Nora Friedman led an insightful Practice Strategies conversation with parents on Zoom on Wednesday, February 2nd.
One of the main topics discussed included doing your best to find empathy for your child when they’re having trouble with something. It can be tough at the end of a long day, when you’re trying to squeeze in a practice session to try to empathize with your child and how they might be feeling. We also discussed ways to show more empathy during practice time, and how to navigate times when kids are feeling anxious about doing something that seems challenging. Parents shared experiences with their children, and teachers offered advice and insights.
One idea that seemed really helpful: During practice time, imagine that your child is a friend who is telling you about an important experience they just had. Imagine what your reaction would be with a friend. This will most likely lead to a less critical perspective, and a friendlier demeanor than we might fall into with close family members, with whom we might feel frustrated or have very high expectations and hopes for. Sometimes an enthusiastic “WOW!” or “Do that again!” is a great way to buy more time.
There were also a number of resources that came up that might be useful:
Daniel Pink’s book, Drive
Effortless Mastery, Kenny Werner
Inner Game of Music/Golf, etc.
Carol Dweck video on the importance of the TYPE of feedback we give to children to help them develop a growth mindset and cope with perfectionistic tendencies. Nora shared this alongside a caveat that one should view it with a grain of salt, and to keep in mind that we are all on a lifelong learning journey.
We were so happy to have the parents and teachers who joined us, and are looking forward to continuing the conversation to discuss other facets of practicing in the near future!