The Places for Positivism and Praise when Teaching Young Children Piano
Young children are very sensitive and perceptive. They are like small dry sponges ready to soak up knowledge and feelings. That is why it is so important to their overall development that you handle their education in music carefully and with wisdom. Starting them out using the Animal Notes is a positive move. Very young children learn best by association. Being able to link new knowledge to what they are already familiar with helps lay a strong base on which to build their music education. Since you are likely to work with this child for several years, you want to lay the foundation carefully.
Some of the “stones” used to build that foundation are the way you address situations. For example a child has just played the song you assigned last week and has done a very good job in accomplishing the assignment. You can reward the child’s effort with positivism or with words of praise. .There is a difference between these two approaches. For example consider these two statements. “I told you that you could do a good job with that song.” Or, “That is great!” The first tells the child you believe in his/her ability to do well. That is a strong statement. As you develop a good teacher-student relationship with the child, these words build confidence and a desire to please you. The second statement is also strong and beneficial, but must be used sparingly. It should be a true reward for outstanding work that they have put effort into accomplishing beyond your expectations.
Everyone likes receiving “Warm Fuzzes” in their lives. Those words of praise for a job well done, when you feel you have truly worked hard on an assignment, really boost one’s ego and help to renew efforts. However, if given too often, these words lack meaning, or worse yet, cut back one’s effort because it is just too easy to think we are good enough and really don’t need to get better.
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