Teacher Dreamaurora - Piano Q&A

[Dreamaurora]

Neosan60:

my ds2 is having psle nxt year and i am not sure if his weekly piano lesson should be discontinued and then continued after psle. i am thinking of continuing, until he is unable to cope with work load. will need advice when the time comes, just that i know a hiatus period is not good, plus ds2 is very good at piano. but to me, exam comes first.

Personally I would not advise stopping piano as your son may lose the momentum, though I think it is okay to take a break for up to two months during exam period. I had a student last time who took her grade 7 in her sec 4 O level year and managed to do well for both her piano without affecting her O preparation. Of course, if you are a bit apprehensive, you could perhaps reduce the frequency of lessons to once every 2 weeks and stop participation in exams or major concerts. But try to maintain a practice schedule; I'm sure your son would appreciate that he has something different to do every day other than studying for exam.

[jce]

Agree, momentum and discipline that has been built up need to continue otherwise it will be difficult to get back into the swing after a long break. It can be less intense, playing pieces that he’d enjoy, may it be pop, classical or jazz, or if he enjoys the technical exercises then go ahead, practice that (yes, I do know of those who enjoy technical exercises more than pieces!). Whatever it is, the practice will serve as an avenue for him to take a break, enjoy and do something else apart from revision.

[waiyean]

metz:

waiyean:

I did consider, but thought the age requirement for NAFA is 6. Do they audition kids who are 4+, turning 5? I posted some questions over the NAFA thread, but hasn't gotten any response so far.

Have you checked out nafa's website? For violin, minimum age requirement is 4 years old; for piano, it is 5. The next audition could be near oct/nov. When I last enquired, it was in Nov. Try calling them for more info.

Did you comb through the Nafa thread? A poster shed some light on the audition for those younger than 6.

Okay... my girl finally turned 5 a few months back, and I had made the decision to send her to NAFA starting next year.

Question is, how to break the news to her current teacher/school? Her current teacher is great, and my DD has been with the school since she was a baby. Sigh...

[Dreamaurora]

waiyean:

Okay... my girl finally turned 5 a few months back, and I had made the decision to send her to NAFA starting next year.

Question is, how to break the news to her current teacher/school? Her current teacher is great, and my DD has been with the school since she was a baby. Sigh...

I would be honest to her current teacher. Any good teacher would invest considerable time and effort to teach a student; it is not just a mere business transaction. There are at least a couple instances over the years that parents just suddenly stopped the lessons with me via SMS citing lame reasons such as 'distance too far', 'schedule not convenient'. I tried to contact them again but attempts to contact them are ignored. I understand that sometimes a change of teacher is needed for various reasons, but I think at the very least parents should respect the efforts that teachers have put in into their children even if there are imperfections or flaws. Any good teachers have their students' best interests at heart and they will not actually mind if students change teacher because they aspire higher, but they do deserve to know the truth rather than being excommunicated from the students.

It really hurts when I teach a student with all my heart and then suddenly one day the student just disappear without any sufficient explanation. If there is any issues with my teaching whatsoever, I would actually more than happy to listen to feedbacks and try to adjust my teaching. That is why when parents enquire lessons with me because of unhappiness with current teacher, I always ask them to feedback and work out a solution with current teacher first instead of hastily looking for another teacher.

[2snoopy]

Dreamaurora:

waiyean:

Okay... my girl finally turned 5 a few months back, and I had made the decision to send her to NAFA starting next year.

Question is, how to break the news to her current teacher/school? Her current teacher is great, and my DD has been with the school since she was a baby. Sigh...

I would be honest to her current teacher. Any good teacher would invest considerable time and effort to teach a student; it is not just a mere business transaction. There are at least a couple instances over the years that parents just suddenly stopped the lessons with me via SMS citing lame reasons such as 'distance too far', 'schedule not convenient'. I tried to contact them again but attempts to contact them are ignored. I understand that sometimes a change of teacher is needed for various reasons, but I think at the very least parents should respect the efforts that teachers have put in into their children even if there are imperfections or flaws. Any good teachers have their students' best interests at heart and they will not actually mind if students change teacher because they aspire higher, but they do deserve to know the truth rather than being excommunicated from the students.

It really hurts when I teach a student with all my heart and then suddenly one day the student just disappear without any sufficient explanation. If there is any issues with my teaching whatsoever, I would actually more than happy to listen to feedbacks and try to adjust my teaching. That is why when parents enquire lessons with me because of unhappiness with current teacher, I always ask them to feedback and work out a solution with current teacher first instead of hastily looking for another teacher.

We should respect whatever reasons the parents give for discontinuing the lesson and not blindly accusing them. Teachers should have professionalism in handling this matter and not lame ways of pesteringthe parents.

[Dreamaurora]

2snoopy:

Dreamaurora:

[quote=\"waiyean\"]
Okay... my girl finally turned 5 a few months back, and I had made the decision to send her to NAFA starting next year.

Question is, how to break the news to her current teacher/school? Her current teacher is great, and my DD has been with the school since she was a baby. Sigh...

I would be honest to her current teacher. Any good teacher would invest considerable time and effort to teach a student; it is not just a mere business transaction. There are at least a couple instances over the years that parents just suddenly stopped the lessons with me via SMS citing lame reasons such as 'distance too far', 'schedule not convenient'. I tried to contact them again but attempts to contact them are ignored. I understand that sometimes a change of teacher is needed for various reasons, but I think at the very least parents should respect the efforts that teachers have put in into their children even if there are imperfections or flaws. Any good teachers have their students' best interests at heart and they will not actually mind if students change teacher because they aspire higher, but they do deserve to know the truth rather than being excommunicated from the students.

It really hurts when I teach a student with all my heart and then suddenly one day the student just disappear without any sufficient explanation. If there is any issues with my teaching whatsoever, I would actually more than happy to listen to feedbacks and try to adjust my teaching. That is why when parents enquire lessons with me because of unhappiness with current teacher, I always ask them to feedback and work out a solution with current teacher first instead of hastily looking for another teacher.

We should respect whatever reasons the parents give for discontinuing the lesson and not blindly accusing them. Teachers should have professionalism in handling this matter and not lame ways of pesteringthe parents.[/quote]Wow, so you think it's fine to immediately excommunicate the teachers if their services are not needed anymore? If it's time for a student to move on to a new teacher, then of course a teacher has to respect that decision. What I don't like is the manner the switch is being conducted by some parents. It is not that hard right to end the lessons on a more cordial note? Can just be honest with the teacher and maybe buy a parting gift/meal?

I still maintain friendships with most of my ex-teachers and all of them understood the reasons when I told them I had to move on to a new teacher. We still met up for meals from time to time and there was no ill feelings involved.

But if you feel that it is okay to feel that 'teachers should have professionalism in handling this matter' and not to give them proper closure, then it is your right.

[sacredmusicals]

I’ve had a few students whose parents terminated my lessons via SMS in my years of teaching. There was even one case of a student simply stopped coming to lessons and there was no reasons given, and the parents refuse to pick up my calls or return my SMSes. I agree with dream that this is a very curt way of ending a teacher’s service and those instances did hurt my feeling. I understand that parents may want to avoid ugly confrontations but most teachers should be reasonable enough to accept the fact that their students may progress better with other teachers.

[sautille]

waiyean:

Okay... my girl finally turned 5 a few months back, and I had made the decision to send her to NAFA starting next year.

Question is, how to break the news to her current teacher/school? Her current teacher is great, and my DD has been with the school since she was a baby. Sigh...

My son was with a great teacher from P1 to Sec 1 who coached him through dip exam & a few competitions. One day she asked if I would consider changing to another teacher as she felt my son was too comfortable with her and musically he could benefit from a fresh perspective. She recommended a couple of teachers outside of her music school & even helped put in a good word so that my son could be accepted by one them. I have tremendous respect for her as she has her student's interest at heart.

I believe good teachers are quite professional about the need for fresh perspective. Perhaps you could share with your DD's teacher that you'd like your DD to have a diff exposure with NAFA?

[waiyean]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I just spoke with DD current teacher and told her the truth. Phew…

[phankao]

waiyean:

Thanks for all the suggestions. I just spoke with DD current teacher and told her the truth. Phew...

So you already brought your daughter to audition at NAFA and got accepted, is it?