The standard answer to this question is an unqualified yes, most children should learn to play a musical instrument. Children learn discipline from the rehearsal process, self-expression from performance and social interaction from group studies. A child can definitely benefit from learning a musical instrument at an early age, since many professional musicians credit their early experiences with developing a life-long passion for music. Even if a child discovers other interests later in life, the discipline required to maintain and play a musical instrument could prove useful in other situations.
Children should learn to write in cursive? Cursive, incidentally, is defined as the flowing writing style that connects letters to one another, rather than keeping them separate, as in printing. For many years in the United States, beginning in the 19th century and continuing through the mid-20th century, children were taught to write in cursive as soon as they started school. In the 1960s, new education theories taught that first-graders really didn’t have the necessary fine motor skills to handle cursive writing. With that, the fat pencils and ball-and-stick method of printing appeared in classrooms nationwide.As computers have become increasingly popular, and with them, the prevalence of communicating via e-mail, the current question is: should my child even learn cursive. From some educators, the answer is an unqualified “yes,” and the sooner the child gets started, the better. Some educators argue that teaching cursive before printing solves many more problems than it creates. They contend that writing in cursive teaches children to read more quickly, since they must write words in a connected form, rather than as discrete letters.

The standard answer to this question is an unqualified yes, most children should learn to play a musical instrument. Children learn discipline from the rehearsal process, self-expression from performance and social interaction from group studies. A child can definitely benefit from learning a musical instrument at an early age, since many professional musicians credit their early experiences with developing a life-long passion for music. Even if a child discovers other interests later in life, the discipline required to maintain and play a musical instrument could prove useful in other situations.That's the good news. There is another side to the musical instrument question which many parents don't discover until it's too late. Allowing a child to learn a musical instrument also means a parent needs to prepare for repetitive scales, loud noises and frequently missed notes. A child's interest in a musical instrument, especially a loud or amplified one, is destined to involve the entire family, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. The rehearsal process is a vital part of learning a musical instrument, but one child's rehearsal room may often be another man's den or basement.

Another consideration is the cost and availability of professional instruction. Finding an affordable piano or guitar teacher may be a matter of contacting a local music store, but a child may have an interest in a musical instrument for which local instruction may be scarce. There are now a number of self-help instructional materials available online or through larger music stores, however, so a child may be able to teach himself the basics of a musical instrument without the need for formal lessons. Many schools also provide extracurricular music programs and instruction, but parents should understand this may involve picking up a child after practice and transporting him or her to out-of-town performances.Children should definitely be encouraged to try out different artistic outlets, including music, theater, creative writing and dance. If a young child shows a clear interest in a toy musical instrument, then parents may want to consider taking that interest to the next level. Pressuring a child to take up a musical instrument for other perceived benefits, however, is rarely a good idea. Every child should have the right to pursue a creative outlet based on his or her personal interests and skills, and if it happens to be learning a musical instrument, then parents should understand it takes time and practice to develop solid performance skills. A parent's role in a young musician's life may be to push him or her to a higher level of performance.