This week is the “Do Something Hard” challenge at our house!  My husband and I want our boys to learn to work hard.  We want them to be able to see the value in setting a goal and working to complete it.  So, we decided that this week, we would challenge them with their violin practice.  Both of them practice just enough to “get by,” and since I am a violin teacher and teach them myself, it’s easy to let things slide since I’m not paying for lessons and therefore not wasting any money!

Our challenge:  To play their current violin piece as many times as possible during the next week, with a goal of 100 times.  In order to make it fun and add some motivation, they will earn 10 cents for each time they play the song, up to $10.00.  On Saturday, we’ll go shopping with the money they earn!  I’m really hoping that they will see how much the extra practice pays off, and even though we won’t practice this much every week, I hope they will want to keep up a higher level of work than before.

(Aidan mentioned last night after Day 1 that he noticed that one hard part in his song was already seeming SO easy after all that practice.  Woo hoo!)

We’re keeping track of our progress by putting a math cube in the box every time the boys play their song.  So far, Aidan has 16 cubes in his box!  Only 84 more to go…  This is going to be tough, but I know he can do it!

Please join us this week!!

Here’s how:

This week, challenge your child to do something hard!  Maybe you have a struggling reader, and you could challenge that child to read for a certain number of minutes each day.  Pick a measurable goal, and then choose a celebration for the end of the week.  We’re using money, but it certainly doesn’t have to be –  maybe ice cream or a snow cone or a family movie!

On Friday morning, I will have a linky up and you can link up a post about your challenge with us!  If you don’t have a blog, leave a comment letting us know what your challenge was this week!

Any takers?  I’d love for you to leave a comment and tell me about it!!!

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  1. Danielle Jun 24, 2012

    I think I needed to read this post! We are taking a break from piano lessons because my son was no longer having fun. I felt very guilty about letting him quit. I didn't want to battle with him any more, but I know that playing an instrument is such a wonderful experience for a child. I am going to change our perspective and have him "try something hard" this week and see how it goes. Thank you for your ideas!!!

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