Friday, August 25, 2017 by Yulia Berry | Lessons

The school year is about to start, and with every new year, students are getting busier and busier! They do so many after-school activities that sometimes, it seems it's impossible to attend them all!

I understand how busy my students' lives are. That is why part of my teaching approach is helping students understand not only the importance of practicing, but how to efficiently practice so that no time is wasted when practicing at home. I also understand when other commitments arise and a student must miss a regularly scheduled lesson.

While many private instructors have a strict “no refunds, no make-ups, ever” policy (in fact, that seems to be the norm when looking at various private studio policies online), I recognize that there may be times when a student might need to reschedule. That is why I offer one make-up lesson per semester, built into the studio calendar and I always try to make up more lessons, as long as my schedule allows it and a reason for a missed lesson is a sickness or an emergency situation.

However, I recommend that students and parents of students read this article: Make-up Lessons From An Economist’s Point of View. I think it will spill some light on how missed lessons affect the teachers' life and schedule.

The article is written by the parent of a young violin student, who also happens to be an economist. The author describes what make-up lessons mean to her, and also what they mean for the teacher in terms of time and income sacrificed.

It’s a great read, and I highly recommend everyone enrolling in private music lessons read through it!

http://ottawasuzukistrings.ca/makeuplessons/

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