By Christy | the Practicing Pro
October 1st brings a shift in the season as Fall shows up and Spooky season begins!
There is no better way to spice up your practicing than by incorporating the excitement of the new season and approaching holiday!
I created the October Challenge: “Ghosty Activity” so you can have some spooky fun while bringing a lot of success to your kids at home (or as an adult) during your practicing in the month of October!
Using the “Ghosty Activity” (free download) and 31 cotton balls, your October Challenge can help you in whatever specific way you need the most right now!
Because where you are right now is perfect and we can become better simply by making one little change at a time.
Personalized October Challenge:
What would make your practice magically better?
For everyone it is going to be a different thing because everyone is at a different place in their musical journey - beginners advanced etc.
This challenge is different from the 100-day challenge because the purpose is not to track 31-days of practicing. Instead, track 31 times of something special and specific that you and your teacher/parent decide on together. Choose something that is most important for you to master to have success right now! Make it just the right length/difficulty to be easily attained each time.
You can focus for a month, or a week, on just one thing and celebrate that you improved!
How to use the “Ghosty Activity” Tracker
Once you have decided with your teacher/parent what challenge you will do, you can keep track of it on your “Ghosty Activity” Tracker.
Glue a cotton ball on each number each time you complete your task.
You can also check or X them off with a pencil and then glue on all the cotton balls at once at the end!
image by @mrsclara_creates
Three Examples of ways others are using their “Ghosty Activity”
Molly chose her two hardest RCM 6 scales to play.
Each day she will play the scale and count the number of times it takes for her to do it perfectly and also feels easy. She will take that number and double it to repeat it that many times again. She might do that twice each practice (for 2 cotton balls) and finish her 31 times by mid-October! (See Blog: How Many Times Do I Repeat Something?)
Owens' teacher wants him (and his Dad) to improve on listening to his CD daily habit.
His goal is to listen to his CD 31 times. He can listen all the way through, once a day, for 31 days or a few times a day and finish even sooner!
Ghosty Activity Tracker:
Here is a downloadable PDF of the Ghosty Activity tracker that you can print out to use.
This is what I used:
Ghosty Activity Tracker (from the teacher, or downloaded and printed)
31 cotton balls
(See below for QUICK links on Amazon for all of the supplies you might need.)
Use this to make it fun and magical practice for your child. Be wise and intuitive as you choose what will really help them the most right now.
It may be something big, and it may be something small.
By observing your child carefully in practice time you can choose the perfect thing that they need and that's not too hard or too easy!
REMEMBER: You don’t need to do everything perfectly all at once, so why not do just one thing at a time.
What can you do 31 times perfectly between now and Halloween?
This is the October Challenge that I created to help keep your practicing intentional and meaningful through the Spookiest month of the year! You can also print one and give it to your teacher and they can do it WITH you too!
Please send me a photo to share with every one of you “working on it” and/or of the completed Ghosty!
Check out my Free PDF download Checklist for a Successful Music Practice for teachers and practicing parents.
Your easy checklist for successful home music practices from Christy, the practicing pro. Whether you are a new or seasoned practice parent or music teacher, this checklist will help you organize before, during, and after practices for effective and fun practices.
INVITATION from Christy Hodder:
Speaking of amazing practices, let me tell you all about the digital course, the Practicing Pro Academy. This is for the serious practicing parents and music teachers and is an at-your-own-pace, step-by-step, online course to bring you more effective, positive, and fun home music practices. Registrants receive a special package in the mail from me, and I am with you in person with Q&As to answer all your questions.
Learn more about PPA and join the waitlist HERE for the next Practicing Pro Academy course. It's only offered once a year so you don't want to miss it. The registration will only open for a few weeks and I'll let everyone on the waitlist know immediately so that you can grab one of the spots.
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