Students
Summer Dropouts
I feel like it’s that dreaded time of year when students either take the summer off or stop entirely! It happens at the start of almost every summer, when it seems like I lose at least a quarter of my business! How do other teachers…
Student Home Materials For Non- English Speaking Students
Just as I am trying to grow my studio I am thinking of how it would work if I introduce Simply Music to non-English speaking students. I wonder if anyone has taught Simply Music to non-English speaking students (when they don’t speak nor understand English)…
Charging Parents and Students in The Same Shared Lesson
Can I get suggestions for how much other teachers charge for both parents and their five year old son taking lessons as a group? There have been some responses to this question that indicate some teachers would discount on the basis of a family. As…
Setting Rates-Private and Group
I’m newly licensed and I will be holding my first FIS tomorrow. The father of a five-year-old autistic boy contacted me yesterday. Someone at his school recommended SM to him. I’ve been debating, in general, what to charge (and will obviously have to finalize this…
Four Year Old with Hearing Impairment
I would like some advice regarding a potential student. A mother rang me recently, – she had seen my advertisement locally and had been advised by her four year-old son’s occupational therapist to try piano lessons for him. He has had hearing impairment from a…
Central Auditory Processing Disorder
I have a new student beginning private lessons who has been diagnosed with Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD). I have only had two students in the past who had CAPD and their disorders were so mild that I never noticed anything other than they were…
My First Student with Aspergers
I started my first child with Aspergers syndrome last week. We have had two lessons. He is a very sweet young boy who is seven and he has a twin sister. At our lesson he all of a sudden starts to cry. Tears just streaming…
Apology from Special Needs Student
I want to send out a note of encouragement to everyone in our Simply Music family… This morning I had a really challenging exchange with a student that I teach 1:1 with Asperger’s. He often wants to claim territory (as does his younger sister who…
More on Autism and Aspergers
I have had an opportunity to teach a boy with Autism who has had much success so far in Simply Music (with about five weeks of lessons). He loves the music and loves practicing. I originally taught Bradley traditional lessons which of course did not…
Improvisation as a Calming Tool
Recently at a friend’s place my daughter Niluka, came crying to me holding one hand in the other. A young girl, about six years old, had dropped the piano lid on Niluka’s fingers while she was playing the piano for a few others in the…