Tuition covers not only face time with the student during weekly lessons, but also time spent in preparation for lessons, including lesson planning, research and development of teaching materials and curriculum, selecting, locating and purchasing specific music for the student, updating parents on student progress and lesson goals, addressing any concerns or conflicts that may arise, scheduling and communicating with the student and parent outside of lessons.
All students must have acoustic piano or digital piano for home practice. The quality of your student’s home instrument plays a significant role in their potential for success. Acoustic pianos should be tuned at least once a year, and kept in working order. If you prefer a digital piano, please invest in a full-size keyboard (88 keys) with weighted, touch-sensitive keys and pedals. The piano should be accompanied with proper lighting and a bench of appropriate height. I highly encourage students to have a real acoustic piano after 1-2 year of lessons. Please see my piano guide here.
If your child has the desire to take lessons, then it is worth setting up a trial lesson with me so I can assess if they are ready or not. There are many factors in determining if a child is ready. How is their attention span? Can they read letters A-G, numbers 1-4? Can they follow directions? Etc.
Practice
Regular home practice is essential for student success. Students are expected to get five days of FULL practice each week. In the event of vacations, illness, etc., students can practice extra to make up for missed practice sessions. Parental involvement in home practice is crucial for student success. Please help your student to establish and stick to a practice routine, and see that practice time is free of distractions. If you are the parent of an elementary age student, please plan to sit with your child for at least a portion of their daily practice time.
The following recommendations serve as a guide to achieve satisfactory results based on your child’s age. Of course, to achieve excellent results, students should expect to practice 1.5 to 2 times as much as listed below.
4-6 years old: 10-20 minutes / every other day to 5 days a week
7-8 years old: 20-25 minutes / at least 5 days a week
9-11 years old: 25-30 minutes / at least 5 days a week
12-14 years old: 30-45 minutes / at least 5 days a week
15 and older: 45-60 minutes / at least 5 days a week
Instrument
Enrichment group lessons are offered throughout the year and students are encouraged to signup for the class when they need to miss a lesson. We also offer a video lesson for the missed lesson which we send a short video lesson and student can watch the video at their convenience. Tuition is based on enrollment, not attendance. Your tuition reserves your lesson day and time along with studio benefits. Make up lessons are not an option as we can’t teach another student during your scheduled time without replacing the student all together.
In the event teacher needs to cancel due to conference attendance or an unforeseen circumstance such as illness We’ll notify students and parents of the cancellation as soon as possible through email and/or phone contact. For every cancellation made by teacher will be made up.
In case of inclement weather which makes travel hazardous and teaching locations closed, we offer Skype/Facetime lessons to make up the lessons.
1)Payment Plans
The yearly Tuition is based on 32 Teaching Week in the 2017 – 2018 year, which runs from September 2018 through June 2019. Tuition is prepaid as a flat fee to reserve your weekly lesson time.
Three payment plans are available:
- One annual payment due September 1, 2018
- Two payments due September 1, 2018 (Fall Term), and January 20, 2019 (Spring Term)-preferred
- Ten monthly payments due on the 1st of each month, September 2018 through June 2019
*Due to the time and administrative cost involved in collecting late payments, any account issues that are not resolved by the 10th of the month (except spring term payment) will incur a $10 late fee. After the 20th of the month, student attendance will be suspended until all fees are paid.
2) Methods of Payment
Payments may be made by PayPal or bank transfer. Automatic bank transfer is recommended for ease of payment because you can have your bank mail a check automatically on the dates you set up.
*Tuitions are charged as a flat fee and are not lowered nor refunded for missed lessons.
Because of all the benefits that are included in your tuition, commitment to lessons are semester based. (Sep-Jan; Feb-June) If you do need to quit, I will need a one-month written and paid notice before the semester ends.
If you are wanting to just take a break for whatever reason, I cannot hold your reserved day/time unless it is paid for. If it is paid for, it will be here waiting for you when you return. If it isn’t, I will have to add you to my waiting list and you can follow up with me for an opening when you are ready to return.
Yes! Keep your fingernails short and neat so they don’t get in the way of playing with good finger shapes and proper technique. Get in the habit of trimming your nails 1-2x a week, and always check your nails before a lesson, so you don’t take a lesson with long nails!
