Starting the year off right

So far, my start of the year plan is working. After three years of dilettantish ballet and piano lessons, second grade is here and it’s time to get down to some serious discipline. We, or I should say I, decided that 20 minutes of focused piano-playing per day was about right and I discussed it with my 7-year old. She’s somewhat ambivalent about piano, but since mom and dad both play, she takes it as more of a given than a real lifestyle choice. Anyway, so far so good. She’s done twenty minutes per day every day except for her lesson day and one day on the weekend, and sometime with no coaching. One thing that helped was getting a good timer. I opted for the Mark My Time Book Mark and Digital Timer. It’s pretty simple and cheap, and can also be used for timing reading. It counts both up to 20 and down from 20. When our friends at Active Allowance get their new chore charts done (Monday 9/24), piano will be right there as part of the daily rituals.