At this time of year, there’s a lot of talk about piano studio policies and not a lot of talk about Christmas. But as find myself answering more and more teacher questions about piano studio policies, I find myself thinking more and more about Christmas… here’s why.
Every Christmas Eve Andrea, I and the girls head out to search for a special new decoration for our Christmas tree… and every year we find ourselves perusing a new shop on our search for that perfect piece.
This past year we found ourselves in an ironically unpleasant Christmas shop… I know… weird! Christmas is supposed to be a time of celebration and joy and yet we walked out of this shop feeling a little Scrooge-ish. But we couldn’t help ourselves. This particular store was covered (and by covered, I mean practically wallpapered) in signs.
And not signs like, “Merry Christmas” or “Joy To The World”; I mean signs like “Do Not Touch” “You’re On Camera”, “No Children Beyond This Point”, “Keep out”, “You Break It, You Buy It” and this list goes on and on and on and…
The signs really ruined our experience. We felt anxious and unwelcome… and we hadn’t even done anything wrong. I mean sure, the signs raise some valid concerns of the shopkeeper, but the sheer quantity of signs (I am certain) do more damage to his bottom line than shoplifting and accidents combined.
Bring A Little Christmas Cheer To Your Piano Studio Policies
The success of your piano students depends heavily on the success of the parent-teacher-student relationship. Often one of the first communications at the beginning of this relationship is your piano studio policy. It can establish a relationship of mutual respect or… it can start the relationship off on the wrong foot.
Here’s 2 Strategies To Avoid The Wrong Foot
1. Avoid Too Many “Signs”
Your piano studio policy must set clear boundaries (this will prevent problems in the future and foster a good relationship) but not be overly burdensome. There are really big problems that a good policy can solve (ie. make-up lessons, missed payments) and then there are really little problems that are best solved one-on-one (without your studio policy).
Think about how I felt in the Christmas shop, or how a little child feels when they are constantly told don’t do this, or this, or this. Just like the aforementioned examples, a enormous studio policy can be very distracting during those initial and important moments of relationship building.
So, build policies around your most important problems… not every problem.
2. Let Them In On Our World
So now that you’ve narrowed down your piano studio policy, you’re good, right? Well… not quite yet!
You’ll also want to make sure you explain each of your piano studio policies. Parents are not piano teachers and therefore cannot be blamed for not understanding some of our biggest frustrations. And when they don’t understand our biggest frustrations, there arises an opportunity for arguments.
So, make sure that each piano studio policy is clearly justified. Rather than saying “Make-ups will not be given”, say something like, “As my studio schedule is full, and because each child has a reserved weekly lesson, there is simply not enough time in my teaching week to provide make-ups for missed lessons. If you happen to miss a lesson I will be using that time to assess your child’s progess and to plan activities for your child.”
Designing your policies in this manner makes it much more likely a parent will say, “Okay, that makes sense.”
And finally, a closing thought
If you treat every client like your best client, not your worst client, your piano parents will be happier, you will be happier and your studio will be healthier.
Michelle MIller says
I absolutely LOVE this:
“As my studio schedule is full, and because each child has a reserved weekly lesson, there is simply not enough time in my teaching week to provide make-ups for missed lessons. If you happen to miss a lesson I will be using that time to assess your child’s progress and to plan activities for your child.”
What a brilliant way of explaining why…and what will be done with that time! Would you re-write all my policies for me?? Please?? LOL
Eleanor Baldwin says
I have recently wanted to put into my studio policy, There will be a $15.00 rescheduling fee for all make-up
lessons. Is that too harsh? I already have a strict studio policy but parents have a habit of ignoring what they
find is unpleasant or inconvenient. I used to have them pay in advance but moving to a new place with many private schools, I have no set school calendar any more. As I am semi-retired and only teach three days a week, I can’t use the “full schedule” excuse too well. I would appreciate feedback on the rescheduling fee.
Karen Huffman says
Why can’t you use the full schedule excuse? I only teach 4 days a week and make it very clear that any make-up lessons have to be fit in around other lessons and can never take place on my days off. I actually like the idea of a make-up fee. I had never thought of that!
Kelly Stein says
One teacher I heard only gives make- up lessons during Christmas & Easter breaks. As a result she almost never has any lessons scheduled then b/c no one wants lessons then.
Cheryl Saathoff says
Thanks so much for your take on creating a policy. The harsh tones of some of the policies I’ve read do not represent me, but sometimes I think I must be blessed with great parents or I too, would have to take on a more rigid posture. I appreciate the grace that is used in your explanation of the non make-up policy.
Jane Lumkin says
I very occasionally need to reschedule a lesson if for example one of my own children has a concert or a parent’s evening. So I operate a mutually beneficial flexible approach to offering catchup lessons, provided I don’t feel I am being taken advantage of. This works really well. Many of my students’ parents work full time and drive their kids a fair distance to my piano lessons, so provided parents give me resonable notice, I offer cachup up lessons, but the catchups offer has a shelf life after which the offer expires. I try to keep Fridays free (terrible day for younger children to come for lessons anyway) and use that for catchup lessons when possible