Instead of a typical informative blog post, I want to ask readers a question: What's your attendance policy? Everyone is different. I'm curious about how others do it. What works best for you? What have been some mistakes you made and learned from in the past? Currently, my policy is students pay me at the beginning of the month, in advance. If they cancel on the...
Read MoreBy Julia Kossuth As the school year gets underway and both old and new faces begin to arrive in the studio each week, the individual—yet ever changing—dynamic with each student and their teacher begins to set in. One situation that tends to occur at least a few times with every new set of students is this: Mom or Dad wants to sit in the lesson, every...
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You can pick out the family within a few minutes of conversation — the kind who tells you they’re looking to “give piano/violin/dance/etc. a try”. They don’t give the impression of being overly-committed, and within a few months — when repertoire starts to become more challenging or when the exciting “newness” wears off, the student lose interests and asks to quit, which his parents are all to ready to let him do. You cringe when this happens, thinking of the spot he has taken up while students on your wait list have likely found other teachers in the meantime.
Interviewing the Transfer Student
The interview process for the transfer student provides a window of opportunity. First, to see if your studio is the right fit. Second, to assess skills and knowledge, and third, a great way to start planning curriculum if it turns out to be a good fit! I have developed a form I use with a list of activities as well as questions that include the obvious (name, age, date of birth, grade in school, and school that they attend). I take notes on this form so that I can refer back to it later. After the initial questions have been asked, I launch into the following assessment activities.
By Meridith Johnson Practicing. This topic seems to be highly debated over the years under the umbrella of music education. With so many different opinions and approaches, what is the best policy or view of practicing? How much should we as teachers require our students to practice? Or what about students who put too much pressure on themselves and practice too much? Where do parents play a...
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