Practice Sheet for Young Beginners

In this post, I talked about some of the challenges of teaching young beginners, and discussed the strategies I use in my lessons. Today, I would like to share a practice sheet that I have found very helpful in my lessons with young beginners.

This practice sheet is simple, but effective! I like to place it on the music rack and use it as a visual guide for the tasks we will be completing in the lesson. Students can put a check mark in the box next to each task as it is finished. If their attention wanes, I point to the tasks on the practice sheet to get us back on track.


The benefits I have found in using this practice sheet are:

1. It divides the lesson into short tasks, and young beginners know exactly how many tasks are left until the end of the lesson.
2. It provides a framework for what a practice session should look like at home. As you go through a lesson, you can fill in each portion of the practice sheet and this can be placed in a student's notebook to serve as their assignment sheet for the upcoming week.
3. It encourages good listening skills. I tell students that each time they show they aren't listening and following directions, I will cross off one of the three ears at the bottom of the page. At the end of the lesson, students may choose as many stickers as there are ears left on their practice page. No ears=no stickers!
4. It provides parents with feedback on what was covered in the lesson, and how well a student followed directions. It's like a mini-report card that parents can see at the end of each lesson!

Download your free practice sheet HERE. What do you think? Do you use something similar with your young beginners? Please leave a comment below!

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