Trevor, of the Teach Piano Today blog, posted a fabulous little lesson gleaned from a skating outing with his daughter the other day. It reminded me of the importance of making sure that students know what we expect of them and then praising them appropriately when they achieve the goals we’ve set for them before giving them the next one.
The other day I was reminded, as I often am, that teaching piano is not much different than teaching skating, ballet, or juggling; skill sets and learning environments may change, but kids don’t.
So what led to this piano teaching revelation?…
On Monday, I spent the morning at the arena, teaching my daughter to skate.
My daughter is the “apple of my eye”. She is beautiful, determined, funny, and caring. She is also headstrong; never afraid to tell me how she’s feeling.
So it came as no surprise during our morning skate, that I was being somewhat berated by my little angel. She was clearly getting frustared with my process. You see, I would pick her up, place her at center ice, let her get her balance, and instruct her to skate towards me. And then, as she would skate towards me I would slowly glide backwards so she would be forced to keep skating…
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