50 Days of Practice Olympics

GOAL: To establish a habit!  Simple as that! It’s less about time spent and more about quality of practice.

 

PRACTICE DIARY

  • Note the start date on the Practice Diary with your student.
  • Explain to the student what to notate on the diary each day.  As stated above, it’s less about time spent and more about quality of practice. However, you and your student will decide together what you want to record here.
  • Student must practice for 50 consecutive days – no excuses!
    • If the student misses a day, they must start the challenge over at Day 1.
    • Exceptions to the rule: family emergency or student illness.
  • Daily practice can be achieved even if the child is away from an instrument – listening, reading, theory workbook, online theory games, flashcards, music software (Tenuto is great!), attending a concert, playing for family or friends, etc.
  • A parent should initial each day.

PRACTICE CHART

  • The Practice Chart may be kept in your studio or in the student’s assignment book. Place one small sticker or stamp of your choosing on each day practiced.
  • You may also keep a chart in the studio.
  • Students who complete 25 days may have their names and photos (if desired) listed on the RMTA website.  Teachers are responsible for sending these names and photos to the chair.

INCENTIVES/AWARDS

  • Periodic incentives may be given at the teacher’s discretion. (music themed pencils, bookmarks, sheet music, etc…your choice!)
  • Upon completion of the challenge, all students will receive a Certificate of Merit and ribbon from RMTA documenting their accomplishment. Plus a few surprises TBA!

TIMEFRAME

    • Project closes February 28, 2025. Extended to March 29, 2025.
    • The teacher decides the start date.
  • Email Millie with the number of students participating from your studio as soon as possible. This will help with planning the final rewards for everyone.

COORDINATOR

DOWNLOADS

  • Teacher Information
  • Student Information  – Students keep this handy sheet to refer to for practice ideas.
  • Daily Diary  – Students keep this to notate what their daily practice includes. Parent/Guardian initials it.
  • Sticker Chart – Teachers decide whether to keep this in the studio or with the student’s books. (My kids all have a 1-inch binder for their assignments. This will go in the front for the duration of the project.)
  • 50 days studio wall chart  – Studio Wall Poster – Use if you want to display student progress somewhere in your studio.
  • 25 Day Poster – When you hit day 25, write the student’s name in the box and take a picture to send to the chair to be posted on the website. (Get parent/guardian permission first, please!)
  • The Whole Shebang! – All the above documents in one download.

FOOTNOTES

  • Teacher should decide how much parent involvement is needed outside of helping with the Daily Diary.
  • This is a sort of test-run of the project for us.  For our 100th Anniversary Year, we’re going to run this again for 100 days of practice…with a little side project tba.