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Making the First Piano Lesson of the Season Extra Special

Piano Lesson

It’s back to school time!

And though it’s been a very long time since I’ve been back to school, I can still vividly recall the anticipation, the excitement, that first bit of chill in the morning air, and the smell of new school supplies!

I love this time of year!

Fall is (hopefully) just around the corner. The light outside just looks different. The sky is bluer.

As I write this I can hear a high school marching band in the distance learning their new show, and soon I’ll be able to hear them playing on Friday nights at the football games.

This will inevitably bring to mind my college days when a Saturday during football season turned the town into one big, friendly tailgate party with smells of hot dogs and hamburgers wafting through the air wherever you went.

Seriously, Fall is just delicious!

But my most favorite part of this time of year (as if it can get better than colorful leaves, sweatshirts, apple picking, and apple pies) is the new beginning that it brings.

A new start. Full of so many possibilities and so much potential!

As piano teachers, we should take full advantage of this fresh start and the natural momentum that it brings.

So whether you have students who will be returning to piano lessons after a summer break or students who are just continuing, now is the perfect time to bring this new energy into your studio and get your students excited about lessons!

I’m sure it goes without saying, but the first piano lesson of the new school year needs to be super fun!

Most students are probably not thrilled that Summer break is over and school is back in session. So let’s make the piano lesson a place they will be thrilled to go every week!

Not only do we want to make this first piano lesson extra fun, we need to make it different!

So maybe you won’t even open up their tried and true lesson book at all. You want to give them a taste of all the fun possibilities that you’ve got up your sleeve for this coming year.

First, why not begin with a little question and answer game to find out a bit about their summer.

See how much you can figure out by asking only questions that can be answered with a “yes” or “no”. Except instead of answering you with a word, they will use a musical answer.

For example, use a major chord for yes and minor chord for no. Or a high note for yes and low note for no. Or have a couple of rhythms written out, one for yes and one for no.

Obviously, you can easily tailor this to fit the level of each student, and you’ll hear about their summer adventures while easing them back into the piano lesson!

Next…NEW MUSIC!!!

Isn’t that the most exciting part?!

I still remember the excitement of walking into the studio as a child and seeing a stack of brand new music on the piano. That meant my teacher had been to the music store during the previous week, and some lucky kid was about to get some new music.

(We offer free sheet music and other resources from time to time! Download and enjoy ‘The Colorful Kite’ when you click on this link!)

Oh, I could barely wait to find out if one of those new pieces was for me!

So in the Fall, rather than diving straight back into their usual books where we had left off, I like to mix it up a bit.

I like to bring in an assortment of exciting sheet music with tons of variety and choices, and then…best part… the students get to choose! There are so many wonderful options out there for pieces written with students in mind.

Fun pieces, that are pleasing to their ears with fun titles and illustrations that will capture their imaginations and make them excited to learn.

I find it so valuable to consistently research new (or new to me) repertoire, because much of the time, waning interest can be solved by finding just the right piece!

Next, do something silly with an old piece of music, or save this to do with their new piece at the next piano lesson once they’ve practiced it a bit.

For example, have them hop on one foot the rhythm of the entire right hand. Or, have them play the piece with hands crossed over each other, left hand up high and right hand down low.

Or, have them play the piece as if they were a robot.

You get the idea.

You need about 5 to 10, silly to outrageous instructions. Write each one on a tiny piece of paper folded up and thrown into a hat for the students to pick from.

Maybe also let them pick one for you if you’re up for a challenge!

Finally, during this first piano lesson back you’ve got to play some games!

As a way to introduce new theoretical concepts or just to review things learned in the past, what better way is there than playing a game?

And a quick internet search will yield more results than you could ever possibly need for any concept you could ever possibly hope to find. In the past, I rarely made time for games thinking we just had too much to do.

But I’ve seen the excitement and interest in a game carry over into the rest of the piano lesson, and now I’m sold!

It switches things up and keeps the piano lesson fresh and exciting…exactly what we’re hoping to do as we start this new school year!

The start of a new school year is also a time to think about goals.

To get my beginner and intermediate students thinking about longer-term goals, I like to do a studio challenge.

This year I am going to do a 10 piece memory challenge. Students are encouraged to polish and memorize 10 of their pieces during the school year. They choose which ones and perform them for me when they’re ready.

Each student has a laminated punch card they can use to keep track. We also list the pieces in their notebooks, but it’s surprisingly fun to hole punch your card each time you accomplish part of your goal!

I should make a punch card for myself to use for mundane household chores!

The idea behind this challenge is to encourage students to not only polish more but also for them to have a larger repertoire in their fingers that they can play anytime, anywhere.

I also have a chart displayed in the studio showing each student’s progress in the challenge. This is just a little bit of inspiration (competition) for those students who need it!

For another studio challenge idea, you may consider something like the “30 piece challenge” that is floating around the internet in piano teacher land. The goal of this challenge is to learn 30 pieces.

Obviously, you’d need to make some pieces easier than others, but the idea is to develop more fluent readers and enhance all areas of musicianship simply through quantity of pieces learned.

The thought is that when it comes to quality vs. quantity, though we all definitely desire quality, there is something to be said for quantity as well when it comes to time spent at the piano.

10,000 hours (of deliberate and quality practice) makes an expert, right?

Maybe you’ve done this kind of challenge before? I would love to hear about the results you observed!

(For other fun lesson ideas, check out the article, ‘How To Spark Imagination and Creativity in the Lesson Room.’)

And finally, one last idea to bring some fun into your piano lessons this year (and probably the idea I am most excited about, maybe even more than my students):

Bring a mascot into your studio!

And by this, I mean a stuffed animal with a name and an interesting backstory that gets to go home with one lucky student a week along with a practice journal.

In the journal (which you can personalize in so many ways) the student will tell how they practiced with their furry friend.

What was furry friend’s favorite piece? Which part was hardest for them? How many times did they practice measures 3-6? How many total minutes did they spend at the piano together? Did they do any other non-piano things together?

Including pictures is encouraged!

Previous entries will be enjoyed by each student who gets a turn with the mascot.

They will get a glimpse of what other students are working on and how they practice. Students may even be impressed to see how many minutes other students are spending at the piano in a week!

Think of the possibilities! Fortissimo Fox, Beethoven Bear, Susie Sloth, Adagio Alligator… so much fun!

So breathe in that crisp Fall air and welcome some newness into your studio!

Your own renewed energy and fresh ideas will be contagious, and your students will be more excited than ever!

Any new teaching season is a great time to stock up on new piano music! Membership Community subscribers get unlimited access to our entire sheet music library of over 100 sheet music, technical exercise, and lead sheet titles!

Click below to learn more and begin inspiring MORE student practice today!

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Why Practicing Students Are Good For Teachers

Practicing

As music teachers, we encounter many different personalities and levels of interest with our students.

Unfortunately, some students are not as naturally enthusiastic about practicing as others, and one of the difficulties of teaching music is in getting a student such as this to practice consistently and more efficiently.

If this isn’t happening, parents can get frustrated with their child’s lack of progress and take them out of lessons altogether.

What can we do as teachers to avoid this and help all of our students feel fulfilled in their daily practice?

When students don’t practice regularly or efficiently, it causes many problems between them and their teachers and parents.

Parents sometimes feel helpless when they cannot get their child to practice, which ultimately leads them to take them out of music lessons.

If they do practice, but not effectively, the progress is plodding and can become a source of frustration for everyone involved!

The best way to make sure students are on the right track to practicing consistently and efficiently is for parents and teachers to help them set up a practice schedule that is a part of their daily life.

This helps set them up for success!

Within that schedule, the teacher must make certain that the student is practicing effectively (not just running through the motions) and this can take a considerable amount of time and effort during the lesson time to demonstrate and reinforce.

They must learn to be efficient and fruitful in their practicing. And the teacher has to be the one to ensure that they attain these most valuable skills.

One good way to introduce better practice skills with a student is to use a fun piece as the example for how they can become more efficient.

This does not usually work if teachers impose a piece that does not interest the student, so leave the choice up to them.

Once they have decided, use that piece to explore all the different ways they can develop their practice skills at home and spend time in the lessons demonstrating and analyzing the results.

This is an excellent way for a student to become more in-tune with her learning methods while still having fun in the process.

Working on developing better practice skills can be a very long process. But the benefits greatly outweigh any difficulties we experience.

How do students benefit from practicing?

When students practice consistently and efficiently, they become more engaged, enthusiastic, inspired and inquisitive.

We want all of these things for our students!

As students progress more quickly, they soon get to learn more exciting music, which helps keep them inspired.

Students can more easily see where their music studies are leading as they progress.

And then teachers have the opportunity to compare diligent students to other more advanced students to show how their hard work will eventually pay off.

How do teachers benefit from practicing?

With positive results from proper practice techniques, we are more inspired to push students further.

This also helps us feed off the students’ progress and to be more creative!

It opens an opportunity to use positive reinforcement instead of negative punishment, and successful students become good examples for the rest of the studio.

When students are efficient and diligent in practicing, we teachers feel like we have more time and space to add other aspects to teaching that they otherwise couldn’t, such as the exploration of other musical styles, theory, improvisation, composition, arranging and more advanced technique.

With successful students, we get a greater sense of accomplishment, which increases morale.

Not every student will be naturally enthusiastic, so we need to cultivate this kind of attitude to keep us motivated as teachers.

How does this affect parents?

When parents can see progress, they are more likely to keep their children enrolled in lessons and involved in recitals and competitions.

That’s a big one, right? I mean, we all like our paychecks!

Parents are a big factor in their children’s success in music, and they are instrumental in establishing a regular schedule, attainable goals, and positive reinforcement.

Clear progress helps parents stay motivated and excited about helping their children succeed in music.

When goals are set and met, parents can easily see where the path is leading in their children’s musical development.

Student success can ultimately encourage them to enroll other siblings, family members or friends for lessons.

This is a super positive side effect of students practicing!

Remember: happy parents are the best advertising we teachers can get!

Sharing the gift of music with our students is the most important thing we do.

Engaged students and parents equal success in music lessons.

The PracticeHabits Membership Community is a fantastic community for piano teachers dedicated to inspiring student practice and parent engagement.

Piano teachers are already benefitting from the wonderful community and resources!

Click the image below for more information.

 

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Parent Engagement Equals Success in Music Lessons

parent engagement

One, of the most common questions that parents have for music teachers, is how they can be more involved in their child’s music education.

Sometimes it can feel like there is a divide between what happens in the lesson room and what happens on a daily basis at home.

Parent engagement equals success in music lessons.

There are many ways to approach parent engagement.

Here are a few effective ways to encourage your student’s parents to get involved more meaningfully in their child’s musical development:

EXPERIENCE MUSIC TOGETHER

Often, children feel they have very different musical tastes than their parents, and this can certainly be true.

Parents can go to live performances together to establish a musical connection with their children.

This can be any kind of music, whether it’s more to the child’s liking, more suited to the parent’s sensibilities, or somewhere in-between.

The important thing is to experience music together and to talk about it afterward.

Discuss what your impressions were: what you liked and didn’t like, what surprised you, and what inspired you.

Take advantage of the connections you make in these interactions, and you will see your musical relationship grow very naturally.

On a more daily basis, listen to music while at home or in the car. This is the easiest way to connect with your child about music.

Go so far as to invite music to be a part of your family, whether it’s while you’re doing chores at home, driving to school, or just relaxing on the weekend.

When possible, take the time to have sessions of “active listening” – not just passively hearing background sounds, but focusing on the music and talking about it afterward.

Enjoying and discussing music through these kinds of experiences will help you get to know each other’s musical sides much better, which will open the door to getting more personally involved in your child’s education.

TAKE A MORE ACTIVE ROLE

Once you’ve established a relationship with your child regarding music, it becomes much easier to take an active role in their music education.

The best way to begin this is to ask them specific questions concerning what they are working on and how their lessons are going.

Too often, parents ask the obligatory “Did you practice?” and “For how long?” without following up with more in-depth questions.

Find out what exactly what they are working on, how it is different from the other pieces or technical exercises, what do they find easy or difficult, what they like or dislike about it, and what they aspire to be able to play.

It’s essential to ask your child how they think they are doing in their practice and lessons.

If the child is struggling to stay disciplined in practice, you can help them set up a practice schedule that is easy to maintain.

Overall, encourage self-appraisal and always be supportive, since self-criticizing isn’t easy for any of us to do!

SET GOALS INDEPENDENTLY OF THEIR TEACHER’S GOALS

The next step in taking an active role in your child’s musical development is to set goals independently of their teacher’s goals.

The teacher will always have the dominant role as an educator, and this can make the parent-child dynamic seem less important.

The best way to remedy this is to come up with activities that don’t directly involve the timelines of what they are doing in lessons, for instance, set up family concerts at home or have recording projects that you do together and share with family and friends.

Reinforce the idea that music is not just about preparing for lessons and competitions but is something that enriches the lives of all of your loved ones.

If your child responds well to this approach, make it into a family ritual, and your musical relationship will strengthen further.

Along with these ideas, it is helpful and fun to play duets with your child if you have basic skills on any instrument, particularly piano.

Playing together is truly the most direct way to establish an active role in your child’s musical life, so if needed, you can take lessons as an adult to share the experience.

GET MORE PERSONAL

An important aspect of understanding your child’s musical education is to have honest conversations with them about their experiences.

You can talk to them about their musical aspirations, what makes them nervous or anxious when performing, or what kinds of music they are interested in.

As they reach adolescence, it becomes crucial to discuss with your child how they see their future regarding music, whether as a career path, as a serious hobby, or just an appreciation.

These kinds of discussions are much easier to have if you’ve already established a supportive relationship when it comes to music, and with the advice of their teacher, you will be able to help your child realize his or her musical aspirations as an adult.

Above all, remember that parent engagement equals success in music lessons.

About the Author: This guest post about parent engagement in private music lessons is by Carter McMullen from the Baltimore School of Music. You can read more about Carter and his work at this link.

 

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Student Procrastinating and Parent Involvement

work student procrastinating

Student procrastinating…

Oh, I remember studying (cramming really) for those school history and language arts tests.

Sincerely meditating on the test material, I’d allow my head to fall deeply into the center of the thick textbook memorizing dates and vo..caa…buu…lar…….y….. woooooo..r……d….ssssss (zzzzz……zzzzzz…..zzzz).

Oops! I’m sorry! I dozed off!!

Just thinking about it makes me super sleepy.

The textbook wasn’t as soft as my down feather pillow, but I made it work.

We’ve all been there!

  1. Temporarily fill brain with information.
  2. Take test.
  3. Dump information.

It’s unfortunate, really.

I used to procrastinate on my piano assignments as well.

I’ll never forget student procrastinating the week of piano festival. Oh, what a fearful experience that was!

Served me right, though!

My parents pushed me to practice, but they could have pushed harder at times.

It’s tough to strike the appropriate balance, right?

We don’t want our students to burn out. But they need to be pushed. And sometimes parents need to be pushed.

I believe that parent involvement is key to children’s success in the lesson room.

There’s perfect case study by The Center for Public Education on this topic. It’s not a quick read, but worth your time.

Unfortunately, too many parents allow piano teachers to shoulder all of the responsibility.

Sound familiar?

Many of you have told me that the two biggest problems you face in the lesson room are a lack of practice and parent involvement.

I struggle with these myself.

But there are ways to combat these problems.

One of the most efficient ways is to inspire students to practice with well-crafted and imaginative music. 

Rote pieces are perfect for early-late beginner students because they allow them to play more exciting music since they’re focussing on patterns and not note reading.

There are other ways to combat these problems, of course. But that’s enough from me.

I want to hear from you!

How do you open this dialogue with your families? What’s working for you? What’s not working for you?

Please leave a comment below.

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Inspiring Music Sparks Imagination and Creativity

Inspiring

The boy in the picture looks pretty bored, doesn’t he?

I think he needs a new and inspiring piece of music!

Do you remember receiving a brand new piece of music from your piano teacher?

Do you recall the wonderful feeling you’d get when opening the clean, crisp pages for the first time?

I sure do.

What a joyful experience it was!

There’s something special about introducing a student to new and inspiring music.

This reason alone helped me fall in love with festival competitions.

My teacher, Mrs. Jackie Hudson, always picked the best pieces for me to play.

The vibrant and colorful pictures on the front covers and the clean smell of the new pages inspired me to practice (something Mrs. Hudson was super thrilled about).

Of course, the music had to be good as well!

And it always was.

The National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC) sure knows how to put on a good piano festival.

I’m always impressed at the attention to detail in every aspect of the festival.

They’ve produced a nice teacher resource of music titles suitable for students of all levels.

The NFMC Festival Bulletin is an excellent resource. And they’re always updating it. So you can trust its contents are relevant!

There are other sources for new and exciting music; PracticeHabits.co of course, and others.

I’m a huge fan of the Festival Collection series produced by F.J.H. Music Company Inc.

It’s perfect for actual classical pieces (no arrangements) and runs the spectrum from beginning to advanced students.

Many of my students have made their way through these books.

The repertoire contained in the Festival Collection series is excellent for festivals, auditions, and recitals.

Here’s a quick list of several other fantastic and inspiring resources I’ve used in my teaching journey –

  1. The Complete Book of Scales, Arpeggios, and Cadences
  2. Music and technical exercises arranged by Keith Snell
  3. Most anything by Dennis Alexander
  4. Alfred’s Music for Little Mozarts

What about you?

Are you in the market for some new and creative piano music to inspire your students this Summer?

I sure do hope so.

Well-crafted and inspiring music sparks imagination and creativity in piano students and encourages healthy practice habits!

 

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What is Rote Learning and Why Should I Teach By Rote?

teaching by rote

Rote piano teaching seems to be experiencing a resurgence.

But what does it mean to teach by rote?

Webster’s has two definitions for the word.

  1. “The use of memory usually with little intelligence.”
  2. “Mechanical or unthinking routine or repetition.”

I don’t really appreciate the first definition…

Little intelligence?

I guess Webster is trying to say that there’s no formal process for solving a problem such as an algebraic formula or the scientific method.

But it sounds demeaning!

The reality is that this method of learning is an excellent way for students to quickly discover musical patterns and develop their ear.

The following is a quote from the mid 20th-century Japanese violinist Shinichi Suzuki. I firmly believe his thought process.

The early years are crucial for developing mental processes and muscle coordination. Listening to music should begin at birth; formal training may begin at age three or four, but it is never too late to begin. Children learn words after hearing them spoken hundreds of times by others.

The primary concern among piano teachers in teaching the Suzuki method is that it takes so long to begin written notation.

So, why not adopt a hybrid approach? Why not teach music by rote and traditional notation at the same time?

There are several benefits to teaching by rote.

  • It forces students to quickly identify musical patterns.
  • It helps student’s ears develop more quickly.
  • It helps students learn precise rhythm and correct fingering.
  • It allows students to play more exciting music at an early age.
  • It paves the way to excellent musicianship.

Alfred Schnittke is one of my favorite composers and musical thinkers.

Schnittke advocated that the future well-rounded musician would feel at home with various styles. In other words, she would play jazz, classical, pop, and other styles equally well.

Do you know any musicians that can masterfully play in different styles?

Chick Corea, Dave Brubeck, and Yo-Yo Ma come to mind.

So now that you have a good understanding of rote piano teaching and its many benefits, you may be asking, “what makes a good rote piece?”

Above all, patterns.

Music is all about patterns. Well-crafted music is full of familiar patterns to help listeners grasp the main themes and ideas.

Here are a few fantastic rote selections listed by Natalie Weber at the Music Matters Blog.

  • A Day in the Jungle by Jon George
  • Bumblebee Toccata by Lynn Freeman Olson
  • Buzzing Bee by Mark Nevin
  • Castle Days by Kathleen Massoud
  • Cross Current by Ted Cooper
  • Devil’s Night Dance by Catherine Rollin
  • Dragon Hunt by Nancy and Randall Faber
  • Dream Echoes by Nancy and Randall Faber
  • The Fly by Nancy and Randall Faber

Candle in the Night, The Music Train, and Running in Circles are three excellent rote pieces that you can find in the PracticeHabits.co store.

I love what Amy Greer has to say about scouring for rote piano pieces on Tim Topham’s brilliant Creative Piano Teaching Podcast.

She says that a good rote piano piece is a piece that’s easier to teach by patterns than traditional notation. If it’s simpler to learn from the music, then it’s not an ideal rote piece.

I hope that you’ve found this article to be helpful and informative.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support of the PracticeHabits.co community. I appreciate you.

Your friend,

Chris

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Paving a Path to Excellent Musicianship

musicianship

We piano teachers share the responsibility of moving our students toward excellent musicianship.

Of course, students and parents also share in this responsibility. But that’s a post for another day!

Beginner – Intermediate – Advanced

What a tremendous privilege it is to see a child through all three stages! But how do we responsibly guide our students through each stage?

I’m convinced that we do this in the following ways –

1.) Instill students with passion and love for music and the piano.

Many students begin lessons enjoying the piano. Many do not. But it’s our duty to help them fall in love with the instrument!

Instilling passion and love for music should be at the top of every teacher’s list.

Imagine pursuing something without excitement. Without joy.

How dull.

Chances are you’ve been there. I sure have!

But our joy for music and the piano should be infectious – spreading from one student to the next.

Teach them to love the piano like they love their video games, TV shows, or playing outside (do kids play outside these days??!!).

Make it fun and exciting!

Make it a goal for your students to arrive at each lesson prepared and excited to learn.

May they never lose their sense of wonder and awe!

The next two principles come much more easily if they’re guided by the first.

2.) Promote excellent technique.

Students can not achieve excellent musicianship without proper technique.

Five-finger drills, scales, arpeggios, chord inversions, and Hanon exercises all help promote excellent technique.

Albert Franz of Key-Notes brilliantly reinforces the importance of teaching proper technique –

Piano technique could be thought of as the “interface” between a musical idea and the music that comes out of the piano. Piano technique is our control over our instrument.

After all, the most sophisticated airplane in the world is useless if you don’t know how to fly it. So it is with the piano.

Are your students learning how to control their instrument?

(Scales are the first exercises that come to my mind when I think about technique. Here are some fun scale exercises I created just for you! I’ve had great success with these!!)

3.) Encourage students to share the gift of music.

Above all, we should be preparing our students to share the gift of music with others.

We do this through providing opportunities for them to play in front of others in recitals, festivals, competitions, worship services, and community events.

Do you encourage your students to share their gift with their friends and family outside of regular lessons and recitals?

When was the last time you asked your students to play for the local retirement facility?

The elderly have become a neglected part of our population. It’s unfortunate but true. This is a prime opportunity to serve and share.

Graham Cochrane of The Recording Revolution has this to say about sharing music –

Musical talent and inspiration wasn’t given just for you to have and to keep. It was given so that you might give it out; that you might share it with others.

So if music is given TO you, and it’s best enjoyed when it flows OUT of you into the lives of others – then doesn’t that make you some kind of musical conduit or channel?

I like that a lot!

Music should flow out of our students. We pour in, and they pour out – blessing others one note at a time.

You’re helping your students along on this very fun and difficult journey. A journey that yields bountiful fruit if properly tended to.

Keep up the excellent work you’re doing. Continue paving the path to excellent musicianship!

Your students will appreciate it. And so will those who hear their fantastic music.

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Sometimes You Just Need a Different Approach

Approach Emma

I once had a student who couldn’t sit still.

Come to think of it, most of the students I’ve taught fit into this category.

Nevertheless, Ava was a ball of energy!

Granted, she was four-years-old when she began piano lessons.

And this beautiful ball of energy was one of the brightest students I had ever encountered.

But…

I vividly remember arriving each lesson frustrated and baffled on how to approach little Ava.

Did I mention she was only four-years-old??

I’ll be vulnerable here – teaching little bitties was a new endeavor, and I was out of my league.

I knew how to teach the piano. But I did not know how to teach Ava.

It was a struggle.

An epic battle between mentor and protégé that looked something like this.

“Now Ava, this note is middle-C.”

Squirm, squirm, squirm.

“Oh! This is middle-C, Mr. Chris. I’m going to teach you today!”

Run, run, run around the piano bench.

“No, Ava. Please be seated.”

“Okay!”

Squirm, squirm, squirm, twirl, sit.

“Okay, Ava. Let’s try this again. Here’s middle-C.”

“Oh!! Mr. Chris. I made up a song. Want to hear it??”

My brain was melting by this point. And this was the weekly scenario.

I needed a different approach.

I gathered the courage to speak with her mother about the issue.

Together, we decided to shorten Ava’s lessons to 15-minutes instead of the usual 30-minutes.

And her mother began sitting in our lessons.

Now I’m not a huge fan of parents sitting in the lesson room. But this was a unique situation. And it worked beautifully!

She was able to gently guide Ava’s wandering mind back to focus speaking the ancient language known as “mom.”

Both of these changes significantly improved Ava’s lesson experience.

She grew with me. We grew together.

I eventually increased Ava’s lesson time to 30-minutes and her mother began sitting in the waiting area.

Ava was not a bad student. She was four-years-old!

And I just needed a different approach.

How about you? Do you need a different approach?

Well, there’s no better time to implement change than right now.

Have a question? Need guidance?

Leave a comment below. I’d love to hear from you!