It's so good to be Back in Our Routine. I love the change of pace of summer break, but I really enjoy the routine of the school year. I first of all want to say THANK YOU for continuing on for another year. I have a long term goal for each student through 12th grade and love to see them stay until then. Many of you have been studying with me for 7 years even. I count it a privilege to be a long-term influence in your child's life.
Dates
The calendar is set for the year. Please reserve those dates. I'd like everyone to participate in Federation Festival on February 9th and Student Day in April (Date is TBD). I will let you know if I feel any other events are beneficial at that time (Baroque Festival, Concerto Contest, Sonata Contest).
Routines
As I said, many of you have been piano parents for many years, but please help me by making this year feel fresh and exciting. The best thing you can do is get your child into a routine of playing again. And get that routing in place before September is over. If your child hasn't found their time to play piano by then, it'll be an uphill battle for the year. Timers can work for younger students. Older students should be more goal oriented in their practicing (ie, conquer one or two lines, or a page).
Listening
Most pieces I teach are standard repertoire, which means there will be lots of recordings on Youtube. Please get your student listening to their music. Some books even come with a CD or a digital download code. If so, download those files now, because you won't remember in November.
Parenting
Learning piano gives us great opportunities to parent our kids. Teach them about working hard, finishing a job, handling life when it's frustrating, handling success, handling failure, researching when you don't know an answer, balancing life. Let's not leave our kids to be on their own. They need our help on all the skills I mentioned. Go through this process with them and help guide their emotions, thoughts, and habits.
MyMusicStaff
You have seen the new billing through MyMusicStaff. These is a convenient button on the invoice that allows you to pay. If you are interested in an AutoPay, there is an easy way to do that as well. Let me know and I can help set you up. They do automatically charge a late fee after the fifth of the month. To avoid that, please have tuition paid before the 5th of each month.
Looking forward to a great year!
