Summer Lessons

Welcome to Spring! I wanted to give you a heads up about things to come. First of all, I will be teaching regular lessons the last week of May, so please let me know if you won’t be able to come.

Summer lessons be will scheduled a few weeks at a time. We will not necessarily have a set time from week to week, since everyone’s schedule seems to change so much during the summer. Rather, everyone will have TEN lessons to spread out in June, July and August to schedule at times that are convenient for everyone. Please plan to either pay for 2 ½ months of tuition up front in June, or to leave postdated checks for July and half tuition for August when you pay your June tuition.

Students who plan to continue lessons with me in the fall are required to have summer lessons. I find that students who don’t have lessons over the summer take months in the fall to return to the same level they were at the end of spring. This is discouraging for everyone. There is a lot of flexibility during the summer- we can even do more than one lesson in a week if you want. Please take a look at your summer calendar and plan on scheduling lessons for June before group lessons in May. If you want to increase your lesson time from a half hour to forty-five minutes, summer is a good time to do it. I recommend 45 min. lessons starting early to mid Book 2.

Summer lessons will be especially important, as Rob and I are expecting a baby due September 18th. My Macy was born a week early, but as birth is unpredictable, I have a tentative plan set up. I would like to continue teaching in September until the baby is born. You can pay for one lesson at a time. That way we’ll be able to keep going as long as possible. If for some reason I am unable to teach and you’ve already paid for lessons, they will either be credited or made-up if possible.

I would like to resume lessons mid-October or at the beginning of November, depending on my recovery time. I will definitely keep you posted. I’d like to do a group recital in the beginning of December. It will be sort of like a group lesson, where all students will play the songs that they know all together, rather than a solo recital. I’d like to incorporate some holiday music into this recital as well. I will try to have music for this ready before I have the baby so that you can continue to practice with your child during the break.

I’d also like to start having quarterly parent meetings. We would get together for about an hour, here at my house. I would give a short presentation about a particular topic, then the remainder of the time will be used for mingling/questions/giving each other encouragement as we discuss each of our musical journeys with our children. Of course, refreshments will be provided, and you are welcome to attend as a couple or an individual- whichever is better for you. Our first meeting will be held the last week of May. Please let me know which date will work better for you- either the 27th at 7:00 pm or the 29th at 10:00 am. I am willing to do a meeting both days to accomodate everyone. Also, if you need to bring children with you, that is fine.

Thanks for all you do as parents, and for the chance to work with your students. As always, let me know if there are any questions or concerns.