It's my last piano lesson tomorrow. My piano teacher has taught me for 7 years now and my Mum for about 3 years before me. What do you think I should get her to say thank you? (or in other words, what would you appreciate from a student?) We think it should be more than a box of chocolates/flowers/whatever but aren't doing too well at actually coming up with anything.

Any ideas would really be appreciated!

Thanks,
Sarah

PS. I didn't intend to leave it till the day before my last lesson to start thinking about this, I just didn't realise she'd got to the end of her term already as she bases hers on private schools, but my brother still has a good couple of weeks left.

I always give fruit trees. A nice Victoria plum, or a damson, or a cherry tree. That's something which will be appreciated for years to come.

Very true, Alicia. I have a beautiful miniature orange tree, coming into blossom right now, which was given to me 8 years ago, and reminds me of the giver on a daily basis.

That sounds like a lovely idea. I'll have to work out where I'd find a baby tree now.

A nursery, perhaps?

Well, I'd got that far The problem is more that I have to find one.

I'm sure there'll be a branch of one of the nurseries somewhere nearby....

In complete contrast to David I would say: WINE!!!! If you know if your teacher does enjoy a tipple, a nice bottle of wine or prosecco or similar is always gratefully received.

I have one family with a wine buff Dad who give my a lovely bottle at Christmas and in the summer. Yum!

Does anyone know those little black moleskin notebooks About A6/Diary size? (No they are not real moleskin)
Well they have some now available with music staves. I gave these as gifts to the music teachers this year. Handy little things. Available in Borders and Waterstones, but you might have to order if not in local branch.

If not you could get one by trunk call, which leaves me to make a sharp exit....

If one of my students offered to buy me a present then I'd quite like a holiday....

i have been given quite a few gifts over the years, all of which i was very happy about, because they simply show your work is valued. it never really mattered so much to me if it was a plain box of chocolates, a bottle of wine (both of which i like, although my scales don't), a lovely diary, a teddy or a kitty mug (yes, i had mentioned i love cats but couldn't have one because of my bf's allergy ).

i have to admit though that the thing i loved most was a simple letter where the student thanked me for my work. that simple ...

They all sound lovely!

Sarah, I would also give the advice NOT to buy the teacher toiletries or candles. I have millions of both and while I'm grateful, if I took that many baths I would never do any work!

I tend to buy teachers a pen. It can be a fairly inexpensive pen for just Christmas, or for a special thank you a nicer pen. (Obviously I don't give the same teacher a pen every time ) But I always feel that flowers don't last and if you have 2 or 3 thank yous at the same time their room must start to look like a hot house. You can't have too many pens as the wear out / get lost and don't take up much space.

For a goodbye and thank you to a music teacher we gave him a nice pen and a piece of music which my daughter had been learning and everytime she got it out he would say, " I must get a copy of this, it's really nice"

A rose bush would be welcome here.

Most of my pupes are well primed....we Bags are most partial to a tad of nectar in the form of red, white or pink....

hic-Bag x

I've had my teacher for 7 years and have my last lesson on Monday. I was thinking of just getting a present for her son (its his birthday very soon, I've always gotten him presents at the end of the year rather than her - he's 3) and writing a meaningful card. Would that be sufficient? I *know* I'm still going to have a few lessons over the summer and in the holidays from uni, so I don't feel as though its goodbye as such.
x

Just to let you know the outcome...

We managed to find a garden centre and got a baby orange tree and a nice pot for it to sit in as it says it needs to spend 2 years indoors (or at least I think that's what the french instructions said! ). However, in my lesson, we made such a shambles of one of my recorder pieces (she's accompanying me for my exam), that we decided we really need another lesson, so now I have to look after the tree for a week before I can give it to her. I really hope I can manage to not kill the poor thing (or cause its little green oranges to fall off!) as my track record with plants isn't too good.

My ( very healthy!) orange tree lives outside from April till Oct/Nov. Assuming yours also looks quite healthy now, I should put it outside right away. It likes sun and warmth. As I've managed to keep mine alive for 8 years, they must be pretty indestructible ( unlike my temperamental diva of an oleander). And (of course) keep it well watered. Daily.

Good luck!

Fruit tree - ace idea.

My daughter left her teacher after a lifetime of 10 years. We did manage to buy something suitable, but she also had the idea of going back through her old notebooks and music - her teacher is a great user of post-it notes - and extracting a selection from year one to the then present day (alarming how many of them appeared year on year...). She arranged them on a large piece of card and wrote a thank you note on the back, and they had a good giggle reading the post-its in the last lesson.

The thing I most appreciated receiving was a card from a student of mine going off to university. Inside it just said "Thanks for everything" and then his name, but coming from a teenage boy (particularly him!), it meant a lot.

One of my students just wrote a very nice thank you letter when she left last year. It was enough for me to know that she'd appreciated my help and input.

The best Christmas present I've had (purely because it was so amusing and unexpected!) was a tray of lettuce!

The impression that I got from the instructions was that, being a baby (It's only about a foot and a half tall at the moment), it wouldn't really like outside very much. But if it gets hot and sunny again, I'll try putting it out.

I think about one of my pupils every time I have a cup of tea from my lovely little striped cup which stands on a saucer/plate for the biscuit!
Barbara

Does anyone get their teacher anything if you get good results in exams (as a thank you), or is that just a bit of silly notion?

I think that's a lovely idea.

I took on a new pupil just before Christmas, and was quite touched to have been given a present from her at Christmas just because I'd taken her on.

Just out of interest, how much was the tree, and also can they be kept inside permanently? Or do they grow to be big?
Im rather intrigued, and am thinking my window sil could do with something a bit more interesting.

I think it was around £20. It says it can grow to up to 7m eventually though, so maybe not a good windowsill plant in the long run. It's really sweet at the moment though.

If you want a "pet" plant, you might want to consider something like a Japanese peace lily. Quite difficult to kill as well

7M?! Thats more than a normal organ tree!

Did you mean organ?

Yes. Why do think it costs to much to build an organ, its so difficult to get a Diapason Tree thats taller than 8 feet, so when you need a 16 foot pipe, its expensive.

No, i meant orange

A 'Diapason Tree', HC??!

My orange tree lives in the conservatory, during last winter it got rather cold, and I think I forgot to water it. It looked completely dead. All the leaves fell off and all the oranges fell off , both had stayed on the previous winter. I pruned it really hard in the spring, cutting off all brown branches and just leaving any that were tinged with green. It now has leaves again and looks really healthy.

You twigged on my awful pun quite quickly! But maybe we shouldn't take the thread down this root.

I say we weed out the offending posters for their awful puns. Please leaf quietly...

Don't sap your strength trying to get rid of HG - it will only encourage him! You're barking up the wrong tree, I'm afraid!

I'm ashamed to say it probably would!

But I thought the joaks quite good. Not acorny one in sight....

They are treemendous!

Thank you. Fancy them wanting me to log out of this thread....

It's plane to cedar man is easily pleased!

I only came into this thread to spruce things up a bit. Your jokes are a bit dead wood though

Indeed..we can't have you weeping like a willow..

You wood!

Life's a birch and all that... deal with it

Go to bed, HG, you wooden want to drag the tone any lower, would you?

I looked in hoping for a bit of culture. How I pine for some, but with you lot at the elm what more could I expect?

A sycamore?

That's a bit thorny you great clod !

I can see I've conkered this thread with my wit

You evidently can't see the wood for the trees, then!