It doesn’t take much to motivate the under 10 crowd and stickers, sticker charts, and the occasional bonus surprise have kept mine practicing and trying hard all year long. My kids know that if they play their homework song well enough, they will get their choice from a buffet of stickers, that very in sizes depending on how impressive they were. I love the way they light up and exclaim “I can have a sparkly one?!”. Short term goals are great for getting a student to master a concept within a lesson but long term goals are the most important and most satisfying. My kids get a sticker on a 5×5 chart for each lessons for which they clearly practiced and after it’s full with 25 total, they get a giant sticker. The goal is not easily attained which makes the accomplishment that much more exciting and the best part is that they did all the work to get there. I don’t need to lecture or remind or talk to the parents or feel disappointed when my students don’t practice for a week because they are motivated simply by not receiving a sticker and without a word from me, they know what they need to do to get one the next time. This simple technique is my favorite for instilling independence in all of my students. If there’s anything more convenient than in-home lessons, its a student who practices & does theory homework without being told!
It’s hilarious. I’ve had kids go crazy for new stickers. They love those things. I’ve had to keep a steady variety. They get tired of the same ones. Lol. But I’m going to have to adopt that 5×5 card for the kids when they do a good job. I’ve been looking for some type of grading system. This is good.
Yes, I think music teachers who use stickers are like a sticker store. Variety will keep you in business:)