What is the practice journal?
Students receive a Practice Journal at the beginning of each term. They will use the journal to track their practice and achievements over the week between lessons. They will also use it to report on their progress, parents too can report on progress. The Practice Journal is the main way in which your child will earn fretpoints.
The journal is made up of two main pages, the Practice Assignment and the Weekly Practice Journal.
Practice assignment
The Practice Assignment page has four sections that need to be filled in each week:
Practice
Goals
Songs
Total Points Earned
Fill out how many days your child practiced for the week. Under each day, write how many minutes they practiced for. At the end of the week, sign the “INITIAL” box to verify the number of days practiced.
For each day practice occurs, your child will receive one fretpoint.
This is where the teacher and student will write down goals to achieve during this week's practice. You can also choose goals for your child if you wish.
For each goal honestly achieved, they earn one fretpoint. (Max of 3 points)
See list of example goals below.
Here they can list up to three songs to work on each week. They need only show you they are working on a song to earn a point for that song. They can practice more songs than this if they choose but will still only earn a maximum of three points.
Write down the total points earned for the week here.
On the righthand side of the sheet are the parent signature boxes. Each time your child completes one of the tasks, place your initials in the box next to the item. No points can be awarded to students without their parent’s signature!
weekly practice journal
The Weekly Practice Journal page has two sections that cover questions about how well the student is doing:
Motivation Section
Progress Section
Here the student, or parent, can comment about how they are feeling regarding their practice, their level of effort and how motivated they feel toward practicing.
Asking themselves on a regular bases why they are taking lessons and what they’d like to eventually achieve (BIG PICTURE) can really help to build intrinsic motivation.
Here the student can comment about the progress they are making.
They can report on wins and successes, problems or difficulties.
They can also think about where they are getting stronger and where they are weakest so they understand what to work on in their practice sessions.
other journal pages
Name Page & Important note
The student should fill in their name in the space provided on this page so that if they misplace or lose the journal it can be returned to them.
There is also an note to students about what the journal is used for and that they must get their parent to sign the practice journal in order to earn Fretpoints.
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Parent Guide and example goals
This page is on the inside front cover.
The Parent Guide is a quick reference that explains how to fill in each section of the journal.
Example Goals - these are achievement based targets aimed at improving your child's technique and understanding. You can use theses to give you some ideas of goals your child can work toward each week.
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