Encouragement: “You only need to practice on the days that you eat!”  Dr. Suzuki said, with a big smile on his face. “So, eat often!” says, Miss Bambie, “and a sense of humour is essential!” It is a very real thing that students become overwhelmed!  Encouragement is precious and tender love within a vulnerable moment.  Children are changing and learning new things every day and all the time!  How many adults are willingly do that?  Understand each situation for your child and you will build beauty of spirit into your relationship.  “No matter how accomplished you are, in a new piece of music, you face all the things you do not yet know how to do! No wonder there is resistance!”   Miss Bambie “It always helps to have people we love beside us when we have to do difficult things in life”. Fred Rogers. Don’t let this overwhelmed experience surprise you.  Allow it to make your heart tender.  “Learn to expect it be prepared.  Prepare, before you have an expectation.”  Miss Bambie on the dichotomy of practicing.  There are simple ways to avoid trouble. “Always work on your relationship, instead!”  Bambie Maree Simple things go a long way toward success: Plan on a simple action to encourage a good outcome! LISTEN to what the child is saying.  Observe the notes from the teacher in the lesson.  Come rested and fed.  Smile more often.  Praise good effort, but not lazy praise.  Make it meaningful.  Children love it, and they will give it back to encourage you, also! Set a goal, get organized in baby steps, try every practice, and keep track of what works and what doesn’t.  Celebrate often! Students need an “organizer" in a home-coach, who "hears and sees" to set up their home practice needs.  The home-coach needs to be creative and to change in their approach; to find a way to re-organize lesson ideas for at home practice.   Talent, the possibility of a sprout to grow!”  Schinichi Suzuki It is a wise home coach who will offer a relaxed chat about the struggle to focus and meet a goal while practicing at home. “Work harder on the environment and less “on” the child,” Schinichi Suzuki.   Keep your struggles from other things out of the piano practice time.  Miss Bambie calls this:   “Becoming free from peas and carrots”.  Children resist for a reason! The practice time can become an intimate one on one with your child if you don’t include other frustrations. Find out what is on your child’s mind.  Often after you have gained some success over difficulty, a child will soften, and tell you something more private about themselves.  This vulnerability is precious in your relationship.  It happens when trust is formed in the furnace of frustration that has been helped by encouragement.  The piano practice time can become this precious time for you and the student. Sometimes a home coach can limit a child’s progress.  Don’t assume that something that you think is hard, is going…