| There's an old adage that states that you'll get more | | | | eventually the child will calm down and you can find a |
| flies with honey than vinegar. | | | | few moments to teach them. |
| The meaning is, of course, that a positive attitude will | | | | There may be no good teaching moments in a lesson, |
| get you more than a negative one. | | | | due to misbehavior or fatigue. but your job is still to |
| Nowhere is this more true than children's piano lessons. | | | | never break your veneer of good will. |
| Never forget that you, as a teacher, have seen it all | | | | To become impatient is never a good tactic. The child |
| before, and will be naturally impatient with familiar | | | | will clam up, and offer you only the bare minimum of |
| ground that you have trod again and again. But the | | | | grudging attention. |
| child has seen nothing of the piano, and has no | | | | Instead, be like a dog with a bone: choose a skill the |
| concept of what they are undertaking. | | | | child can realistically learn and serve it to them a |
| So adopt the manner of the good-natured guest who | | | | thousand ways. Or, find what interest the child at that |
| has a fun story to tell. A piano teacher has to disguise | | | | moment and make your curriculum from that. You |
| their own disappointment for the sake of the child. A | | | | have to be flexible and creative. |
| child can read your frustration and impatience in an | | | | Not every lesson will move their musical education |
| instant. | | | | forward. But your good mood can insure that they will |
| Of course, there are children who will take advantage | | | | return next week, ready to try, and perhaps to |
| of your patience. But if you always remain calm and | | | | succeed. |
| unworried about "progress" and "achievement," | | | | |