Because I like to research things obsessively before I begin (like reading 10+ parenting books while pregnant), I’ve been researching how to teach my daughter to read. Reading about the steps of learning to read has inevitably lead me to ponder on the similarities between teaching reading (totally new to me) and note reading (which […]
Music
What Your Suzuki Violin Students Need to Be Successful…
Does it seem like the other teachers get all the good students? Is your studio filled with poor practicers, wishy-washy whiners, no shows, and parents who forget to pay? When I was a new teacher, I envied the more established teachers that I knew. It seemed like, somehow, they got all of the awesome students. […]
2018-2019 Plucky Violin Teacher Book Club Schedule…
Hello my friends. I’ve largely been absent from the blog for the last year. I never intended to neglect the blog so long, and I’m so excited to be re-committing to writing and learning more about teaching. If you’re interested, over the last year, I… began teaching Suzuki Early Childhood Education classes became totally overwhelmed […]
Six Life Lessons Children Learn from Playing the Violin…
Guest Post by Deborah Tayloe Everyone’s heard how about the value of learning music. It is supposed to help with school, social skills, and more. You are slugging through daily practice, driving to lessons, working hard. Ultimately, you try to assure yourself, after all this work, your child will eventually learn to play. However, you […]
5 Violin Teaching Tips, Tricks, and Resources 9/1/2017…
Hello friends, Thank you for all of the very kind, supportive emails over the past week. You are all amazing. Honestly, I felt a little nervous, ashamed, even guilty about telling people about how my studio had changed. I felt selfish letting students go to spend more time with my family, (I also felt guilty […]
Five Violin Teaching Tips, Tricks, and Resources I’m Loving This Week — August 25, 2017
Hello friends! Long time no see! I’ve been taking it easy this summer, recovering from some major teacher burnout. (More on this later, I promise.) I’m so excited to be back on the blog lately, and after two Suzuki institutes this summer (ISSI and ASI), I am feeling more and more dedicated to my work […]
Why I Totally Changed Suzuki Parent Education in My Studio…
And How Automation Keeps Me Sane… In recent years, I have begun to realize how much power I have to create the culture and community in my Suzuki violin studio. Any “issues” or “frustrations” I have had with parents or students, if I look hard enough, I can trace back to my own actions. And, […]
2017 Plucky Violin Teacher Book Club Schedule
I can’t believe it is already 2017! I really enjoyed the books we read in 2016, and can’t wait to continue to improve myself and my teaching by reading more great books. It was incredibly difficult to narrow down the selection to just one per month, so if you have other suggestions please include them in […]
Free Violin Nutcracker Arrangement
One of the many reasons we want our children to learn the violin or another instrument is to introduce them to the great music of the world. This is the perfect time of year to introduce your children to a wonderful work by a fantastic composer, The Nutcracker by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. (Chai-kahv-ski.) You can introduce […]
5 Practice Tips for Suzuki Parents
Practicing with your child can be rough. Tantrums, stall tactics, power struggles, Suzuki parents are on the front lines and we all need some extra inspiration occasionally. If you are looking to breathe some new life into your practice routine with your Suzuki student, don’t fret! I have gathered these practice tips for Suzuki parents from […]