One of the most common questions we are asked by readers of the TeachPianoToday blog is “How should I be planning for lessons?”
If you’ve been follow the previous posts in our “How To Plan For A Year of Piano Lessons” series then you’ll have a wonderfully organized outline that contains the concepts you will be teaching, the repertoire you will be using to teach these concepts, and the additional teaching activities (games, improv, composing etc.) that will serve to reinforce concepts and add a major dose of fun.
And now it’s time to brag. Because the final piece of your yearly planning is effectively communicating this plan to your piano studio parents. This is an immensely important part of your yearly planning… but it’s also the part that almost everyone forgets to do!
Sharing Your Yearly Plan With Piano Parents
I am a huge proponent of filling parents in on absolutely everything that goes into planning a piano lesson. It is important that they are privy to the hours of non-teaching time that separates a “so-so studio” from a splendid studio.
But filling them in on this information doesn’t need to be an arduous task! Instead, your yearly plan can serve as an effective communication-starter, newsletter material, or a “keeping-in-touch” email.
The Perfect “Keeping In Touch Email”
After your student completes a concept “block” on her yearly plan, craft up an email to her parents explaining exactly all that was accomplished during that time. All of those repertoire choices and additional teaching activities you planned and implemented should be showcased in this email, allowing the parents to instantly see what makes your studio unique.
Want to see it in black and white? Here’s an example of what my emails look like.
Emails such as the one above strengthen relationships, validate your worth and gently nudge parents into remembering that a large portion of what happens in piano lessons is reliant on what also happens at home.
Where To Find The Difference Makers?
If, after reading the above email, you’re now itching to make your studio stand out from the rest by using some of those supplementary activities I mentioned, you can find them all here on our resources page.
Robyn says
Andrea, what source do you use for your lead sheets, especially for students in PA Primer? I’m starting to think I will need to write all of my own in Musescore. I have done that a little already, but just wondered when you mentioned Do a You Want to Build a Snowman. Thanks in advance!
Andrea says
Hi Robyn – I create all of my own lead sheets. Most of the ones I use are my own compositions (some of them were in the August PianoBookClub book) but the rest are ones I have created in Sibelius (or MuseScore would of course work). If this seems like a huge task, then do like I do and give your entire studio the same lead sheet each month (I do an easy version and an intermediate version). For kids in PA primer I’d suggest keeping it very short and simple (just the chorus) and have them play just one note in the left hand rather than any sort of chording.
Stacey says
Hey Robyn,
I bouth ‘Do you want to build a snowman’ from Musicnotes, along with all the other Frozen sheet music. (It was cheaper to buy it in a bundle, although I’m not sure if that is still true).
Although it is quite an intermediate to advanced piece, I found that with a little perservance, a lot of practice and even more will from the student, it was accomplished. And I must say, it is definitely one of my favourite songs to hear now. Especially since I have her clap out the parts for the clock.
I too use musescore for most everything else, since in South Africa I cannot afford such high licensing fees. And I find it truly incredibly, and very easy to use and to teach my pupils to use when they are composing.
Denise Thompson says
What a great email. As a parent I would have loved to have received something like that! As a teacher I wonder how you have the time. With over 40 students I can’t imagine periodically sending out these emails. How often do you do this and for how many students?
Nancy Slocum Hiatt says
yes, how do you have the time? And how do you fit so many things in a half hour lesson?
Andrea says
Hi Nancy – I just answered Denise’s question about having the time to email below if you want to check back and read it. The question about fitting so many things into half an hour is answered in this blog post (but in short… I don’t. I don’t pressure myself into fitting all of those bits and pieces into 30 minutes. But I do make sure I touch on them all within each concept block on my yearly lesson plan before moving on. So, this may mean that some lessons are spent entirely on composing. Some are spent only on supplementary repertoire. Some are spent really working in the method book. It’s not about cramming as much as you can into one lesson, but rather giving your student a truly well-rounded piano education in whatever form that takes on for you as a teacher). More details in this post https://www.teachpianotoday.com/2014/08/27/30-minutes-of-shock-and-awe-the-piano-teacher-trap-youll-want-to-avoid/
Andrea says
Hi Denise – as each student takes a different amount of time to complete each “concept block” it means I’m sending the emails out sporadically – not all in one big huge batch. The “template” of my email stays the same, I just fill in the individual details for each child. Usually a lot of the extras I use are the same for each student (they’ll all play the same game, do the same improv activity etch) to simplify my life and so I can save a “Completed Block 1” template email in my email program (gmail calls them a canned response) and I can then just plug in the individual details that change each time into that framework without reinventing the wheel ever time.
I’ve actually found that these emails have reduced my out of teaching time. It means I’m not answering a ton of emails with questions from parents. It means I’m not touching base in person or by phone call as frequently (which takes much, much more time) and it also means that my retention is far greater… which in turn means I spend way less time advertising and recruiting new students. Plus I’m really fast at typing 😉