Claiming Territory
Issue with Interfering Dad in Lessons
I’m reaching out to you all for some much needed advice. I’m not good at articulating myself sometimes in uncomfortable situations, and I want to make sure that the email I send this father is VERY ARTICULATE. Here is the situation: I did an FIS…
Parents that Watch & Lean Ahead
I’ve got a territorial question this time round. One of young students aged 8 has a dad that likes to keep ahead by watching the SHM and learning the next song before our lesson. He just sent me a recording of him playing Minuet in…
Parents Opposed to Shared Lessons
Today I received an email from the parent of a student who has had approximately 54 lessons & is about to enter Level 4. I love the student & the family, but the parents have, from the beginning, been trying to claim territory. I’ve unwisely,…
Objections to Keypads & Shared Lessons
During the Q&A section of a recent FIS, I was asked how lessons are conducted in groups with only one piano? I explained how we first process the information by getting the patterns into our hands on the keypad, and then taking turns at the…
Parents Who Don’t Participate
In both my shared lessons and private lessons (child student) the parents are present and usually sit and watch. However, this week one mother brought her lap top to use during the class and in another class the parents knew each other and carried on…
Involving Coaches in Lessons
I had a conversation recently about involving coaches in the lessons and giving them instructions for what to do at home. I have a great handout that I will find and share in a follow-up email, but we are wondering how YOU engage coaches. I…
How Much Parental Support Is Really Needed?
The following is a series of responses to a question that, in one way or another, comes up for us all. I have included some different perspectives, all from different teachers, so that you can get a sense of how challenging it can be to…
Frustrated by Complaints
It seems I’ve just been hammered recently with issues to the point where it is draining me emotionally. I just started a new class of 4 students that meets every other week. Two of the four have had some lessons (not very many) and two…
Parents Wanting to Use the Music Book
Would anyone have any insight on how to respond to this mom? Her daughter was in very slow moving class last year (part of it was because this class is younger – 1st and 2nd grade), part of that may have been a lack of…
Father Wants Reading NOW!
Hi Everyone, I am hoping for some words of your great wisdom – I have been teaching for about three years I think – and I am just now getting to the reading notes portion of the program – I am feeling unsure of myself…