The Lull in Lessons: When the Honeymoon is Over
Molly Scott
After having returned from summer vacation, your child was signed up for lessons to get a head start before school. It’s been about a month since starting lessons or dance classes at the Omaha School of Music and Dance. But you’ve noticed…
Your child is loath to practice. The novelty has worn off.
Getting your child to leave the house to face their teacher is becoming an ordeal.
It looks like your child isn’t interested in lessons or classes anymore. Why fight? It looks like you should cancel their lessons.
This is all very, very normal.
Excitement and novelty have worn off. But this is where sticking with something that has become challenging is going to pay off long-term. It’s important to keep at a problem and work to solve it, rather than to avoid the discomfort and abandon it. It takes time, patience, diligence, and hard work to face and overcome the challenges that eventually result in progress and achievement in music and dance.
The learning curve always includes a plateau, where hard work seems to yield few results. This is where staying on course with the teacher through a decrease in enthusiasm makes the success of overcoming the challenge all the sweeter. Motivation in future lessons and practice sessions is often derived from the feelings of success and capability when a problem is worked through, which is why it is so important to stick with things that are difficult. The habits developed in this phase of the process carry through many different facets of a student’s life, well beyond the Omaha School of Music and Dance. Class projects, studying and comprehending concepts in science class, practicing calculations in math class, preparing multiple rough-drafts of essays in English class, all benefit from the discipline required to see a difficult task through to completion.
OSMD encourages you to consider these circumstances when you notice a lull in your student’s enthusiasm for lessons and classes. You will notice the same regarding school as the brisk excitement of autumn wears thin into winter. In late August, kids are excited and overwhelmed by everything that’s expected of them. It’s easy to burn out after the intensity of these weeks! So take care, and structure-free time for your child that can be used for creativity and to unwind. In this way, students can be refreshed and focused on their practice sessions and classes.
And within a few more weeks, you won’t be entirely surprised at the amazing achievements that your child can claim as their own. That’s what motivates us at OSMD: the bright and exuberant sense of achievement when your child overcomes and succeeds.
