Time off in a Group Setting
Found in: Scheduling, Shared Lessons
Cheri S., Utah
I have a student who will be taking about a month off when his mom has a baby. I couldn’t find anything about this in Simpedia, which surprised me.
It’s no problem for me that they’re taking the time off. This is a time when the coach needs to focus on the new baby, and on keeping up her own energy for life’s basics. And she arranged this with me several months in advance. So no problem there. The challenge is that her son shares lessons with another boy. I’m sure there are lots of great projects I could do with the other boy for 4-5 weeks, but I do hate to stall his momentum in all the streams we have going now, including Reading Rhythm. I could balance a few extra projects alongside somewhat slower movement in the primary streams. My concern is that, though the two are generally a very good match, the boy who’s sticking around is a slightly faster learner. So for him to move ahead could cause them both frustration when the other boy gets back.
April H., Utah
You might consider talking to the mom about if this is really is best for her and her child. I just had my 4th baby in September. I have a small studio (12 students) so I only took one week off of teaching, but I also teach my daughter, who I didn’t let miss one day of practicing (mostly because I know that this is actually the easiest thing to do).
It was completely doable. In fact, not just do-able, but so much easier than what the alternative would have been. I think we all know how difficult it is to recreate a playlist after time off. It takes so much more time to relearn songs than to just keep them alive. 4 or 5 weeks after she has a baby she is not going to be any less busy, or need any less energy- and this is the time it would get hard if she did take time off. And, if she is going to make him practice just to keep his playlist alive, he might as well be continuing to learn the new stuff along with it.
It doesn’t require that much physically to bring a child to lessons especially if she can bring her newborn to class. My last parent that had a baby had to miss coming to lessons for 1 week and then she just sent her husband as the coach for a week, and she felt like it was completely fine to continue having her son practice at home. I find that just continuing is often easier that taking time off. Of course I did take time off the stuff that wasn’t as necessary- for example I didn’t clean my house or make real meals for a few weeks!
This is just an option you can present to her. I know that often my parents need to just be coached and offered to see another perspective and that they are truly open to hearing what may be easier. You don’t want to come across as insensitive to her situation, but because you care about her and her child you truly want what is best for them and can present it that way.
Darla H., Kansas
I haven’t had a student take off and then rejoin the same partner before, but I have had a number of situations where I needed to regroup students. Having a small studio (20-25 students), I never have the “ideal” situation. So, a number of times I’ve asked a student to not move forward for a time waiting for someone else to catch up. For example I had a brother & sister start last September with another girl. The girl dropped after 2 months, and that same week I had a call from another family that had 2 girls. Since I had no other openings at the time, I put this new set of sisters in with the original brother and sister the beginning of November. I did extra arrangements with the original brother & sister, had them play duets, and assignments like playing pieces with their hands crossed, etc.
In another situation, I had a boy who had just finished level 5 with 2 others in a group. This boy has always struggled with keeping up with the other 2, and at the end of level 5 it was obvious that he just wasn’t ready to move on. I had one other boy who I knew would be a good partner for him, but this other boy was just finishing level 4. We went ahead and put the two of them together, knowing that this was more review than the one boy needed, but in the long run it would be for the best. I’ve also had a girl take off an entire summer to then join a group in the fall and be at the same place.
These situations all have worked for me because my students’ parents know that I truly believe that a good group situation is important for success in SM. I work on developing a relationship with my families, that they know they can trust me. In the short term it seems that “holding a child back” is not in their best interest, but when I look at things in the long term, the advantages always seem to outweigh the disadvantages. My families tend to stay with me long-term and I would never hold back a student for a family that I was unsure of. But, if I’m convinced that they’re committed, and I believe the group is the best one for them, I work on making it work. Sometimes, I even offer a discount to the student who is “waiting”.
In your situation, I would spend the 4-5 weeks doing extra arrangements (like from Elizabeth Gaikwad’s materials) and accompaniments, maybe focus on improvisation and composition, etc. These things will all help the boy who is continuing, but keep him from moving ahead in a way that makes it hard for the other boy to catch up. Your conversations ahead of time with the student and parents will make all the difference in this working or not.
Laurie Richards, Nebraska
Another thing I’ve done when in this situation, or when combining groups where catch-up is necessary for some, is to suggest the students who are ahead come every other week for a short time and only charge them half tuition.
On their ‘off’ weeks, I work with the others on catching up. On their ‘on’ weeks, we take 5 or 10 min. to have the students who are ahead help teach something to the others, then learn something that is new for everyone, and perhaps an extra project for the ones who are ahead.
I make sure to have a conversation about what to expect with all the parents. To the parents of the ‘ahead’ students I talk about the value of that time they help teach (“see, do teach”). And we discuss the importance of maintaining the consistency of their lessons, which is why I want them to continue to come biweekly.
This has always worked well for me. Good luck!