Our daughter is in Grade 1. She loves school but we get *very* little information out of her at the end of each day. As far as we know… school consists of simply swinging on the monkey bars (we get lots of chitchat on that aspect of her day!)
After having a quick talk with her teacher one morning I found out that she’s been a special helper three times, that she’s been chosen to read for the class, that she is miles ahead in math… and the list of “wow’s” goes on. We knew none of it! It was a good reminder that relying on a 6 year old to pass on information isn’t always a good strategy.
As a piano teacher who is working hard to make lessons engaging, motivating and rewarding for young kids, it’s essential that your piano parents are aware of your efforts too. So, today we’re sharing an idea you can use to get your students talking about the piano lesson awesomeness that happens in your studio!
“Ask Me!” Badges… Stick ‘Em On And Get ‘Em Talking!
In the busy lesson change-over time where one student leaves and the other arrives, it can be hard to fit in a moment to chat with parents. Sometimes you may not even see parents who are waiting in the car or who arrange for others to pick up their children.
Using Ask Me Badges is a great way to banish the “I dunno” response when parents ask their children what they did in their piano lessons. It also gets your students in the habit of sharing their learning experiences, accomplishments and exciting events.
This concept is really simple …
As your piano students leave their lessons, stick an “Ask Me!” Badge to their shirts or jackets (use double-sided tape). This signals to parents that their child has something exciting to share! It’s a great way to start a post-lesson conversation about the fun that’s happening in your studio.
We’ve shared some pre-made Ask Me Badges that you can download here but if you’re also looking to make your own, grab some sticky notes and consider using some of the following statements:
- Ask me about my new piece!
- Ask me about my accomplishment!
- Ask me about my recital piece!
- Ask me about the game we played today!
- Ask me about my composition!
- Ask me about the goal I reached!
- Ask me about my great attitude!
- Ask me about my attention to detail!
- Ask me about my special project!
…”Ask Me About My Super-Cool New Piano Books!”
Want to get your students chatting with parents about their piano lessons? Then you need The Adventures of Fearless Fortissimo! These comic-based piano books (for students working in a Level 2 method book) are the supplementary repertoire that your piano students have been waiting for. Amazing illustrations draw then into the story and motivating music serves as the soundtrack to bring the story to life! Available on Amazon here.
Milla says
A lot of my parents sit in during the lesson, but they play with their phones and I don’t know how much they really hear. Do I still use the badge or is there any other way to get the parents involved?
But for once that are not present at the lesson, the badge is a great idea, thank you!
Angela says
I would use them anyway! I gives the parent a way to discuss the lesson with the student whether they we listening or not. Sometimes you just need to get the student talking about what’s going on!
Andrea says
Totally agree! Hand it to the student and say “be sure to tell mom all about…” – still gets the conversation going! 🙂
Julie says
I’m thinking that it would be good to print them out on Avery labels…any idea what size that would be?
Andrea says
Hi Julie! You know me… I love labels and we did consider that, but the size that you’d need (shipping labels) were over $50 a pack. Not realistic – which is why we went for double-sided tape 🙂 If you google “how to print on post-its” you could create your own and print them out on post-it notes if you wanted a sticky option.
Amy C Clovis says
Excellent ideas as always!