Sweet Tooth Communications

One of my children loves piano practice. My middle child often whines when I mention it. But when my middle child has played a particular song very well, he relishes the feeling of success.

Click to download a free pdf

To help my children practice piano more, and get that great feeling, I often use behavior charts to encourage them to do the desired action (practice) and get the desired results (a feeling of pride) and that helps build the new habit. You can download the pdf of one of the two versions we use – free!

New Habits

It’s not easy to develop a new habit – whether it’s exercising, eating healthy, or using manners! Many times, the best way to build a good new habit is by rewarding yourself for practicing.

We work hard to help our children acquire good habits. Just recently, we saw some reward for our hard work when our somewhat picky eater asked – unprompted – “what does mustard taste like?”

We were thrilled! This showed us that our consistent, positive practice of asking our kids to try new foods was starting to sink in. He doesn’t have to love everything, but he should be able to try. Each new food that goes in his copy of My Food Notebook results in two rewards: pride in himself and praise from his parents.

I’m pretty sure my kids won’t be concert hall musicians, but they still need piano practice. Because it’s not about whether they play like a pro, but whether or not they can work hard at something, get good results and be motivated to try.