What Can I Do to Prepare My Child for Voice Lessons?

Thank you, thank you, THANK you for asking! :D

I have a nice little checklist here for you to consider!

1. Sing with your children!!! Especially when they are toddlers (from 18 months to 3 years), make sure they are surrounded with music and they know you're not scared to sing. It doesn't matter if you can't hold a tune. Those vital years make it so much easier for them to sing later, because it will come as naturally as walking to them.
2. Have a variety of music in your home. Otherwise you will raise a bunch of music snobs :D. Some of the genres I would suggest adding to your playlists are:
• Classic Disney: everything from "Aladdin" to "Mary Poppins" and back around to "Nightmare Before Christmas." (This will add quite a few genres without even trying too hard!)
• Broadway: I suggest "Fiddler on the Roof," "Sound of Music," "Les Mis," and even "Phantom of the Opera." Rogers and Hammerstein have a lot of fun songs to sing along with too. Actually, I will have to make a comprehensive list somewhere else. I LOVE Broadway!
• Folk Music: this would include hymns and other spiritual genres. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has great folk and spiritual music. You can also look up "Peter, Paul and Mary."
3. Enroll your children in Children's Choir. This will help them develop an ear for harmonies and rhythms. Plus it gives them experience performing, which is VITAL! What is the point of being able to sing if you're too scared to sing for anyone?
4. Get your children learning a musical instrument. I always feel the world needs more pianists: that's a great place to start if they don't have a preferred instrument. Even an instrument like the drums can teach them a lot.
5. This is more subtle, but don't tease you're child if their voice cracks. There is nothing wrong with the voice cracking: it happens when your vocal cords are trying to learn how to stretch in ways they haven't yet. That's why teenage boys are so notorious for vocal cracks. The reason why you don't want to tease them is because it will almost always lead them to trying to prevent those cracks from happening. That is when tension gets involved. They may be able to prevent the crack, but in an unhealthy way.
6. Don't push your children to be perfect. Let them play around with their voices. That experimentation is what voice lessons is all about, and we want the student to be confident with making funny noises instead of trying to hide under the sofa cushions because they're so embarrassed. Let them express themselves in their own way. Won't it be fun to see what kind of amazing music they'll come up with when they're the composers?

Here are some other ideas for fun sing along music:

• Crooner Music: you know, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald etc.
• Soul
• Classical (this will be the hardest to get your kids interested in. Especially Opera. But that's why I suggested Broadway and Classic Disney--they have classical sounds without being too heavy. Artists like Julie Andrews or Shirley Jones have great classical voices and sing fun songs.)