Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

This past year I have had the amazing opportunity to participate in the 

Suzuki String Mentoring Program 

with 

Pat D'Ercole 

through the 

University of Wisconsin at Steven's Point. 

I have learned so much and I have made so many improvements in my teaching. Pat is so knowledgeable in helping a student do the work required to obtain the necessary skill while keeping her mind engaged. The most fascinating thing to me is that she dresses all of this up in a "game" and the student doesn't even realize how hard she is working! I have done a lot of the 10x spots and had my students get 10 pennies in their pile, etc. While this game is similar, there is a slightly different mindset that Pat has helped me to understand and apply. These things really help the student to think about what she is doing and keeps even the youngest mind active in the practice process so there isn't mindless repetition happening.

No one likes to fail. Set your child up for success. 

This is easy to do! 

• Make CLEAR parameters for how the child will win a chip. 
• The child must understand the task at hand and it needs to be fairly objective. 
• Skills that can be easily accomplished can have a higher number of repetitions. Larger tasks should have a lower number of repetitions. 
• If you have a younger child, you will need to reward them sooner. Example: put a bead in their pile after each repetition (or let them do this). With an older child, you could have them do 3 correct repetitions before they put 3 beads in their pile. 

CHIP GAME RULES

• The parent and child each get 5 chips (this number can be more or less depending on the situation as mentioned above). 
• Define the task. Example: play a note, measure or phrase with a round pinky on top of the bow. 
• If the child is successful in completing the task, she gets a chip from the parent's chip pile. If the child is not successful in completing the task, the parent gets a chip from the student's chip pile. 
• The first person to get all of the chips in their pile wins the game! 

I can see a difference in my students as I set them up for success and play the chip game with them. This game has made a tremendous difference for my studio and I owe it all to Pat! 

In honor of Halloween, I've been letting the kids pick to play the chip game with spiders or ghosts with table scatters I found in the dollar aisle at Target.