May is here!
I've just finished a wonderful visit with my grandson Jakob. Oh my, he is so adorable.
Recital venue secured and pieces are almost memorized. Only a few more weeks, a bit of vacation and thinking about the fall begins.
I trust your registrations are going well for the fall and I would like to share an encounter I had with a parent and how their not filling out the registration form affected my opinion of their child.
I'm always grateful when parents choose to stay home when their chldren are sick. We don't need to spread germs to everyone in class. One week, Daren, was the only student who attended a class of four students, the rest were sick.
Daren, what can I say about Daren, he's one of those students who speaks out of turn, yells at inappropriate times, I could go on, we all have had a student like him. He could play the piano but some days I wondered if he was there to create havoc not music. But we perservered.
As we progressed through our now private lesson, I noticed Daren was calm, playing well and with confidence. He didn't squirm or yell. I was so pleased. It was an enjoyable lesson and it was a positive experience for him and myself. This time together, one on one, displayed all the efforts the mom had put in at home. It was wonderful!
Afterwards, I remarked to the mom about the positive experience the lesson was and she mentioned he has a hearing problem! What?
Being loud and anxious were his ways of coping with the noise and busyness of the class. I was shocked. On my regisrtaion forms I have a place for parents to let me know "something special about their child" so I can be aware of any issues. I checked his registration to see if I had missed this very important fact. It wasn't there.
Well, It's neither here nor there as to her reasons for not informing me. Perhaps she thought I would judge or favor her child but had I known, I would have been able to meet his needs.
Now that I'm aware I look at his outbursts a little differently. I still respond in much the same way as I did before, in firm kindness, but now my heart responds with understanding. It's one of those things about teaching, sometimes you just don't know the full story of a child's situation.
Last month I blogged about using balls to help with hand position but Jan Jenkins from Kelowna wrote and said she reminds her students to "Not burst thei
r Bubble!" Such a great idea and and a great reminder for young students. I wonder if there is a game idea behind that!
Have a wonderful sunny May, great returns on registrations for the fall and awesome recitals.
Musicallyours,
| Teaching Tip - Articulation! |
| Articulation! We teach it, We demonstrate it, We highlight all forms of articulation in our students music but can they identify different types of articulation when they hear it?
Use this fun resource to help your students hear the difference. I used this game with great success but the parents kept helping the students find the correct answer! Why not print a few extra pages for parents so they can play along also!
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| Game of the Month |
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My favourite game to use as the year winds down!
In this fun rhythm game individual music students or two teams compete (clap their way) to the finé line. Each team must correctly clap and count their rhythm card then determine the time signature to see how far to move their game piece around the gameboard. If any member of the team makes a mistake, the other team gets a chance to steal the other teams turn! GREAT for sight reading rhythms and counting together as a team or individually. Various levels of difficulty in which the cards are labeled easy, medium and hard. Time signatures are in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time. |
| To Market To Market - Advertising |
Registrations are in and now the search is on for new students.
There are expensive ways to market your studio:
Newspapers, Direct Mail, Rec Guides
Or cheaper ways:
Door to door with flyers, Phone calls, Posters, Try-It and Bring a Friend classes.
Have you done a Google search of yourself lately?
Find out where you rank when people type in music lessons in your area.
Create a profile on google!
It's a another very inexpensive way to get your name out there.
But whatever the means it's important to be out there.
People need to see you!
Whatever the form of marketing you do - be it big or small,
Be active in any way that is within your budget.
Don't be Discouraged and Keep Perservering!
