I had a brief but great conversation with a mom today. It started the way so many often do. I want to stop my child’s music lessons. But fortunately (kudos to mom), the conversation moved rather quickly to a much more positive focus. My response was the same it always is which is, “oh no, why?” Like so many of these conversations, her response was, well __________ just isn’t practicing.Think about that for a moment. Do you pull kids out of math or history when they don’t study? Do you pull them out of martial arts or sports when they don’t practice (outside of class, team practice, or meets? Of course not. Why? Because you have them there for so much more than just whether or not they get good grades, or whether they are earning their next belt, or scoring points.
You probably don’t have your kids in math class in hopes they will become an engineer or a mathematician, just like you probably don’t expect they will be the next Chuck Norris or Michael Jordan. Hopefully, you want to give them a foundation. You want them to learn discipline, to grow, to perhaps find something they really enjoy and love—but most likely your goal for them is more about them being a well-rounded individual. That’s what we want too!
And that’s why practice outside of lessons, while we encourage and would love to see, should not be the deciding factor in their continuing. Are they engaged? Are they learning? Then stay the course, it’s about the journey.