One Step Forward … Cha, Cha, Cha

For parents of early learners, their child’s progress in music lessons can often look like a dance. One step forward, cha, cha, cha, two steps back, cha, cha, cha. And while it can be a little frustrating to watch, it’s important to know that it is perfectly normal.

Early learners have a thirst for knowledge and a capacity for new information. However, once that capacity is reached, the information they’ve acquired needs to be absorbed before they attempt to squeeze in any new information. So while it can appear that they’re stuck or even regressing, it’s simply their natural learning process. 

Oftentimes, when parents express concern about this process we ask them to imagine that their early learner’s cup is full and starting to overflow. If we try to pour more in before they’re ready, it will simply spill over the sides. Instead, we give them a little time to absorb what’s already in the cup so it can empty a bit, making more room to be topped off again with new information.

Play It Again … and Again … and Again

It’s quite common for young students to need to repeat lessons and assignments or even go back to a previous point in their lessons to allow them the time, experience, and reinforcement of the information they’re learning. It’s important to remember that as a young student grows and continues to learn, their “information cup” size changes along the way so that eventually parents aren’t seeing the little dances as frequently.

It’s also not unusual for older students to go through this learning experience as well. The difference between them and early learners is their sense of self-awareness. That’s why if we need to provide additional lessons built around the same skill or concept, we draw from a large library of material so these students don’t feel as if they’re stagnating or regressing.

Can You Repeat That?

One undeniable fact about early learners is that they like repetition. Especially when they’re good at something. If you’re a parent who’s seen their child repeat a trick on their bike or somersault over and over again, you already know this. As adults, it’s important to remember that all play is learning for young children. As such, it follows that the natural repetition in your child’s day-to-day play experience is similar to the repetition they enjoy in the structured learning of music lessons. 

Early learners are usually happy to play old songs again. Most aren’t self-conscious about needing to repeat or go back a few pages. That’s why it’s important at this point to help parents manage their expectations and recognize that repetition isn’t a bad thing. In fact, their students are doing just fine.

One More Time

It bears repeating: it will often appear that an early learner is either stuck or even regressing, but that just isn’t the case. To help make the musical journey a bit easier for all concerned, we offer parents the following tips:

• Focus on your child’s unique abilities. Every child has certain strengths and weaknesses. They also develop at their own rate. Remember, they’ll grasp new concepts in their own time and pace.
• Take note of progress they do make. It’s important to celebrate your child’s progress as well as their efforts. You’ll see them improve and expand their skills as the weeks go by and they’ll do it at a tempo that’s right for them.
• Try not to compare. It can be tempting to gauge your child’s progress by comparing them to another child, such as a friend or an older sibling. However, each child will progress at their own unique speed depending on their abilities.
• Recognize they’ll continue to progress. As your child grows and changes, they’ll develop new skills and reach new milestones.
• Ask questions. If you’re at all worried about your child’s progress with music lessons, we want you to know you can always speak to us about any concerns you might have. We’re all on this journey together as a team.

Finally, we want to encourage parents and kids to just enjoy the dance. It doesn’t last as long as you might think.