Have a scheduled practice time

One of the best ways to provide structure for your child’s practicing is to have a scheduled practice time. If a child knows that at a certain time of the day they are supposed to practice they will come to expect it and also know what is expected from him/her. How often should your child be practicing? Ideally, it is best for them to be practicing on a daily basis, or at the very least 5 days a week. This helps the student to become familiar with the material and also to be prepared for their next session with their piano instructor. It also allows for enough time throughout the week to reinforce the concepts that were taught by the instructor in the previous session.

Set a timer

This one really works well, especially with young children. Most of the students that are successful at practicing use a timer or focus on practicing for a certain amount of time. This adds additional structure to the practice sessions. Students tend to play through their pieces more times when a timer is set than without it. It is important to make sure that a silent timer is used as to not distract from the rhythm of the pieces that the student is playing or interfere with the student’s concentration.

Utilize rewards

A reward system can be a powerful motivator for children of all ages. It is not necessary to purchase extravagant prizes for your children. In fact, simple rewards such as letting them have a special meal, taking a trip to a park, allowing them to have a sleepover, letting them bake cookies, etc., can be strong motivators for children. Sometimes even inexpensive stickers work with younger children. Choose something that your particular child would consider to be a special reward and continue with whatever works for them.

ALWAYS give praise and encouragement for practicing

Every time that your child practices with a good attitude, make sure to praise them for making this choice. This helps them to associate their good attitude for practicing with receiving the reward of having your praise. They will come to realize what is expected from them and understand that if they meet your expectations that they will receive your praise and approval for their practicing. This also helps to improve their self confidence in playing the piano.

Encourage them to include pieces that are fun

Playing the piano should be enjoyable. One of the ways to encourage children to play is to make sure that they can play some pieces that they really enjoy playing. Encourage them to choose a piece or two that they like to play as a warm up for each practice session. They can play these fun pieces before playing their assigned pieces. This will allow them to spend some time enjoying the piano as well as warming up for the real practice time.

Samar has been a United Nations news correspondent for the past 5 years and covers the issues discussed in meetings at the Security Council, especially regarding the crisis in the Middle East. Samar plans for her new documentary to be shown to Lebanese students as an educational tool and to the wider Lebanese community throughout the world. She plans on leaving journalism one day to become a screen writer on movies. She feels movies and documentaries are more of a mirror on the people and she gets frustrated with the politics at the United Nations sometimes. She would rather tell the truth to her audience and feels America is a great place to make a movie, in which she can reveal the trials, tribulations and accomplishments of her community and people.

Samar travels to Lebanon twice a year and feels so blessed to have such a warm family there. She feels passionately about her country and says they give her energy and the love of life and laughter she has always enjoyed. She wants to give back by sharing this documentary, which primarily outlines the life of her grandparent’s family, but says they are an example of what so many other families experienced during the same period.

I cannot stress this enough — your headshot should actually look like you. This seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people think they need to look like someone else in their headshots! Several years before I was a headshot photographer in Vancouver, and was looking for a photographer to do my own headshots, someone suggested I go to a certain photographer: “This photographer is so amazing! They make you look like a totally different person!” Well, newsflash!…that’s what you absolutely DO NOT want when you’re getting an actor headshot. If your headshot does not look like you, casting directors might ask that you get a new headshot, and you will have wasted hundreds of dollars. Also, if you haven’t gotten an agent yet and you are submitting your headshot to talent agencies, you want your headshot to accurately represent what you look like in real life. You don’t want your potential agent to be surprised when you show up, looking nothing like the headshot you submitted.

2 – THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CONSIDERING PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP

You should look like yourself in your headshots, but you should also look your very best on the day your actor headshots are taken. Some men and women pay extra to get professional makeup done. Professional makeup is not crucial and can add an extra $100 or more to the total price of your actor headshots. For women, it’s usually best to do your own makeup as you normally would, and wear a foundation that blends perfectly with your natural skin tone. Be sure to bring your makeup with you to the photoshoot, for touch-ups. For men, you really don’t have to worry about professional makeup at all. If you are concerned about shiny skin, buy some translucent skin powder. I suggest Marcelle’s Translucent face powder, available at most leading drugstores. You will also need a makeup brush or puff, though cotton balls work just fine, too. Most photographers should know how to retouch their own images, so they will be able to remove blemishes, scars, and discolorations.

3 – PREPARING FOR YOUR ACTOR PHOTOSHOOT
It’s always important to eat right, but definitely consider nutrition and how you treat your body a week or so before your actor headshot photoshoot. It’s best to stay away from too much caffeine and sugar the week leading up to your photoshoot (if you can, avoid these things entirely), and be sure to drink lots of water to hydrate your skin. Also, make sure not to spend too long in the sun the day or two before your photoshoot.

Of art studies, her first formal training was as a child under Sara Mann, a watercolor artist. After high school, she studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After that, she studied under William Merritt Chase at the Art Students League in New York. When she won the William Merritt Chase still-life award, she received a scholarship to the League’s Lake George outdoor summer school.

However, in 1908, Georgia left her art career. According to her, she would never break out as an artist in the current formulaic tradition. For four years, she didn’t paint anything while she worked as a commercial artist in Chicago. But in 1912, after learning about Arthur Wesley Dow’s ideas by Alon Bement at the University of Virginia Summer School, she became inspired to go back to painting. She taught art in Amarillo schools. She went to Columbia University’s Teachers College, worked as Bement’s teaching assistant and taught art at Columbia College. It was there that she made her charcoal abstracts. Later on she became the art department head of the West Texas State Normal College for two years.

Toy Story - Old, wooden toy Woody the cowboy, is threatened by the arrival of shiny, new, plastic toy, Buzz Lightyear the spaceman.

A Bug’s Life – A group of down and out theater troupe bugs get a chance to play heroes and save their livelihoods and their lives.

Monsters, Inc. – The old way of collecting energy through screams is eventually replaced by collecting laughter.

Finding Nemo – Dad proves his usefulness and his love by searching for his lost son.

The Incredibles – A whole “industry” of super heroes are put out of work and fall out of fashion.

Cars – A small town bypassed by a new highway gets rediscovered for it’s nostalgic charm.

Ratatouille – This must have been a reaction to America’s annoyance with France over the Iraq war since it tries to associate French cooking with swarms of rats. Not a good example of obsolescence and a rare WTF?! moment for Pixar.

WALL-E – The whole planet is trashed. Robots do the clean up. Obsolescence to the extreme.

Up - An old man with no reason to stay simply flies away.

Pixar films are extremely well made on all levels and they’ve also been noted for their “heart”. It is the bitter sweet knowledge that the old must make way for the new that gives these films their sentimentality and that probably stems from the subconscious guilt Pixar must have for so completely replacing the traditional and beloved animated cartoon.