“Time for flute!”…and your child is sitting in the middle of a mountain of legos. Or maybe they are playing outside and don’t want to come in. Perhaps they are in the middle of a major meltdown. As teachers, we have seen it all and we get it! Transitions are really hard for kids.

Parents play a vitally important role in Suzuki lessons. You might be wondering how this role is best adapted for the online format. Following is a framework on how to participate in your child’s virtual musical journey, by age:

Playfulness is the way to go when engaging young children! Sometimes you just need to take the pressure off and lighten the mood. So, let’s leave the nagging and the negativity behind and focus on what’s really important...connecting with children and enjoying music together.

Musical Jewelry. Painting Dynamics. Painting Articulation. Crafty Rhythms. Songs & Stamps. Musical Symbols with Play-Doh.

Does your child get easily frustrated when something is hard?

If the answer is yes, that is completely normal! The ability to overcome challenges is something that has to be built throughout childhood.

Learning a musical instrument is the perfect way to develop resiliency!

Is it worth the hard work, commitment, and money to learn a musical instrument? There are so many activities to choose from…so why music?

MUSIC BENEFITS THE WHOLE CHILD: BRAIN, BODY, AND HEART.

Children need time observe and take in new information as well as experiment and try things out for themselves. Has your child ever done the activity or new skill as soon as you get home, but not while you were in class? They are likely too busy collecting data and absorbing everything around them to actively participate in that moment.

Is your child loosing interest in the flute? If the answer is yes, this is completely normal! Every family goes through a “honeymoon” phase where everything is new and exciting. The flute is like a new toy for a young child and at first capturing their attention is easy. Once the novelty wears off and the child realizes that it takes some hard work to learn to play the flute, there will naturally be some resistance.

During the first six years of life, children have a very different way of learning than adults. At this age, their sponge-like brains are able to soak up vast amounts of information from their environment. This is due to what Maria Montessori calls the absorbent mind.

The Suzuki Method is an approach to learning a musical instrument in the same way we learn language.

Children have such an advantage when they start learning music at a young age, but it can appear to be a slow process.