I think Marvin Hamlisch said that his mother bribed him with cookies. Motivation really is they key, but some things help one survive the plateaus until motivation kicks in again.

1) Young children love to put check marks in a daily practice book...or gold stars, or stickers...

2) Parental involvement works wonders for motivation. A kid likes to prepare a special song for mom or dad. One student even played "The Pink Panther" just to see mom run into the room and dance. I once rewarded a young student with jelly beans for each scale that was played. (favorite colors for hard scales and least favorite for easy scales) When dad got involved playing scales for jelly beans, it got to be a contest.

3) I told my students that the hardest part of daily practicing was to go to the room where the piano was.

4) back to motivation...I think some kind of goal helps keep on track...some kind of performance (I hate recitals)...playing with others, duets, playing with the CD or a tape of the duet part.

5) Above all, if it's not fun, you may have won the battle but lost the war. I've heard lots of folks say that they were glad mom made them suffer through lessons...but I don't feel these people really have a passion or love of music.

6) It's much easier to teach a child than an adult! Get 'em while they're young.