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I think the first thing to remember is you are not alone here, so many parents struggle with this. I think it is a joint venture for student, parent and teacher and should all work together to get results. Have you tried a practice chart? You can find them online or even create them yourself, maybe with tick boxes for dynamics etc. I find kids love having the responsibility of filling them in and makes them think about their practice a little more.

Three monkeys - this is beautifully said, "However, the content of the math they learn today and the songs they learn today is not as import as learning the ability to learn." Thanks for the reminder!

ThreeMonkeys - You have pointed out a few things that I would like to try like not offering technical advice. Your 8 years old sounds pretty much like mine too as I do need to remind him to practice, to focus :-) Sometimes parents like me only look for immediate result and forgot about the process - the ability to learn and fun experience.

Ya, when we grow a plant, we can work hard to make sure it got enough water (but not too much), enough fertilizer(and again not too much) and will have let the plant to grow on it's own.

Same as growing a person. We have to do our part, but the child has to grow on it's own and it takes time. Keep staring at the plant wouldn't make it grow any faster, so is keep staring at your kid. Take your eyes off him a little bit and when you look at him again, you might be surprised how much he has grown!

I have many theories on child education before I have one. Now I have 2 and I have zero theory. I am just doing one step at a time, enjoy the time while they are still in my house. Before soon they will be gone, calling me once a month, if I am lucky. At that time, when you look back, something that tied up all your attentions and energies, may not be that important.

Kids need to learn how to practice; playing the same piece thirty times a day is boring and unproductive. That's what I did until I discovered better ways to practice; now I make sure that all my students practice properly.

I'd sit in on some of the child's practice sessions, maybe even get them to "teach" me some of the concepts. Kids like to be teachers.

An obvious question that may have already been addressed (sorry, some of the above posts are quite long): Are his practice sessions that add up to a daily amount of 30 minutes to and hour divided and staggered or simply one large block? Studies all suggest that several smaller sessions (as attention and deliberate focus towards any one thing obviously slowly diminishes as time passes) throughout the day are more efficient than but one larger session; if/when able, a majority of people seem to prefer this route, anyways.

You also may enjoy this recent article written on the subject of slow practice and delayed gratification: New Graham Fitch Article