in their lap, then have them drop one arm at a time into my hand and demonstrate by letting it go whether they have truly dropped all their weight, or are holding back. Sometimes even this little thing can take a student a couple of weeks. Others get it right off the bat. You just have to start where the student is at and go with them from there.
2. Emphasize natural design and flow. The impetus behind movement in playing is that we want to use every part of our body as it is designed and as it functions in the most natural way. For example, rather than using our fingers as levers, we can achieve greater velocity and consistency by maintaining a fairly stable hand position and just rotating the bones of the forearm that connect to the wrist. (Many people refer to this as “wrist rotation,” but I prefer to have the students think of the rotation as originating in the forearm as a more true understanding of the function.)
3. Less is more. Ultimately, we want to plan our gestures and body movements so that we achieve the greatest results with the smallest number of movements. For example, consider the 2-note slur technique. Most students want to lift the wrist after the first and the second note. This generates more movement, but it is counter-productive. And it greatly impedes the flow of a piece of music at a faster tempo. Instead we aim for one intentional gesture that drops weight into the first key, transfers to the second, and releases in a natural fluid movement.
4. Lead the students to an experience that convinces them of the value of the movement. Again, if we are merely encouraging movement for movement’s sake, the student will easily disregard it because it feels awkward or unnecessary to them. However, if they are working on a piece and you show them a gesture or movement that makes it easier for them to play or enables greater technical facility or helps them create a more beautiful sound, they will be eager to put it into practice in their own playing.
5. Dig deeper. In my experience, most students’ movement – or lack thereof – at the piano directly correlates with their attitude. If a student plays with a sort of droopy look, they may be angry or depressed. If they play timidly, perhaps its because they lack confidence. If they play really fast and stiff, maybe they are stressed out. And so on. Instead of just observing piano techniques and movements as components toward the end goal of becoming a musician, you can also use them as “windows” into the hearts of your students. Because the music we make ultimately comes from the heart, the best way to play beautifully is to have a heart that’s in the right place. As we take time to get to know our students, communicate with them, and reach their hearts, the things we are teaching them about music and movement will be able to flow in a true and uncontrived manner from within them. I talk with my students a lot about the musical gifts God has given them and how we can use them to praise and glorify Him. Of course a whole range of emotions make their way into our lives and music, but if we want to be effective musicians, we should have hearts that are open to learning and growing so that we can develop our talents and skills to their greatest potential.

This is really a fascinating topic, so I’d love to have input from others. What have you found to be effective in helping students develop better choreography at the piano?

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!

I have a question brought up by one of my students. She asked me if my back ever hurt after practicing for a long time. I told her yes, and then began to wonder if there was anything I could suggest for her to do to help it not hurt (and for me too!). I look forward to seeing some of your suggestions.

This is such an important issue! So many musicians have had to quit or greatly reduce their playing due to pain. Thankfully, though, in recent years an incredible amount of research has been done and many individuals and groups are working to educate musicians on how to avoid injury while playing.

One of the things that I learned when I went through some Suzuki piano training is that every part of the body is interconnected and there are both natural and unnatural ways of using them. The point of pain may not necessarily be the root of the problem. For example, a pain in the back could come from tension in the shoulders. Or it could come from an incorrect sitting position on the bench (anyone heard of the “sit bones”? ). Or I’m sure there are plenty of other possible root causes.

I would recommend reading the notes from the workshop presented by Beth Grace called, Beyond Scales and Hanon. Beth’s workshops (I’ve been to several) have been some of the most valuable resources for me as a teacher. Above all, I have learned from her the importance of researching and educating myself on the area of technique and proper/natural body movement so that I can intently observe my students, properly diagnose technical problems, and guide them in finding solutions that will make their playing easier and more beautiful.

Gerald Klickstein, of The Musician’s Way, has an extensive list of wellness resources that would be a great starting point for finding books and/or articles related to specific areas. A quick list of easy-to-implement tips that you’ll find in almost any discussion of this topic include:

• Do appropriate stretches before you commence practicing. Just as athletes set aside time to stretch the muscles that will be called upon in their sports, musicians should take time to stretch and warm up their muscles as part of their practice session.
• Take periodic breaks. Practice sessions don’t have to be marathons. I tend to be a chunk-of-time person; I like to set aside the time and work until I finish a project. But I’m learning that with practicing it can be better to take short breaks or spread the time throughout the day so that the brain is refreshed and you can focus better on the task at hand.
• Drink lots of water. You should be constantly replenishing your body fluids through the day to maintain optimal brain and muscle functioning. Just have a glass of water somewhere close to the piano and take drinks in between pieces.

I know there are others who have done much more extensive research and have more experience in this area than me, so if you have comments or suggestions related to dealing with pain, feel free to comment!

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!

There are so many great suggestions and ideas that get buried in the comments on various blog posts (some from years ago!) that I thought it would be kind of cool to have a “Comment of the Week” feature. Each week – probably on Friday – I’ll post a comment that was left that week that seems especially insightful, creative, resourceful, humorous, etc. If the commenter has a blog or website, I’ll include a link to that as well.

So, without further ado, here is a comment from Migna that I just love and can’t wait to try with some of my students!

I hate saying “you need to try that again…and again…and again”  and nothing improves because they’re not focusing.  So here’s a game I play, similar to the penny game, that helps them intensely focus on what they’re doing.  I will put a little toy frog, dinosaur, dog, or whatever I have on hand if I’m at their home, and place it on the last 5-6-7 keys (or however many you choose).  Each time they play the measure/section PERFECTLY, they may move ahead.  If they make a mistake, they must move back. I have them move it forward or back themselves.  It seems to “hurt” more and they have to reposition their hands again. Sometimes I have the frog jump on the last 5 black keys.  Goal is to have the marker go off the piano.  A 6 year old student of mine told me how his sister put a pretty rock they use on the first low white key and she made him practice 2 measures until he got it perfect 66 times!

How do you teach beginners ¾ time without having them pause and feel the nonexistent beat four? No matter how often I waltz around the room or count out loud emphasizing the first beat or even play the song for them, they still hold beat three twice as long as it should be. I’m starting to think it would be better to start beginners off with triple time and then switch to common time after that. Do you have a successful approach? Or do you think they’ll “get it” after a while?

Ah, yes, that sneaky beat four that just doesn’t like to be left out! This is definitely a challenge for youngsters, but it can be done. Rhythm is such a critical component of playing an instrument – arguably even more important than note reading – so it’s something worth working on over and over again until they get it. And the younger the better! Here are a few approaches that I use. Obviously, some students get it quickly with little need for reinforcement, whereas others missed out when the rhythm gene was being distributed, so it takes every approach imaginable (and then some!) before they really start to internalize different pulse patterns.

• Instead of you doing the waltzing and counting for them, have them do it with you. I almost always introduce 3/4 time by having the student learn the waltz. We emphasize the big step on beat one and then the two smaller steps following it. Movement is key, because you ultimately want the student to internalize the pulse.
• Be completely up front with the student if they are playing incorrectly. In my early years of teaching I was so afraid of hurting a student’s feelings that I often glossed over issues like this. I have since learned that the best thing I can do for my students is communicate openly with them and do what it takes to help them become skilled musicians. Acknowledge that this is a challenging time signature  and that most students have a difficult time getting it at first, but if they learn it well now, they’ll have it down for life!
• Break it down. You want students to be successful every step of the way, so perhaps having them just play the first two measures in perfect rhythm would be a great first step. The penny game is perfect for this approach! Once they play the first two measures correctly a specified number of times in a row, add the third measure and do it again. This should help them grasp the concept of moving seamlessly from one measure to the next.
• Tap and count out loud. This is another approach I used to be hesitant about, but now every one of my students from beginner through advanced knows that if they are not playing the rhythm correctly they are going to have to count out loud. (By the way, if I have a student who protests that he’s already counting in his head, I say, “That’s great! Then it should be a piece of cake for you because now you just have to have your mouth say what your brain is already thinking.”) Again, the goal is accurate rhythm, so if we have to feel slightly ridiculous to reach that goal, so be it. Better to feel slightly ridiculous in the safety of the studio than face the big world outside as an incompetent musician.
• Use a rhythm instrument. Drums are especially good, and I will often pull out my djembe and have the student beat the pulse while I play and then swap instruments. In order to get the feel of the the 3/4 time, I have them beat the first beat slightly louder than the second and third.
• Record the student playing the piece. Have them listen to the recording and follow along with the printed music and see if they can identify any places where they pause, play a note too long, cut a note too short, etc. If they can hear the error, that will be a huge first step toward them being able to correct it. It’s surprising how many students don’t hear what they’re doing incorrectly – even by listening to their recording!
• Be aware of other issues that may be manifested in incorrect rhythm. Typically this case is a rhythm-specific issue, but occasionally a student will be struggling to play on beat because they are unsure about which note to play, or they are using poor fingering, or they are trying to read the words, etc. As a teacher, you have to be careful to identify what the root issue is and then address that, knowing that it will result in the correction of the secondary issues as well.

As always, if anyone has other suggestions on this issue, please feel free to share what works for you and your students!

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!

Well, I’ve finally taken the plunge and decided to start a Music Matters eNews. I’ve been thinking about it for quite a while and when I decided to switch my Sibro Publishing newsletter over to Constant Contact last month, I thought it was time to move forward with this newsletter as well!

I’m planning to include quick links to resources, special deals and promotions on various materials, plus lots of other exciting tidbits!  Just sign up using the form at the top of the right side bar to get in on the inaugural issue.

Quick Note: If you’ve ordered materials from me or corresponded with me before, there is a possibility that your e-mail address was already imported into the mailing program. If you enter it in the sign-up form, you’ll be given the option to update your profile.

I have been pondering how to teach memorization to students who have a different learning style from me.  I know exactly how I memorize, but if visualization is not working for one of my students what can I try?

This is a great topic that I hope others will weigh in on as well! Most of my childhood recital horror stories are related to being required to perform from memory and then going blank somewhere in the middle of the piece. Mostly this was because although I was required to perform from memory, no one ever taught me how to memorize. The most common memorization technique of playing a piece until your fingers remember how to play it even without having to read the music anymore (muscle memory) is also arguably the least effective.

In her book Thinking As You Play, Sylvia Coats outlines a strategy for memorization that works wonders! I know this because she is my teacher and the one who actually taught me how to memorize. I use the same approach – or various elements of it – with my students to help them develop this important skill as well. Ultimately, you want every relevant sense to be fully engaged in the process so that the memory is as secure as possible. On top of that, the brain has to understand what is going on and be able to communicate important information to the necessary body parts when the nerves hit in a performance situation. Here are a few tips I’ve learned when it comes to memorization:

1. Start early! I want students to feel comfortable performing from memory when they get older, so the best thing is to start young so that they can learn the techniques and establish good habits in this area.
2. Identify form and patterns. Starting as early as the primer level books, I discuss the form of new pieces with my students and have them label the sections and point out patterns that look the same and sections that look different. We also relate pieces back to the pentascales and chords as often as possible so that they are connecting with something that is already familiar to them. This aids in establishing mental pathways in the brain that are incredibly helpful for memorization!
3. Verbalize intervallic relationships. A perfect example of a piece where I do this is Kaleidoscope Colors in the Piano Adventures Technique and Artistry Level 1 book. I would have the student identify the fifth that remains the same in the left hand throughout the first line and then point out the descending interval pattern in the right hand. Then I take the book away and ask if they can play that line from memory. Since they haven’t even played through it yet, this usually takes them by surprise! But after a minute of reflecting on the pattern they just described to me, they are usually able to pull it off. I, of course, make a big deal about memorizing an entire line of music in a matter of minutes and without ever having played it! We follow suit and memorize the rest of the piece at the lesson, then I assign them to play it by memory during the week.
4. Establish key starting points throughout the piece. The student and I usually go through the piece and place numbers to indicate separate starting points. Often these align with the form of the piece, but there may be more or fewer starting points, just depending on the piece. I write the same numbers on little slips of paper and then draw a random one and have the student practice starting at that starting point. We continue until they’ve played through every section of the piece. This helps create a musical “road map” they can follow as they perform and gives them places to get back on track if they should happen to blank out or lose their place.
5. Insist on consistent fingering. I believe this is critical to effective memorization! When students are memorizing, they must memorize the fingering along with everything else and then drill it in until it is second nature. Failure to memorize the fingering and play it consistently can ruin the flow and artistry of a piece of music that a student might otherwise play beautifully. This is especially hard for students like me who are very visual and tend to rely on seeing those fingerings written on the page to keep us on track.

Those are a few of my thoughts, but I’d love to collect some more memorization tips to use for myself and with my students, so please share away!

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!

I’d like to know how you teach students about hymn improvisation! Do you have any teaching ideas? Thanks a lot!

This is one of those things that I heard other pianists do growing up and always wanted to learn, but never could figure out how to do it. Gradually, through the years as I asked lots of people for tips and read ideas and took classes here and there, I began to pick up some helpful suggestions. Obviously, it’s not something that comes naturally for me, and I don’t have a very good ear either, so it’s been pretty challenging, but I’ve definitely made progress. And hopefully I have a better grasp of how to teach students who want to learn, but don’t come by it naturally!

First off, there’s a great website now that I wish had been around when I was trying to learn hymn improvisation: The Church Pianist. The site is run by Jennifer Cook, and there are tons of great tips and resources for aspiring church musicians. I recommend starting with this post – The Church Pianist: How to Improvise Hymns?

Jennifer has lots of systematic approaches for those who are at the level where they are ready to start playing hymns. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that there are lots of things that you can do much earlier on with a student so that they are already developing the skills they will need for improvisation – whether it’s playing from a hymnal or reading a lead sheet. Here are some of the things I do:

* Require students to learn scales, arpeggios, primary triads and inversions, 7th chords, etc. Applied theory and fluid technique are essential for improvising. You have to not only know the key and chord structure, but be so used to playing it that it comes pretty naturally when you’re incorporating it into an improvisation.

* Have students pick out familiar tunes by ear, then add blocked chords, then broken chords, then make their own arrangements, etc. This is helping train the student’s ear for melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic aspects of playing music. I almost always begin with Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star because everyone knows it and it’s simple enough for anyone to learn.

* Encourage students to transpose early on. As soon as my students have learned their first several pentascales, I give them a challenge to transpose a particular assigned piece into another key. For the young students I describe this as moving a piece from the C-pentascale position and playing the same pattern of notes in, say, the G-pentascale pattern. For older students who have learned all their scales, I usually say, “Transpose to as many keys as possible” and then put little check boxes beside the name of each key. This is building muscle memory and good listening skills.

* Do a variety of improvisation activities with students to help them gain confidence in playing things that are printed on a page in front of them:
Quick and Easy Improvisation with Students
Black Key Improvisation
The Best Thing We’ve Done this Spring

* As far as actual hymn improv for younger students, I start them out with an early level hymn book. There are a number of different ones out there. Just keep in mind that you don’t want a book of arranged hymns for this; you want some pretty run-of-the-mill melody in the right hand, single note or chord in the left hand, for this purpose. Have them pick a favorite hymn and learn it as written. Then talk through the underlying theory with them – what key it’s in, what the primary triads are, etc. Help them come up with creative ideas to add in extras in the music that might sound good – full chords where there are single notes, fill-in notes when there is a skip in the melody, broken chords instead of blocked chords, etc.

* Have the student play hymn arrangements that are level-appropriate. This is a great way to learn as well! Try to help them be attuned to what they’re playing – point out chord patterns, scale passages, cool-sounding harmonies, etc. and then encourage them to transfer those same arrangement techniques to other hymns.

Hopefully these ideas are helpful! I’m sure there are tons of other ideas out there, so if you have a suggestion for helping students learn improvisation skills, please feel free to share!

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!

I have a lot of students who like piano but just don’t put in very much (if at all) time during the week practicing. Do you have any advice and/or programs for that? I am a very “user friendly” teacher, the kids all like me and I give them popular music they enjoy to go with good method music (Faber Series) yet with their busy schedules, sports, video games, etc… I still have a huge problem with practice. What do you suggest?

This is the million dollar question, isn’t it?! I’ve been thinking a lot about this issue recently because I just presented a workshop at our state music teachers conference on this topic. I see it in some ways as a creative challenge – what can I do as a teacher to inspire and motivate my students to practice consistently? In some ways, I suppose our work as teachers would be less exciting if all of our students automatically practiced every day without us having to invest any energy into getting to know them and figure out what appeals to them, right?

Most of my students now are very diligent practicers, but it’s been quite the process to get to this point! Here are some varied tips that I’ve found helpful:

• Only accept students into your studio who want to take lessons. Very rarely will I accept a student who doesn’t want to take lessons, but is being required to do so by his parents. Along with this, I make both the parent and student state during the initial interview that they will commit to practicing consistently.
• Reserve the right to dismiss a student for lack of practice. It is clearly stated in my policy that a cause for dismissal is: “The student consistently fails to show diligence and determination in home practice.” I’ve only had to do this once, but it’s nice to know that it’s an option if lack of practice becomes a persistent problem.
• Have high expectations for your students and expect them to live up to them. Sometimes I think we do ourselves and our students in by letting them get by with minimal or no practice for extended periods of time so that it becomes acceptable. My students know that I expect 5-7 days of practice a week and that’s what most of them aim for. They are also required to record their practice in their assignment books so that I know how much they’ve practiced. (This is all in theory, of course…I have my fair share of students who have difficulty locating a pencil with which to mark their practicing, or who slide by some weeks on 1 or 2 days of practice… )
• Create a culture where dedication and excellence is the norm. This is one of the reasons that I design year-long practice incentive programs. I want the whole atmosphere of my studio to be full of fresh, exciting goals and challenges that will inspire each student to do his/her best and reach for new musical heights. Nothing works perfectly, but each year we are learning and growing and trying new ideas.

Obviously, there are many things that contribute to a student’s practice habits, but I think one of the key things to remember is that diligence begets success, and success begets diligence. The two go hand-in-hand. One of my overarching goals as a teacher is to help my students develop disciplined practice habits so that they will be successful, and to help them be successful so that they will be more disciplined in their practicing. It takes a balance of fun and creativity, coupled with high standards and firmness to achieve this, but it sure is motivating to me as a teacher to work toward this end. My students want to play the piano well and I want to do everything I possibly can to see them attain this goal!

This is a favorite topic for most of us teachers, so I’d love to get some input from others as well! What do you suggest for helping students develop better practice habits?

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!

I’m actually more of a piano student, than teacher. (I’m a high school senior preparing to major in piano at college next year). However, my parents have given me the opportunity to teach my 12 year old sister to play, so that I get practice teaching and they don’t have to pay for lessons. My problem is that she doesn’t take her lessons seriously and often interprets my teaching as “being bossy.”

I have heard similar stories from professional teachers from when they were young. (My piano teacher said he was the troublesome little brother/student). So, I was wondering if you had any advice on how to have effective piano lessons when the student and teacher are siblings.

This is a question that hits close to home for me because I teach three of my younger siblings. My sister, Noelle, was one of  my first students when I officially opened the doors of my studio. She was six at the time and graduated from high school last year. A couple of times, I presented the possibility of having her study with another teacher so that she could get exposure to a different teaching style, but she always wanted to continue studying with me. My other two siblings that I’ve taught have both taken from me for about 11 years now. Here are a few suggestions that have helped us make it work in our family:

1. Schedule a specific lesson time and stick to it! No canceling lessons for trivial reasons just because they seem more flexible or understanding.
2. Love them just like the other students, encourage them to reach high levels, but be understanding when they fail to meet your expectations.
3. Don’t correct their practicing during the week. Unless one of my siblings comes to me with a specific problem or question about their practicing, I don’t offer any suggestions or practice tips. Instead, I just listen as a doting older sister and praise them for the progress they are making.
4. Be personable, yet professional during the lesson. My siblings know that we mean business and that when they are at the lesson, the goal is to work on their musical skills. Also, make sure that they see that you are intent on helping them achieve their musical goals. Even if they balk at doing a technical exercise or trying a particular practice strategy, stick with it until they experience the improvement for themselves. This will assure them of your ability to help them, and encourage them to take your instruction to heart.

I’d love to have some additional feedback on this topic this week. Do any of you teach family members? What tips and strategies have you found to be especially effective?

Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!