Studio Management
Teens and Piano
I have a handful of teen students most of whom have switched over to SM from traditional experience. I have to say that they cover the gamut of ability, interest and practice regiment. This is a very challenging age group because I have a couple…
Teens and Claiming Territory
I wanted to share a territory victory, even though it caused me to lose a student. This student was 12 (not quite a teenager, but BOY did she act like one). I told her coming in, as I do with all prospective students of this…
Teen Students & Parents
I have a couple of teenagers (16 and 17) that have years of previous experience and have been with Simply Music since summer ’09. They both catch on easily and are wonderfully capable of going forward. However, neither of them are keeping their playlist alive and…
Motivating Junior High-Age Students
I was just curious if anyone had any strategies for junior high students (ages 11 or so through 14). I have a class of 6 at this age ready to start level 6 and a couple of them are so quiet and apathetic. I would…
Bored Student
This is probably a moot point because this student has all but decided to quit, but I’ll ask anyhow. Here’s the background: 17 year old student, who was my most advanced of traditional students when I transferred my studio over to Simply Music. He has…
Teaching Groups
Just wanted to give you a quick update of how my groups are going. Firstly, 2 of my 3 children’s groups are having a fabulous time. One was a beginners group this year and one is made up of ex-private students who are just starting…
Student Update – Neil Moore
Hi all, Recently I forwarded you a copy of a weekly update that I received from one of our teachers, Diana A.. Her most recent update is also valuable, and as such, I have included an edited transcript. I have left out the students’ names.…
Reading Program Testimonials
I wonder if some of you who have gone through the SM reading program would be so kind as to give me your testimonial of how well it works. I have many parents who are asking questions which I just don’t feel equipped to answer,…
Student Accountability
I want to share something I’ve learned that has really helped my teaching. I love working with kids, but when I first started teaching, I had never really been around kids much. I am not a parent, and most of my time had been spent…
Request vs Requirement Based Studios
December 2006 Neil came over to Australia for a series of workshops and spoke about the difference between Require and Request. This was a rather large insight for me. Although I knew where Neil was coming from and could appreciate it, I did wonder how…