Mini Goals and taking breaks

In order to make a practice session time well spent, you don't want your kid to mindlessly hack through a few pieces and come to view playing their instrument as a hard slog. If you have little goals to work toward each session then gratification is more immediate than getting your kid to set a huge unrealistic goal such as "this piece will sound perfect after I practice today". Thats often unrealistic. It can be underestimated how quickly frustration can build if too many goals are piled on top of each other during a practice session. Not only that, muscles can get fatigued and get overused along with a lactic acid build up. After a section has been repeated several times, at a high intensity of concentration and effort, have a little stretch of the limbs or a drink of water to let the body rest and the mind refocus. Often you will find after a small break when you come back to the same section it will sound a lot better as the practice has had time to sink in, the child won't overthink it anymore and the body will do it more naturally. The muscles used to play the violin are not often used in everyday life so its surprising how quickly they tire. Builiding up their use gradually and in small doses rather than long periods of time will avoid injury.