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Original Post By:
Wednesday
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Date: 3/6/2010 6:44:39 PM |
I have finally resorted to bribing my small boy at a nickel a pop for every uke chord he learns (I mean really learns... He's got to be able to do it again the next day).
Is that wrong?
It's for a laugh mostly. I also told him the first time he ever gets paid as a professional musician he has to pay me back every red cent before he buys anything out of the check, so I guess it's really more of a loan. He likes my ukes, he just needs a little...motivation. By way of winning other converts, we both brought three of our babies into one of his kindergarten classes last week for a demo -- it was "U" week in their alphabet line-up, after all. So great for little hands! Brought a Tangi curly mango pineapple soprano, my screamin' mango Fluke and the sturdy Fortune. The kids all sang SKIDAMARINK A DINK A DINK while I strummed away, smiles all around.
Ukes are just the best. 'Nuff said. |
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Posted By:
William
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Date: 3/8/2010 2:50:16 AM |
Want to really reinforce learning and retention? If he does not remember it the third day, he pays back a nickle. Being paid for learning atask and retaining it is not bribery, it is an incentive. There is also an incentive for retention. Things to eat make bad motivators, because they can not be taken back if learning is not retained. You might also set a goal for being able to remember a chold for ten days in a row as basis for a one time bonus of another nickle or go for The Big Tine- a dime---a penny a day to learn to play. You are a wise parent.
Your child will learn math as well as music.
Set goals: knowing I IV V (C F G) for five different keys gets a quarter.
THANK YOU for the knock in the head of what I need to do with my twin 7 year old grandaughters and my 12 year old grandson who thinks he has better things to do. He began when he was seven, and really knows his chords. Oh to be able to woo him back for only a nickle. Oh well, he worked to earn his uke, so I guess it will be worth some money to get him back as an instructor for his sisters. The only thing more costly than an education is ignorance.
This is a provocative posting. Thank you.
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Posted By:
gitapik
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Date: 3/8/2010 6:13:55 AM
(Updated: 3/8/2010 6:34:30 AM)
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I'm a schoolteacher. Bribery is an age old tradition.
Some kids have a tougher time than others. I keep my eyes open for that and make sure they get a reward for really trying...even if they forget. Say: a penny instead of a nickel.
Others need the all or nothing, though. It's what makes them really work at it and shine.
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Posted By:
Mimi
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Date: 3/8/2010 8:07:24 AM |
I put 25 cents in a jar each time she practiced piano for quite a while. Still didn't work. But a few years later, she turned into a good guitar player.
Have a granddaughter now who could not be 'paid' enough to learn. But she loves when we play together. 'Time together' is her incentive. Each child is different. Do what works!
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Posted By:
Wednesday
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Date: 3/8/2010 9:16:50 AM |
Well, it's funny finding the right balance, isn't it? I had so many friends who were forced to play violin by their parents, back when, and despised it. What's the point of that? If your mom wants to play the violin, she should go and buy one for herself. I always want to make sure the motivation is coming from the lad -- thing is, he keeps saying things like "well, when I go to the Jam and play with you..." Well, what can I say to that, except, great, but to get there you will actually have to PICK something and PRACTICE it, there's just no way around that. (By the way, I think it's FUN, even when practice is frustrating, I tell him). It really just goes back to the same old kernel -- gee, wouldn't it be nice just to have something without having to work for it. But life will knock that notion out of his head soon enough anyway --it's nicer to have it knocked out with a uke, right? Ultimately...you set the best example you can, and keep your fingers crossed, I guess.
Anyway, I MAY let him off the paying-me-back-part when the day comes. I'm such a softie.
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Posted By:
Dasher
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Date: 3/10/2010 5:37:21 PM |
| Wednesday! This is 2010! A chord is worth at least a quarter!
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Posted By:
Wednesday
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Date: 3/11/2010 7:45:16 AM |
Yeah, but nobody's paying ME for making any chords! That reminds me, I owe him 5 cents for C6. Now there's some easy money.
Someone did throw a buck in my fiddle case at a dance last summer when I wasn't looking. Of course, they may have been paying me to go away...I wasn't looking.
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