Sarah Stewart Taylor

Just Wri . . . More

At the music school where my kids take lessons, every February brings the start of something their teachers call 100 Days of Practice. Each kid is given a chart and pledges to practice every day for 100 days and check off each day on the chart (or decorate with a sticker!) In May, there's a pizza party to celebrate. It's a simple idea that encourages goal-setting and accountability and in the decade or so that I've been watching my kids participate, I've come to believe it really works. They always make huge leaps in learning during the 100 Days stretches and the charts motivate them to remember to play their instruments every day. The daily practice also makes music a habit, which is the po