Teaching in the School Setting
Found in: Marketing & Advertising, Studio Setup
Lynn S., Illinois
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 longer there.
The school is used to charging a flat amount per semester (instead of a monthly fee), and the parents traditionally never accompanied the children for their lessons. When I briefly explained the framework and the cost per student, the administrator seemed a bit taken aback. She said the lessons seemed expensive, and didn’t know if the parents would stay.
I don’t think the school wants to work out an arrangement that I described.
What to you think? I’m just at the beginning level, and would not be ready to teach the Australian children at this point into their next level.
Please let me know your thoughts. Has anyone taught through the schools and found it feasible? What did you charge – a flat amount per semester? Did the parents attend?
Robin Keehn, Washington
Hi Lynn,
I want to address the idea of teaching in a school setting. As you know, there are three components absolutely critical to the successful delivery of Simply Music and they are: a trained and licensed teacher, a willing student, and an active and participating coach who attends each week with the student.
In a typical school setting, the missing component is the participation of the parent/coach. Without the coach, the student will not be able to maintain the longterm relationship that learning to play the piano requires. In lessons the coach is regularly exposed to the conversation about the experience of peaks, valleys and plateaus in the longterm relationship. When the student arrives at the inevitable valley or plateau, the coach is prepared for it. The coach also sees the value of what is being taught and is much more likely to protect the student’s practice time at home. Without the coach, there is limited support, even with the best SM teacher.
The other issue is that of payment. Schools have to be prepared to pay for Student Home Materials and tuition. For some schools this is not a concern but it does need to be discussed. Each student is required to purchase the SHM….students cannot share nor can schools retain the SHM for next year’s students.
We would love to find a successful way to offer SM in schools. We are open to discussing ideas anyone has about developing a model that addresses the issues so that students really do have an opportunity to have music as a lifelong companion.