Advice needed about teching 5-year-old, who already has g1 with merit Options

[linda.ff]

I have a potential new pupil coming to see me tomorrow. (Potential in that my timetable is now quite tight and our availabilities may not be compatible)

Mother says she has grade 1piano (ABRSM) with merit, including 18 for sight-reading, and has been working through the Bastien books, reaching level 3. I've used Bastien in the past, but I'm not terribly keen on either the pedagogy or the music iteself - however, if she likes it, particularly the siz eof the print, I can go along with it.

She has come here from China - fairly recently I imagine since the mother says the child is "just learning English", and has already been having lessons here, but her teacher had to stop, and she was having 45 minutes.

I'm intrigued by what I shall see and hear; I've seen very young beginners managing with elementary stuff, but I've often wondered what comes in between that and grade 1, which is, after all, not a six-week jobbie. I'm assuming she's not been taught by rote, as she passed the sight-reading - or is it part of the method of those who teach these little ones at that level that they do exam-style sight-reading quite separately from learning the music?

Have any of you any experience teaching at this level? I have plenty of 4/5/6 year olds, but they're all beginners, using My first Piano Adventure, and yesterday's five-year-old had to be contantly reminded which note and which finger to start on for Tucker's Secret Life (users of MFPA will know that instantly: aka Big Dog Boogie!) That's quite a leap to grade 1.

She may tuen out to be a real natural genius, or a hot-housed little performing flea - or very likely somewhere along the line in between

Obviously the amount of practice she is getting, and the amount of supervision she gets must make a difference. Mother didn't say whether she herself could play. I offered Saturday morning, bt she is having to fit in tap dancing at that time (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

Any advice or strategies - always assuming I'm able to take her on? Should I try to do any sort of theory (NOT Eric Taylor books etc - I woulodn't inflict them on a young child)

[sbhoa]

Maybe the best is to wait until you see them.
Try not to make too many assumptions but deal with it in the same way you would any other student who has had lessons with another teacher.

[Susie]

I agree with sbhoa in that it would be well to wait and see. In the circumstances I'd encourage child to play one of her grade 1 pieces for me, perhaps she could pick her favourite.

I would also have a discussion with mother about any expectations that the parents may have, while outlining the step up to grade 2 or 3 as necessary. There may be particular expectations, given where the child has come from, and the fact that she has had 45 minute lessons [most of my 10 year olds would go pale at the thought of a 45 minute lesson].

As far as theory is concerned, I would wait to see what the child's writing skills are like - you can cover the theory in a practical sense so that the understanding is there. For young ones, I use the Lina Ng series of theory books that have been mentioned on here quite a bit.

[PianoNotes]

No additional advice to give but I am looking forward to you reporting back. It sounds quite exciting.

[agricola]

I like to get new-comers to do a bit of sight-reading and aural as that tends to filter out any rote-learning that has been going on.

[jenny]

As has already been said, keep an open mind - and do let us know what happens!

[linda.ff]

As has already been said, keep an open mind - and do let us know what happens!

Well, they came to visit me today, and she's really sweet; born in Glasgow, and not talking very grown-up talk at all, but she didn't deserve a merit for the grade 1 if today's playing was anything to go by, she deserved a distinction! Her mother had told me some of the things the examiner had written which she was surprised about, but every piece was beautifully phrased and well paced. She played me an arrangement of Beethoven's variation theme from the pastoral symphony (Piano time classics), again, very sensitively, and when I pointed to the B (flat) and asked her what the note was she showed me and told me, and when I asked her how she knew, she pointed to the key-signature and said "B flat. F major". A lot of the spade work has been done for me - I would have loved to be a fly on the wall; however, maybe one of my other 5-year-olds will go through the same process of development over the next year or so. She can read as well - I showed her a piece from book D of the Alfred Prep Course (The Magic Man, for those who know the book) and she read the opening of it straight away - when she got bogged down with the two hands we played it as a duet but she was spot-on all the way (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)

I just have to do a little shuffling around in my timetable to make room for her. She is definitely NOT being pushed - her mother says most of the classical pieces she knows she has just taught herself from the music!!!!

(She also liked the Can Can from the Bastien book, but didn't quite understand the picture. Not surprising, as it shows five assorted CANS - peas, spinach etc - kicking their legs in the air with frilly petticoats. She was very amused when I told her that it was from the days when ladies wore very long skirts and it was a very rude dance because they were allowed to show their knickers. Starting as I mean to go on... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif) )

[jenny]

She sounds like a dream pupil! Lucky you!!
I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time teaching her. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Maybe you'll keep us in touch with her progress?

[Susie]

Marvellous! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Lucky you - just the sort of pupil anyone would shuffle their timetable for! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[linda.ff]

By contrast, I had my youngest pupil this morning for only his third lesson; he's four, and we're using My First Piano Adventure, and my principle with this is that at a very young age, I will teach the parent with the child sitting in, joining in, and wanting to do what Mummy does.

On her own admission, they hadn't been able to start practising what they had learnt last week, so she couldn't report on how well he managed at home with her, but today was an almost blanket refusal - actually said no several times, and when mum played he played as well, but any old where. He looked at the picture of the hands with the fingers numbered and deliberately gave silly numbers to the fingers, wouldn't (I suspect rather than couldn't) try to play the beginning of Twinkle (stickers on C and G), though he could tell when I held Mummy's finger and played it, when we had played a wrong note. He enjoys doing the Monster Bus Driver (copying rhythms by "beeping the horn" on the two black notes, and was moderately successful at that, though he kept wanting to wander off on to other notes.

We listened for loud and quiet, and mostly he was completely arbitrary in his answers to these. I have long thought that there's a stage many little children go through where everything is just a guessing game, and they don't attempt to use their senses to work out a right answer. Even in year 3 I've had children assuming that whenn I put two patterns on the boarfd and play one of them, they have to "guess" which one it is.

Mum said he was just being naughty - he was cheerful enough, though. They are going to try at home and see how he responds when he's behaving better with her, becasue if he can do it at home but not when he's with me, I can carry on training the mother in the lesson and he will do one thing which is absolutely essential to this kind of learning: he will get older. We've agreed that if he won't try to do it at home either, then he's not ready.

So it goes to show that there's a very wide range of ability to concentrae - and willingness to cooperate - among four-year-olds. My new little girl has been doing it since she was three, as has the admirable daughter of forum member scrouch, and you can bet your boots they didn't behave like this little boy did this morning, even at a year younger.

I'm trying other rhythm activities as well, playing a tune and counting 1-2-3-4-5-chachacha to a Latin rhythm on the keyboard, and I think I shall have to incorporate some of the things I used to do with reception classes, even if it's only a "class" of him and mummy. More kinetic exercises and games and less precision finding of keys on the piano. In other words more original advance planning from me and less faithful interpretation of what is usually a reliable book.