I have a section in my studio policy that says, “Student must bring his/her materials (books, lesson notebook, practice logs, etc.) to each lesson. If he/she does not have his/her own materials, that lesson will consist of alternate educational activities, such as music education activities away from his/her instrument.” I am not a fan of students borrowing books. If you teach at a music store, that’s putting wear and tear on their products. Even if you own an extra copy of the student’s book, the student’s markings are not in it. Plus, it enables the student and/or parent (yes! parents should help make sure their children have all their materials for lessons….even older students!) to not bring the required materials. I’m sure there are people who feel otherwise. I’d like to hear what you think, along with your reasons.
I do sometimes provide sticky notes when students don’t have their notebooks, but would like to have a better plan…..especially for the repeat offenders. I’ve considered using something like Evernote or OneNote to share the notes with the parents, but I like for the school-aged students to write their notes themselves by hand. I also think the responsibility of bringing and checking a notebook is good for students (and parents).
So, what to do during book-free lessons?
- I often carry music flashcards in my lesson bag. This is a nice opportunity to review and learn notes, key signatures, etc.
- Practice/learn conducting patterns.
- Work on chords and/or chord progressions.
- Talk about or review the parts of the harp. (You could include some activities from Making Harp Lessons Exciting For Young Children too!)
- Keep some worksheets on hand for these situations.
Be creative! There’s a difference between the very occasional book leaver and the chronic bookless. If the student repeatedly forgets lesson materials, you might also take part of the lesson time talking about it (you could even include the parent in the conversation). Don’t forget the specific praise when the student does bring materials!
What are your tips for supply-forgetting students? Please share on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or in the comments!
-Barbara
Original music image above from Pixabay.
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Barbara Fischer runs Fischarper, LLC and loves her job as a harpist and private music educator.She enjoys blogging about various aspects of the music field on fischarper.com/blog. For more music resources, check out the Fischarper Teachers Pay Teachers Store and Making Harp Lessons Exciting For Young Children, written by Bambi Fischer (Barbara’s mom!) and revised and edited by Barbara. You can connect with Barbara all over the interwebs on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest,and YouTube.
Barbara Fischer runs Fischarper, LLC and loves her job as a harpist and private music educator. She enjoys blogging about various aspects of the music field on fischarper.com/blog. For more music resources, check out the Fischarper store. Find out where you can find Barbara on the interwebs here. And you can sign up to receive Fischarper updates by joining the email list.