Studio Management
Scheduling, Fees and No Coach
I received a call about teaching Simply Music at a school that’s 45 minutes away, and had a few questions if this would even work. Two of the students moved here from Australia and loved learning piano through the Simply Music method. Their traditional piano teacher is no…
Placing Students by Age
I am wondering how any of you that teach in groups place students. I have 2 or more 6 year olds starting and two 7 year olds starting. Would you recommend placing them together or by age? I have found the first few lessons the…
Mother and Son Sharing Lessons
I have a mom and her 12 yr old son sharing a lesson. I notice she progresses quite a bit slower than him. They are up to Fur Elise in Level 1. It took her quite awhile to get Family Dreams relatively smooth and Bishop…
Minimum Age of Students
What age do people usually start students in their studios? I was thinking 7 or 8 am I thinking traditionally? As a Kindermusik Teacher I encouraged children to finish the Young Child program or similar music immersion program before beginning piano lessons. Our experience with Traditional Piano…
Every Other Week Lessons?
Does anyone offer every other week lessons? I am a new SM teacher and in the process of switching my traditional students over to SM but one of my students parents is asking if they could do every other week because of the expense. I…
Combining Children and Adults in a Class
I have a 10-year-old in Level 1 who just lost her partner. She is fairly mature for her age and proceeds at an average pace. Unfortunately at this point the only other Level 1 class available for her to join is an adult class of…
Big Families
I’m just opening my studio–this week!–and have a challenge that’s probably almost unique to Utah. We have lots of big families here, so it’s pretty common for a family to have 3 piano-aged children plus younger siblings. I have two moms already signed up, ready…
Teaching Order
As a new SM teacher, it is sometimes hard to understand why songs are placed in a particular order. Would it matter if I switched Amazing Grace and Honey Dew? It seems to me that Amazing Grace is perhaps easier, since it only uses the…
Order of Projects, Lesson Planning and Multiple Projects
I was reading in Simpedia about Managing Time in lessons. I copied down a list (partially shown below) that suggested the order to teach SM projects. I noticed that I may be moving through Accompaniments too fast. I think I spend too much time on accompaniment and…
Lesson Plans – Methods of Organization
I’m ‘Fall Cleaning’ at my Studio. Specifically, am trying to streamline several different aspects all the while learning more and more how to use my computer better. Meanwhile, and for the purposes of this request, I am looking for ‘favorite’ methods or ideas from a minimalist point of view…