Our second grader is taking violin lessons once a week. She requested the violin lessons -- we didn't push this activity upon her, and frankly, the private lessons aren't cheap (her school doesn't offer free instrument lessons). She says she enjoys playing violin and doesn't want to stop the lessons, and her teacher says she is naturally talented and learning well, but both he and we (her parents) are having some difficulty getting her to practice outside of the weekly lesson.

The music school director said that we shouldn't push too hard (i.e., use negative consequences or punishment to get her to practice), and that we may need to be patient or wait another year (that she may be too young still to take the lessons and practice seriously enough). However, I think she might progress with the learning more if she were practicing more, and her teacher seems to agree. He thinks more practice would help improve her retention of previous week's lessons and increase her abilities too.

One thing we did to encourage her to practice more was to clear a special spot in our house for her to practice and added a full-length mirror there (like they have at the music school). What else should we try? What are some ways you get your child to practice her musical instrument without nagging or punishing her? Have ideas for making the practice more fun?