....from Sally's Studio
One Week Down!
I am at the end of the first week of fall piano and guitar lessons. With the exception of one student who came to tell me that she isn't going to continue with lessons (5 minutes after it should have started), all is going well. After the challenge of the scheduling process, things went quite smoothly. Due to changes in their school schedules, I have had to adjust lessons several times but it has now stayed constant for almost two days! Hallelujah!
Ready for Action
Many of my students took summer lessons and after taking a few weeks off at the end of the summer, are ready to jump right in again. It is so rewarding to see my more advanced students eager to get started on their challenging pieces for competitions.
Summer Slide
Other students though, obviously haven't touched the piano since school let out last spring. I even had one 6th grader who, even though she has been playing "pops" during the summer, couldn't remember many basics! She was crushed at how much she had forgotten. It will take some intensive reviewing to bring these students back up to speed. I will use games (our Whirligig games of course!) among other things to make the review process more fun, but it still takes precious time.
Mandatory Camp?
I am considering a mandatory end-of-summer camp for those who don't take summer lessons. The band director and I have been holding music camps for the last few years and they have been very successful. It would definitely make the first few lessons in the fall much more enjoyable for both me and my students.
So many people spend the summer running from one sporting event or practice to another. Several of them had tournaments every weekend as well! It always frustrates me that they can find the time to do that but not a few minutes to get their children to music lessons. I understand the value of being involved in team sports and physical activity -- I just wish it was not at the expense of their cultural arts training.
It would sure be nice if we could find a way for them to coexist!
blog sponsored by Whirligig, LLP
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