Question: I’m curious as to what other piano teachers arrange for their yearly schedule. Do they start in September and end in June? Teach for the entire summer? Take a mid-session break? How do others split up their year?
One of the benefits of being a self-employed piano teacher is the ability to set your own piano teaching schedule. But figuring out the best way to arrange your piano teaching year is a bit of a science. Do you want your summers off? Do you always take a vacation to Tahiti in January? Do you give yourself a long weekend every week? Do your piano student’s families work around your schedule or vice versa?
Living in Western Canada I get approximately 6 weeks of nice weather for the entire year and they happen during July and August. You can bet I’m not going to spend my measly 42 days per year of sunshine inside… so I take a break during the summer months by only teaching one or two days a week (usually a “summer camp” style of lessons).
How do you break up your year? Share your schedule in the comment section below.
Joyce says
June 8, 2012 at 5:18 amI’m curious how others do their schedule as well. Since I’m mainly the “breadwinner” in my home, I find I HAVE to teach in the summer from a financial standpoint. Of course, I think I’d get bored if I didn’t anyway – but it is always nerve racking, financially, when I have students that take the summer off anyway. How does one plan for taking the summer off when during the year you just make enough for bills? I’m curious to hear…
Bethany says
June 8, 2012 at 5:31 amI have a small studio of just 10 students. We only have 10 weeks of summer vacation here, and I have found that the month of July is most likely to have people going on vacations. So I take the entire month of July off and do all my vacationing during that month too. I think the break is good for my students and myself. It isn’t so long that they forget everything, but everyone still comes back refreshed and ready to get back to work – myself included!
Emily Davidson says
June 8, 2012 at 6:19 amI have a studio year that runs from June through May. I average all the lessons for the year, throw in a very generous amount of group lessons, and they pay the same amount every month. So even if they take a lot of the summer off, they pay each month anyway and can take advantage of the group lessons I offer in August if they need to. Since I am my ONLY breadwinner and teaching is my ONLY job(!), I also tell students that they must study in the summer, even if they only take a few lessons, in order to be retained in the studio in the fall.
Jeannie says
June 8, 2012 at 6:37 amMy music studio is my only income so this has always been a concern. This year in my STUDIO POLICIES, I added this phrase: The year 2012 is divided into three terms. June 3 thru July 28; Aug 5 thru Dec 22; and Jan 6 thru May 25. This is a total of 48 lessons (12 months X 4 lessons/month) per year. Parents did not object to me taking 4 weeks off per year. This gives me time to update the studio. I put this paragraph in the TUITION section of my policy handbook.
I announced summer camps — this year on composition — to replace weekly lessons. If vacations were an issue, no big deal because they could pay their monthly fee and do the 4 lessons in one week without me having to do make-up lessons. Those who were not planning a family vacation have just continued and some of them have paid another fee to also do the composition camp. The students who are to be gone for a couple of weeks, still get lessons and I still get paid. I have taken the advice of PIANO HANDS SHOULDN’T FLIP BURGERS and have offered free lessons this summer. So far, 6 parents have called and 2 have continued lessons after their four freebies. I live in a community of 3200 people so I feel that this is a good response.
Hope Noar says
June 8, 2012 at 8:02 amI teach from The end of August until school gets out in June. I leave summer up to the kids. This summer I may have one or two students. They need the break and I do too. Then I come back refreshed in August. I may have a student do some makeups this summer, which means that I will not get any income. But once August comes, I start charging again.
Jessica says
June 8, 2012 at 8:10 amThis is a great question! I have arranged my studio to follow the school year here, which is the first Monday of September until the 4th week of June. Actually, this year we’re done lessons the 3rd week of June, and I’m taking two weeks off for vacation. I also close for 2 weeks at Christmas and all stat. holidays, which means no income during those times. I offer students a summer session of a minimum of 5 lessons that can be spread out over the months of July and August. During the school term I’m very strict on my no-cancellation policy, but in the summer I allow make-ups and rescheduling. The parents seem more inclined not to complain about my no-cancellation policy when I allow them this little bit of flexibility. This summer I’m also doing a summer camp for the first time.
I am also my only source of income, so I plan my whole year in advance. From Jan-June and Sept-Dec I know I’m going to pull in a good amount of income. I always set enough aside to pay all my living expenses and most of my business expenses for the summer months (I operate a studio with 6 other part-time teachers, so I have quite a bit of business overhead). Planning ahead is essential if you don’t want to starve during the summer! Since fewer students take summer lessons, I do all the teaching myself and my other teachers take the summer off. This covers my day-to-day expenses, and my savings help with the rest. I think it would take several more years before my business is able to sustain itself through the summer, so right now I just save, save, save during the good times, so I don’t have to worry during the less busy times!
Catherine says
June 8, 2012 at 9:37 amThis is a really good question and has got me thinking! I’m in the UK and our school year is September till end July. I work during school terms, and expect students to stick to them- for the most part I’m pretty strict although I have a couple of students who can only just afford to have lessons and are on really low incomes and benefits, so if they’re sick etc I’m understanding! Until now I’ve always encouraged students to have at least a couple of lessons over the summer holidays as otherwise I find we’ve gone back quite a few steps by the time September arrives- but after reading your response perhaps I had better get Piano hands don’t flip burgers (I keep thinking about it!) and try and plan properly for it! I like the idea of a summer camp or composition classes…. About half my students are adults, and therefore are happy to continue having lessons, although some adults like having a break…
Anyway thanks for raising this question- I think I need to go and do some proper planning. It’s only my 2nd year of teaching as my main job- previously I had a couple of students but worked as a lawyer and teaching in Further Education. I am also at art college part time, so 2 days a week I don’t do any teaching during the day, and I’m about to run a community choir on a Tuesday evening so no teaching after 6.30 then! and I have young family to fit in too, so lots of juggling involved. Out of interest how do you all manage if you have children- do you teach every evening, do you have a break in the evening etc….?
Bethany says
June 11, 2012 at 5:39 amI have four kids between the ages of 2-7. So things can get hectic. I’m very upfront about my family situation with the parents of my students. I teach out of my home and they know I have kids running around. I’ve only had one situation where a family opted to not take lessons from me due to that reason.
I’m lucky that my kids’ go to a school that starts at 8am, and all the other elementary schools start at 9am. My school-aged kids take off for school at 7:30am, and then I have time to teach two students in the 7:30 and 8:00 times slots while my little ones watch cartoons. Then one afternoon a week, I teach 5 students after school starting at 3:45 in 30-min increments. I have a neighbor that watches my kids at her house during that 2.5 hours and in exchange, I teach her son for free. The other days of the week, I only teach two students after school (last lesson ends at 4:45) since my kids are home with me during that time, and an hour of lessons is all I have time for and all my kids can really handle without needing me. So basically, if my studio slots are completely full, I can teach 23 students during the week, with little disruption to my family.
Patricia says
June 8, 2012 at 10:02 amI also, from a financial standpoint, can’t afford to take the summer off. I always take off the same days that my students have off from school during the school year-Thanksgiving and Xmas break, and all the Monday holidays. I used to teach during some or all of the holiday breaks, and found it was more frustrating than anything-parents would more often than not forget to come!
During the summer, I always have several students who take a break. This does hurt me financially, but I try to save for it during the year. I have read (at pianoteaching.com, discussion forum) that some teachers require students to pay a $50+ holding fee if their students are taking the summer off and want their spot back in the fall. I may ‘go there’ next summer, we’ll see. This summer though, I have arranged my smaller student load into 3 or 4 days of teaching each week, so all summer I will have long weekends 🙂 I am also taking off 9 days to visit family in Kauai 🙂 So for me, not taking the whole summer off is ok, since my load is lighter anyway, and I take the school holiday breaks throughout the year. happy summer everyone!
tammy myers says
June 8, 2012 at 10:42 amI have been taking summer off the last two years.
I offer piano camps that are given one day per month for each level.
The cost is the same as a month of private lessons. I teach from 10-3 and these days. It worked well last year. It takes much prep time to come up with games and prizes but it is a nice break for me.
April Hamilton says
June 8, 2012 at 1:36 pmHi everyone! I also (like many) depend on income year-round. This year I decided to require a small 6 lessons during the summer in order to remain enrolled in the studio. I told those who took off the summer that they are welcome to return in the fall IF I have any spots left open. So, they are taking a big risk, and some of the trouble families will likely not be welcomed back even if I do have the room. 🙂
Next year, I’m going to be more strict, and require students to study all through the summer (or at least fit in all their lessons in one, two or, the three months). I will be flexible with re-scheduling ahead of time if they go on vacation, but they will have to continue paying the same tuition so they get their “45” lessons for the year, regardless if they attend or not. I may have a few drop out, but I’m really looking for families who are committed to piano study, and I really want to have a more steady income. Also, I will be changing to a flat tuition rate per month, based off what so many teachers are doing. 🙂
Oh, also, I take off the standard holidays, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, a vacation week for myself, and Spring Break. That gives me a total of 5 weeks off a year. That’s a lot when you compare it to other jobs, like my husbands’, who only gets off TWO weeks per year. We are blessed to have as much time off as we do as teachers. 🙂 I enjoy teaching year round and would honestly be bored out of my mind if I didn’t! Plus, we need the income. There’s always that. 😉
Berdie says
June 8, 2012 at 2:14 pmI teach using the school year – September through May (although they do go a couple of weeks in to June), charging the same fee each month no matter how many weeks in a month. This has made it so much easier for each family to keep track of. For the summer months of June – August, I figure out from the vacation schedules that I get in May, how often students are going to be around and I usually teach most of June and then every other week for the months of July and August. I do require that they pay for the entire summer set of lessons up front on the first lesson in June. That way they will be committed to attending and not flaking out. Also, those that continue through the summer months, are guaranteed their spot in the Fall and those that choose not to continue during the summer will get whatever time is left (or it may mean that I will not have a time slot left for them).
Joanne says
June 8, 2012 at 7:47 pmI’d love to know how you make your lessons “summer camp” style.
Andrea says
June 8, 2012 at 10:47 pmHi Joanne! Here’s what I’ll be doing at our own studio this summer. I’ll also be doing a couple of our Happy Birthday Bach group classes for kids who don’t want to make a regular commitment during the summer, but want to be involved in some way.
Summer CD Recording Camp:
Students will receive:
-6 individual one-on-one lessons and 1 private “recording session”
-fun and creative composing instruction during these 6 lessons to enable them to create 4 original pieces to be recorded
-A mini photo shoot so I can create unique and fun CD cover art
-A CD release party at our local coffee shop where they perform their “Top Hits” and then can sell copies of their CD to their friends for $2
– 3 copies of their CD as a keepsake of their awesome summer project
I charge a flat rate for the above ($150). So far the kids are really excited about it!
Hope that helps 🙂 The recording is all done on my mac computer through Garage Band…really simple but effective.
Rebecca Brown says
June 9, 2012 at 8:24 pmSince I manage more than just my own private students, this gets a little tricky. I have 16 teachers, and their students, to think about, as well. Our studio has scheduled holidays during the school year: Labor Day, 3 days (making a 5-day weekend) at Thanksgiving, a full week at Christmas, a full week at spring break (all of the schools in our area schedule their break on the same week), and Memorial Day. This allows us all to get some small breaks during the school year.
In summer, we actually take advantage of the kids being out of school and schedule quite a few extra classes. This counters any loss that occurs due to students taking any time off from lessons in the summer. That being said, I never even bring up a summer break from lessons as an option. If a student insists on taking time off, I inform them that I cannot guarantee an opening in the fall. I do everything I can to keep them in lessons during the summer. This has nothing to do with finances. I do not feel that it is in the best interest of the student to take 3 months off of lessons.
However…. I used to do something when it was just me teaching at my home that I’m going to put in place for next summer. I always closed my studio for 2 weeks in August — the week before school starts and the first week of school. I found that cancellations are high during these weeks, and the students who show up are completely distracted (and I was very busy with getting my own kids back to school). This gave me a good break to take care of my family, and prepare for the fall semester. This left 10 weeks for the summer break. To make my summer schedule more manageable, I set my semester up like this: I just charged each student for 8 lessons. They could come all 10 weeks with no extra charge for the extra 2 weeks, if they wanted to. But there were absolutely no makeup lessons for any reason. Summers can easily turn into what I call “make-up hell” if lessons are rescheduled for vacations, etc. This eliminates that problem. Occasionally, I would run into a parent who would feel cheated if they were going to miss 3 weeks, instead of two, but it was rare.