Have your piano students inadvertently participated in the “Summer Slide”… that dreaded slump that occurs after 2 months of barely any piano practice?
Amidst our excitement of starting lessons again, of using new materials, of trying out new teaching techniques… many times our enthusiasm can be extinguished as we realize a student or two have taken giant steps backwards.
Even those of you who teach during the summer may have experienced the “Summer Slide” as days at the lake and overnight slumber parties interfered with your students’ practice routines. Maybe they still attended lessons… but did they progress as much as they would have mid-school year?
If you have a student in front of you who has taken a ride on the “Summer Slide” … here are our Top 5 Tips for reversing those two months of little to no practice.
Steps To Reversing The Summer Slide
1. Avoid calling attention to what has been forgotten – I’ve found that one of the worst things I can do is to revisit a piece that my student used to play well. Starting fresh is a great way to get piano lessons back on track without any feelings of inadequacy clouding the situation. Kids learn best when their self-esteem is high and healthy, and the last thing you want to do is to make your student feel as though the start of piano lessons has been tinged with negativity.
So, grab a brand new piece that is a level or two below where you left off and approach it as you would any new piece (this is my method here). Then, you can revisit where you left off in older pieces/method books after the mental cobwebs have been brushed away.
2. Set them up for instant practice success – turning the Summer Slide around is not an instant process… so take it easy for the first week or two. Adjust your practice expectations (and amount of material you send home) so that your students can ease back into routines without feeling overwhelmed. The start of school and other extracurriculars can be a really stressful time for young children, so keeping piano enjoyable is important. Be sure you are sending them home with a piece you know will catch their attention and interest immediately.
3. Wake ’em Up With Off-The-Bench Activities – if you use flash cards, manipulatives, piano games, movement activities… this is the time to break them out! You want to engage all parts of your students’ brains to “wake-up” those faint memories of what they used to understand. This a really friendly way to re-visit previously-learned concepts that need review.
4. My biggest success in banishing the Backwards Summer Slide comes as a result of setting a goal for the near future (usually 4 weeks after lessons have begun). This puts a sense of immediacy in your students’ minds from the get-go. Setting a recording day, a mini-performance, a group masterclass… anything that requires practice… is a great way to get the gears in motion quickly.
5. Schedule a Reminder to Remind – The first few weeks of school are hectic for families. Routines seem to hit them like a ton of bricks. The worst thing that can happen is for your newly-inspired and ready-to-practice piano students to head out the door and then get lost in the September Shuffle. Schedule a reminder for yourself to email/text/call parents 2-3 days after lessons as a friendly and personal “check-in” on how practice routines are settling in. You can do this in a very creative and humorous way (like texting something like the image below) to avoid nagging… but your point will still get across.
A Final Bonus Tip…
My #1 goal for “Backwards Sliders” is to help them achieve quick success with their first “back-to-lessons” piano piece. This means that much of that first lesson is spent teaching students how to effectively practice. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways and we’ve blogged on this subject frequently!
Check out our 4 favorite posts on teaching students how to efficiently practice:
Eat Popsicles And Make Positive Piano Practice Progress
It’s Super, It’s Simple, It’s Tap Practice!
The Huge Practice Mistake That Thousands of Students Are Making
The “Zero In” Productivity Printable That Should Live in Every Student’s Binder
Marianne Williams says
Exactly! I schedule Grandparents’ Week ( one of your ideas!) for the first week of October. At our first “back to school” lesson, my students look back to a favorite previous piece to polish it up to play for the visiting grandparents who listen in while enjoying their lemonade and cookies!
Andrea says
That’s a fantastic goal Marianne! Great way to get the family involved right from the get-go!
CHRIS says
Am I unusual? I teach year round. I don’t take the summers off, nor do my students. And you know what? Many times, they make MORE progress in the summer, because they have fewer distractions, they are more rested, and have more time to practice. We also do fun things – this summer my students all worked on duets, and we just celebrated with a little Duet Day “recital” where they performed for each other in my home. Lots of fun.
Jan Gray says
I’ve done this in the past and it worked very well. Somehow this year didn’t work out too well. Last year, we made great progress over the summer. I do appreciate the idea of not concentrating on what was forgotten. Thank you for the reminder to be positive. It is so easy to forget the goal is long term but the positive reinforcement is weekly.
Andrea says
Hi Chris – no, not unusual! I think many teachers teach through the summer and hopefully most of their students make progress! This blog post was for those one or two who end up on your bench with “dusty piano syndrome” 🙂
Kathy says
I have replaced the traditional Christmas recital with a Halloween party. We start the Halloween piece right away in the fall to get cranked up for the party. (or during the summer if we get the chance)
Andrea says
Great idea Kathy – it’s such a good goal to work towards early in the year and then you miss the crazy busy time of the Christmas holidays!
María Laura says
Great tips!! I’m in the south emisphere and here I’m starting classes after two weeks of winter holiday and although it seems little time they forgot everything! It’s the first time this happens to me, other years before they did’t seemed to have forgotten everything! Probably this year school programs are more demanding and then kids get really exausted…I loved also the reading game of the preavious post, it worked great with my students! Thanks!
Andrea says
Hi Maria! Hard to think of it being winter somewhere – it was 35 celcius today were I am 🙂 Yes, I think there are more and more things competing for the “real estate” in our students’ brains now. Most kids have more than one extracurricular activity plus school to contend with and it can be a lot on young kids. I’m aways very careful to make piano their safe haven from their other demands. And while this doesn’t mean I have low expectations for them, it does mean that I approach things differently at this time of year with my eye on the fact that they may be out of sorts for a bit as they start back into school routines. Thanks for commenting!
Susan says
I just finished emailing all my students, not their parents, the adorable picture of the dog listening.
To my surprise my students emailed me back with their stories of back to school and how hard it is to get back in the swing of things. But told me they were going to practice extra hard this week after seeing the dog! Thanks Andrea for the pic!
Andrea says
You’re welcome Susan! I’ve always found that visuals like that are much more effective than “words” – people remember them and appreciate the unique touch. Glad it worked for you in this instance and hope it avoided a week of “no practice” for your student!
Rochelle says
I would love to see more of your visuals for practice reminders. Your dog one is adorable and very effective.
Andrea says
We’ll try to share more of these Rochelle! 🙂
Barbara says
This was my first year of not teaching school pupils for the summer, so it is I and not the students that is in a bit of jet lag and this will certainly help get US back into the swing with the right attitude and a light plan of action.
Andrea says
Glad to hear it Barbara! Wishing you a quick transition back to where things should be 🙂