One thing I hear as a full time musician and piano teacher is people always want to know how much to practice. When I was younger, my piano teacher, Joseph Price, told me to practice a full 30 minutes every day, and that he would practice so long as a child that his mother would literally pay him to stop playing.
At the time, I was 7 or 8 years old and as my mother can attest, I was not very good at practicing. I learned about three short classical pieces before moving on to gospel music and jazz, so I can identify 100% with children who don't want to play classical music. I try not to force it down their throats, while also introducing them to its finer points and showing them the things that they can learn from it.
To wrap things up, I get it that making a child practice is difficult, however, it also is an unfortunately reality that children will not consistently practice on their own. Learning an instrument is like growing into a good marriage. Sometimes the "in love" feeling will carry you through the tough times. Sometimes, it's going to take hard work and making yourself go through the things you don't really want to go through. Kids will sometimes want to practice, but don't count on that being what's going to push that child to become a great musician. Teaching a child to play an instrument, something that takes years of study, is an activity for the parent and the child, because I can only be there once a week to inspire them, the rest is up to you and him or her.
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