Request for input, teaching studios Policy Paper
Elle Mathews
have time, we would appreciate your input on this paper, if you feel
it is appropriate to its purpose and consistent with Suzuki
philosophy. Note that policies regarding fee schedules, payments,
etc., are on a separate handout, as we do not wish to publish them on
the net. http://www.geocities.com/sunmusicstrings/policies.html
Thanks,
EM
Dave Curtis
Comments from the perspective of a Suzuki Dad (violin).
> 2. Lessons are once a week, one-half hour for children and one hour for adults
How young are the littlest students? 15 minutes is plenty for a 3
year old. Our studio does lessons in 15 minute increments..
15/30/45/60 minutes, depending on age of student. You might consider
doing semi-private 30 minute lessons for 3 and 4 y/o pre-twinklers,
since they benefit from hearing each other, and group instruction
works great at that age. BTW -- in our studio, for parents (like me)
that also take lessons, we book it as one chunk. My daughter and I
have a 30 minute lesson, she gets the first 12-20 minutes depending on
attention span, phase of the moon, pottie breaks, etc, and I get the
rest.
> 3. If you cannot make a lesson, ....
Policy in our studio: Lesson time is reserved. Payment is per
semenster, no refunds for missed lessons. The teacher publishes a
swap list for those parents willing to list their phone/e-mail.
Parents can arrange time swaps among themselves - teacher does not
arrange swaps. Calling ahead for lessons you can't make is just
common courtesy.
> 6. Parents - Suzuki moms and dads - are encouraged to stay during the lesson
Encouraged? Until the student is a 15 or so, attendance by the parent
should be "required" for a Suzuki lesson. BTW - In our studio,
parents are "encouraged" to complete book 1 on their own so that they
can do a better job of home teaching.
Things you don't mention:
1. Observing other lessons should be encouraged and welcomed.
2. What about weekly group lessons in addition to the weekly private
lesson? Presumably they are included in the fee. Group lessons are a
very important part of Suzuki instruction and I'm surprised that you
don't mention them. I hope you have them..... please say that you
do.... I could never recommend a Suzuki studio that did not include
group lessons. For the pre-twinklers and book 1-3 rep, group lessons
are very powerful.
3. Have a cell phone policy, for both lesson and recital. Yes, some
people have to be told. Believe it or not, I had a dad sitting beside
me at a recital take a call, and continue the call during the recital
without even getting up from his chair much less going outside. I
wanted to give him a fiberglass bow proctology exam. Profoundly
disrespectful of the students.
4. Payment: for your reference: in our studio, the year is split into
two semesters. Payment due up front for the semester. Inclusive of
weekly private lesson, weekly (with a few breaks) group lesson,
recital (we have one recital per semester), Suzuki Assoc dues, Jeanne
Luedke parent newsleter, gifts (At Christmas, the teacher gives each
student an age-appropriate music/violin related gift of $3-4 value.)
New parents to the studio pay a small extra fee for parent-education
classes... a series of about 8 or 10 classes of Suzuki philosophy
orienation and for sharing our teaching ideas.
I can see you have put a lot of thought into your studio policy and
by-and-large I think it is very good. Good luck with your new studio.
-dave
Elle Mathews
> I can see you have put a lot of thought into your studio policy and
> by-and-large I think it is very good. Good luck with your new studio.
Hi Dave: You're sure right about the 15 minutes lessons. We have a lot
of home schooled children, where two or three in a family are taking
lessons, so we work it out so that within an hour or hour and a half,
the little ones get 15-20 mnutes, and the older ones get more. There
are no public school string programs in this area, and no private
teachers, so we have a lot of very supportive and enthusiastic people
who want lessons for their kids but no background in taking lessons,
or even going to concerts, actually. We made some changes in the
document, based on the needs and resources of the people in this area.
Thank you for taking the time to provide this feedback. EM
bob
Well Connie, aside from the numerous gramatical errors it's not too bad.
IMO, you would be better off stripping out all the "sometime down the
road" stuff. Like 10, 11, and 12. If you expect people to remember stuff
you will be making a mistake.
You might want to rethink your negative framing in item 4, which seems to
imply that anyone who does not use your _business model_ is by definition
not a professional.
It is not at all clear if there is one teacher, or several. It is also not
clear exactly what the affiliation with Suzuki is.
The document is somewhat one sided. It sets forth many strictures regarding
pupils, but does not give much (anything?) in return. Sort of like a
Microsoft Licence Agreement.
You are also including a lot of pedagogy. If I were writing policies, I
would stick to policies, and put the pedagogy elsewhere.
Bob
--
Delete the inverse SPAM to reply
Elle Mathews
wrong about it "not being true." Ms. Sunday passed away about a month
ago after a long illness (she had MS). She had not been able to get
out of bed for several months because of a stroke. Susan sold us the
property where she had her studio (an old church with an apartment
upstairs), the rights to her webpage, the online business, the stock
they had at hand, the studio itself, the computers, her van, and
everything assoicated with the business she had established. You are
misinformed.
Thank you to all the many people who wrote us thoughtful responses
about this updated document, which was based on a pre-existing policy
statement by Ms. Sunday. Aside from one vitriolic response, all the
responses were kind and so many of them exceptionally helpful. Thank
you also to the many AR and vegetarian people who support us in this
effort. We know who are friends are. EM
Musicians' Health Listserv -
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MusiciansHealth/
"People get offended by animal rights campaigns. It's ludicrous. It's
not as bad as mass animal death in a factory." --Richard Gere
Eve
"Elle Mathews" <ellem...@hush.ai> wrote in message
news:4e14bdcd.04010...@posting.google.com...
Steve Perry
http://portalesscm.viapointe.mhe.viapointe.com/engine.pl?station=portales&template=storyfull.html&id=1004
On Wed, 07 Jan 2004 06:26:19 -0000, bob <usene...@2fiddles.com>
wrote:
Betsy
Incredible. Where did you come by this?
I've just fired off an e-mail to the author. I suggest others follow suit.
"Steve Perry" <gianna...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:u87svvo84c8jrhiib...@4ax.com...
Mizz Marcia Ryder
"Betsy" <n0s...@spam.c-0> wrote in message
news:0mqLb.52$fR4.2...@news.abs.net...
> WHAT???????
>
> Incredible. Where did you come by this?
>
> I've just fired off an e-mail to the author. I suggest others follow
suit.
>
> "Steve Perry" <gianna...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:u87svvo84c8jrhiib...@4ax.com...
> > Wonder when this was:
I found that and other items weeks ago.
It's called Google and it is your friend. Aside from this if you
google the groups you'll find that Elle and the pseudo-Connie
participate in the same newsgroups, Elle following shortly after
Connie's pseudo-death. Sorry to say there appears to be a real
Connie Sunday with a good musical reputation (if one can believe
those like the one Steve quoted -- which does appear to be legit)
Also there was not a hit on an obituary on the net which is highly
unlikely.
Now, admittedly, Conne/Elle does post topics that create
interesting threads that are actually helpful, despite the fact he/she
doesn't really know anything about music, let alone string pedagogy.
Just ignore her and continue the interesting thread.
Now back to the 2nd movement of Telemann's concerto
for viola...
Marsha
P.s. Kill-files are cool, too.
Betsy
an obituary either.
I really hope the author of this article contacts me!
"Mizz Marcia Ryder" <Mizz...@regrets.com> wrote in message
news:qxrLb.7402$_w....@fe1.columbus.rr.com...
Carl Witthoft
"Mizz Marcia Ryder" <Mizz...@regrets.com> wrote:
> Now back to the 2nd movement of Telemann's concerto
> for viola...
>
That wouldn't happen to be similar to John Cage's 4:33 ? (cheap
viola dig)
Elle Mathews
See:
http://www.geocities.com/conniesunday/PNMjoke.html
She was upset because they did such a poor job. Everyone remembers how
funny it was that the newspaper version had "Stred" instead of
"Strad." The web version has all the corrections, per her
instructions.
EM
Craig Wisted
site has been shut down since the controversy started in regards to the well
being of CS. I wonder how long ago it's been since it was actually
printed?
Craig
"Betsy" <n0s...@spam.c-0> wrote in message
news:2jALb.10$%37.7...@news.abs.net...
bob
> I don't know where you got your information, but you're absolutely
> wrong about it "not being true."
I don't know why you referenced my post when you wrote this, but the quoted
text is not present in the original (which was entirely a critique of the
referenced web page).
Please be more careful in your attributions.
But since you mentioned it, I suppose one could consider the Social
Security Death Index a pretty good source.
Then again, so is the Vital Records section of New Mexico's Health
Department.
TD
> ellem...@hush.ai (Elle Mathews) wrote in
> news:4e14bdcd.04010...@posting.google.com:
>
> > I don't know where you got your information, but you're absolutely
> > wrong about it "not being true."
Bob, as you know, anyone who must use such extreme redundancy as
"absolutely wrong" about someone`s death must be covering up
something. Just "wrong" about such a finality as death would have
been more than sufficient.
>
> I don't know why you referenced my post when you wrote this, but the quoted
> text is not present in the original (which was entirely a critique of the
> referenced web page).
>
> Please be more careful in your attributions.
>
> But since you mentioned it, I suppose one could consider the Social
> Security Death Index a pretty good source.
>
> Then again, so is the Vital Records section of New Mexico's Health
> Department.
Heck, we all know who EM is. The coincidences are deafening. I just
wish Connie would have just stuck with her guns and not created all
this BS. She had enough virtues that would have made all these
histrionics unnecessary.
If you are reading this, as I am sure you are, Connie, let`s drop the
antics and get back to reality. Use your own real name. (It`s the
one your parents gave you.) Or are you just too embarrassed to use
your father`s name? Get real.
Tien.
Tho X. Bui
TD wrote:
> bob
> > But since you mentioned it, I suppose one could consider the Social
> > Security Death Index a pretty good source.
> >...
> If you are reading this, as I am sure you are, Connie, let`s drop the
> antics and get back to reality. Use your own real name.
Personally, I would rather just forget the whole thing and (try to) stay
with bowed-strings topics.
No one dies in the internet, and not one lives in the internet. We're
just...movements of electrons.
That said, I must thank Bob for enlighten me on the SSDI. It's a little
bit morbid, but it's slicker than snot.
I "found" my sister's father in law, who recently passed away. This
information highway thing is frighteningly cool while at the same time
cooly frightening. Thanks for creating it, Al.
Tho
Eve
TD
Actually, real people behind those keyboards die all the time. In my line
of work, I see it regularly. And it hurts. Death is something sacred. To
fake death for a second chance at respect is cowardly and pathologic. Real
people die all the time. Best to treat each other with as much kindness as
we can. You never know if the person you`re angry at today will be dead
tomorrow. Then, what about sorry?
Tien
Karl Perry
"TD" <what...@idontknow.com> wrote in message
news:EoJNb.5377$c1.8...@news20.bellglobal.com...
I take it by the gist of this thread that no one has been able to come up
with a death certificate for the person purportedly named Connie Sunday?
Elle/Connie, how about it? Please prove your legitimacy (and Connie's
legacy) by providing us with a means of verifying Connie's death.
Karl Perry
Elle Mathews
http://www.geocities.com/susan_menuhin/index.htm
Thanks for your help. If <?> there are any actual grammatical errors,
please let me know. I really don't see any.
Carl Witthoft <ca...@witthoft.com> wrote in message news:<carl-9FD13E.1...@comcast.ash.giganews.com>...
Mark Knight
Derek Tearne
> Wonder when this was:
> http://portalesscm.viapointe.mhe.viapointe.com/engine.pl?station=portales&
> template=storyfull.html&id=1004
It is a deficiency of the portales news-tribune that is doesn't display
the dateline on the actual article page - this is a flaw in their page
layout. Not an uncommon one actually.
However, if you go via the search bar on the site you get.
Music teacher in tune with music world
By Helena Rodriguez
October 21, 2003 - 11:02AM
--- Derek
--
Derek Tearne - de...@url.co.nz
Many Hands - Trans Cultural Music from Aotearoa/New Zealand
http://www.manyhands.co.nz/
bob
> Final version:
> http://www.geocities.com/susan_menuhin/index.htm
>
> Thanks for your help. If <?> there are any actual grammatical errors,
> please let me know. I really don't see any.
>
>
Connie,
There are at least several grammatical errors. There are at least several
unrelated typographical errors. There are numerous stylistic issues.
Robert McNally
> There are at least several grammatical errors. There are at least several
> unrelated typographical errors. There are numerous stylistic issues.
Bob, care to be specific (*real* specific)? You can send it privately
to us if you have time. We're just probably too close to the document
to the see the errors you mention.
Thanks,
Robert
Betsy
fair, or otherwise intelligent to ask total strangers to do your work for
you.
"Robert McNally" <violini...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:55c923f3.0401...@posting.google.com...
Mizz Marcia Ryder
Robert McNally
"Mizz Marcia Ryder" <Mizz...@regrets.com> wrote in message news:<xElQb.27196$DE.2...@fe2.columbus.rr.com>...
TD
> I just don't understand how you think it necessary, advisable, prudent,
> fair, or otherwise intelligent to ask total strangers to do your work for
> you.
Interesting. Connie, may she rest in peace, used to ask us all the time.
Tien
TD
> Are you having problems spelling your own name, dear?
Are you asking yourself this question? :)))
Interesting...VERY Interesting... :)) (à la Klink of Hogan`s Heroes)
Tien
bob
news:55c923f3.0401...@posting.google.com:
No, Connie, I don't feel like doing your marketing for you.
FWIW, grammatical = what your high school English teacher would tell you.
style = what your freshmen college English teacher would tell you.
Typographic = what a copy editor would tell you.