I have this running to-do list on my iPhone and at the veeeery bottom of it..

MAKE ASSIGNMENT SHEET.

(It's been there for awhile....)

Now it's done. I got tired of drawing weekly practice boxes now that we award points for practice in our new incentive program for piano students.   

The first assignment sheet I made contained typical items like "Assignments", "Practice time", and "Questions/Notes for Teacher". I don't remember what sparked this but I went through and changed everything to start with "I" because I wanted the students to take ownership of their assignments & accomplishments. 

Plus, I just think it's more fun & personable for students to fill this out than...."Assignments". 

Also notice the word "work" in the assignment sheet ;). It ain't all rainbows and ponies honey. There's a reason for everything on this assignment sheet!

So what are all the different parts of the assignment sheet and the thinking that went behind all of it?

Is your son ready to start piano lessons? He’s shown interest in music, he’s exploring the piano/keyboard at home, he’s got friends taking piano lessons and you want to find a piano teacher for him.

Here it is, #1 mistake parents make choosing their children’s first piano teacher: play well = teach well.

It’s so easy to make this mistake I used to think the same thing. Here was my checklist for why I’d be a great piano teacher back in college:

Not so fast young grasshopper. The graduate program in piano pedagogy opened my eyes to just how much there is to teaching piano.