He Will Need to Practice for 30 Minutes.

Shane is drumming.

For his instrumental music class, Shane needs to drum – or more specifically, practice his percussion – for 25 minutes a day, five days a week. So every day, when Shane comes home, he recites this as part of his homework regimen.

Some days, he’ll say, “I am not going to practice drums today because….” And then he will give a logical reason why not, and put that extra day into his future homework schedule.

He is a fine drummer. He’s substantially better now than when he started playing drums in third grade, and he seems to really enjoy it.

But he is a stickler for details. So he plans that 25 minutes meticulously. If he is interrupted, he knows exactly how long he’s practiced – and how many more minutes he needs to practice. And he never forgets to finish those minutes.

This week, the kids are choosing classes for seventh grade. Shane is considering taking band at the next level.

Next year, he will need to practice for 30 minutes.

This is huge. When one is focused on every second of every minute of practice, adding five whole minutes is a giant step.

“That’s 25 minutes a week!” he exclaimed earnestly.

Earlier in the year, Shane was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to handle that extra five minutes. But after the holiday concert, they added in some more complex music. They gave him something to practice that he’d be playing with the high school band. “Complex” is an understatement for the piece of music he’s working on now.

He loves it. In fact, the more complex it gets, the more he loves it.

So when the course booklets were passed around, he chose band as one of his two electives.

And next year, I’m quite certain he’ll be aware of every second of every one of those 30-minute practice sessions.

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