Dear Parents,
Here at Mill Pond Music Academy we are constantly working to build children from the inside out. Teaching music adds confidence, beauty and happiness to the life of our students. It’s a loss to us all that legal restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic have forced Mill Pond Music Academy to close the in-person version of our studio. Covid-19 may even have left you struggling with bills and childcare and homeschooling and stress over anything else beyond the bare minimum. Now that it appears that the shut-down and reopening may take much longer than originally hoped, perhaps it’s time to take a look at why we are actually gaining enrollment now and why parents are now coming back.
“Thank you! Our son (kindergartener) loves his lessons with Miss Laura. It’s the ONLY thing he’s been able to hold onto from his precovid-19 schedule. As a school teacher myself, I know how important it is to maintain as much normalcy as possible. Thank you, Mill Pond Arts!”
Super-Honest Parent Concerns: Consider This…
Concern: My child has ASD and online lessons won’t work.
CONSIDERATION: Many teachers have found that some kids with sensory processing issues do better without the pressures of direct face time in person with teachers and are more comfortable taking the lessons remotely from home with the control and shield of a screen. And when there is a problem with directional issues, like dyslexia, something as simple as flipping the camera upside down could help with mirroring issues.
Concern: My child won’t be able to concentrate given the emotional distress with COVID concerns.
CONSIDERATION: Music is a soother and a better use of time than watching tv or playing online or video games. Also, online lessons are an excellent way to change gears from other modes of work online. Music uses both parts of the brain at the same time. Further, keeping the familiar schedule is helpful for nerves.
Concern: Will my child just be able to pick up where they left off when this COVID-19 thing is over?
CONSIDERATION: Your child has been working every week to develop music reading skills. Research shows that if a student does not read music over the summer months, they will lose up to 4 months of skills learned. Think of how much time it takes to reteach that and how much farther ahead your child would be even if they maintained where they were through online lessons.
Concern: I have other kids to look after at home, I can’t supervise the lesson to make sure it goes well. It’s hard for me, the parent, to help the piano student with other siblings competing for attention.
CONSIDERATION: Think of it as time off. The screen keeps the child occupied and since they already know me, trust that our relationship and my teaching and classroom management skills will keep her on task while we do the lesson. If it’s too noisy for the student to hear the lesson, perhaps we can move the keyboard to a room that has a door or find something better in the schedule… we are now available daytimes.
Concern: I do not want a screen-centered mode of life for my child.
CONSIDERATION: I send my parents plenty of resources for printable theory and history worksheets students can do along with listening assignments. They still do much of the work off-screen plus, during the lesson, the focus is more on their instrument than on the screen.
Concern: Between my online work and siblings doing online schooling, we do not have enough devices or time.
CONSIDERATION: Kids respond well to a schedule. Build lessons into the daily calendar and schedule yourself a half-hour break so that your child can take a lesson.
Concern: How does it work to teach online? It seems like it wouldn't.
CONSIDERATION: Music Teachers are also learning that we have to work initially to provide a free set up appointment to find the best location for them to stand and where to place/angle the phone or computer for best sight and sound. Our EARS tell us so much about what is happening...even more than our eyes sometimes. For example, I do not need to see the piano keys all of the time. I can "hear" when fingerings are wrong. Posture are so important and easy to fix online as well.
Concern: Fatigue from too much of the same thing.
CONSIDERATION: Mill Pond can switch things up and offer a simple phone call lesson based on a shared email assignment, students make a video of their assignments and photos of their written work and send them back to their teacher for comment. Surprisingly, this has worked with our more technological kids that enjoy making videos of their songs. Another very successful method I use is offering a shorter (up to 15 minutes) video lesson that can be watched at anytime. I then fill the role as a Practice Coach and offer exercises, theory assignments, educational gaming, and daily practice session goals.
Concern: I am currently bombarded with messages and meetings daily for my kids who are now homeschooling. Music lessons in my eyes is just one more thing to manage.
CONSIDERATION: Your stress is real. Get on the phone with me or another parent and tell us how you are doing with all these spinning plates. Our online lessons are created to help lower the stress on parent and student while gently moving the student forward musically. Your child has come too far to stop now. Perhaps we can dial back certain types of assignments and play something your child enjoys for a season… this won’t last forever.
Concern: My company furloughed me in response to COVID restrictions, and I can’t afford to continue.
CONSIDERATION: I am TOTALLY willing to work with you so that your child does not go backwards. Think of it as protecting your investment. If you are having financial difficulties, please make a request for one of my 5 COVID SCHOLARSHIPS. These scholarships will cover $10 for each lesson for as long as the shut-down lasts. So, instead of $35 per lesson, it’s only $25.
Concern: My child is too young to manage the TECH alone. They will struggle and not get the benefit of the lesson as I can’t come to help every 5 minutes.
CONSIDERATION: You might be right! Let’s find out. Schedule a FREE lesson with me! Sit back and watch how simple it is for you to set it and forget it. It’s like Facetime with grandma and grandpa. You might be surprised at how well they do! We do online lessons with kids as young as 3 years old. I even run online classes with 35 3-year olds!!!
Concern: The lessons will be a waste of time as the kids can’t focus enough to learn.
CONSIDERATION: Screens help focus kids’ attention. The addictive quality (that we hate because it makes them ignore us when we call them when they are absorbed by a game or show) helps keep their attention captured when we are on the screen. We keep adding new creative educational games like MUSIC JEOPARDY, I BET YOU CAN’T, WHEEL OF FORTUNE and student challenges all the time.
Concern: My kid will not learn as much if they lose that ‘connection’ of being in the same facility.
CONSIDERATION: We were definitely born to interact with one another. No argument there. But let’s not discount the value of online lessons too much! Remember, the covid-19 shutdown is a short-term problem. This shut-down season is significant but temporary. Research shows that children will not stay in the same place musically if they stop reading music. They cannot simply pick up where they left off. Over the summer, kids lose up to 4 months of skills learned! Online lessons actually have different benefits like making students more independent and better at following directions. They learn to mark their own music, prepare their books, have a pencil ready, etc. Please take me up on my FREE trial lesson offer and see if your child makes progress.
Concern: I’m senior adult student and I won’t be able to handle it. I hate technology and I can barely work my cell phone. I can barely send an email correctly.
CONSIDERATION: I get this all the time! Mill Pond will get you set up for free. We will help you with navigating your phone, physical set-up, any needed FREE apps, and a trial lesson to get you started comfortably. We can even just use audio over the phone (a very simple, yet growing trend.)
“My child is becoming a much more independent student and better listener with online lessons. I really didn’t think it would work but his teacher prepares him for each lesson with email printouts and practice plans, etc and he actually listens and follows directions!”
I am happy to talk about any of these concerns with you.
Give me a call at 609-903-6560.
Thank you very much,
Sincerely,
Mr. Pete
Here at Mill Pond Music Academy we are constantly working to build children from the inside out. Teaching music adds confidence, beauty and happiness to the life of our students. It’s a loss to us all that legal restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic have forced Mill Pond Music Academy to close the in-person version of our studio. Covid-19 may even have left you struggling with bills and childcare and homeschooling and stress over anything else beyond the bare minimum. Now that it appears that the shut-down and reopening may take much longer than originally hoped, perhaps it’s time to take a look at why we are actually gaining enrollment now and why parents are now coming back.
“Thank you! Our son (kindergartener) loves his lessons with Miss Laura. It’s the ONLY thing he’s been able to hold onto from his precovid-19 schedule. As a school teacher myself, I know how important it is to maintain as much normalcy as possible. Thank you, Mill Pond Arts!”
Super-Honest Parent Concerns: Consider This…
Concern: My child has ASD and online lessons won’t work.
CONSIDERATION: Many teachers have found that some kids with sensory processing issues do better without the pressures of direct face time in person with teachers and are more comfortable taking the lessons remotely from home with the control and shield of a screen. And when there is a problem with directional issues, like dyslexia, something as simple as flipping the camera upside down could help with mirroring issues.
Concern: My child won’t be able to concentrate given the emotional distress with COVID concerns.
CONSIDERATION: Music is a soother and a better use of time than watching tv or playing online or video games. Also, online lessons are an excellent way to change gears from other modes of work online. Music uses both parts of the brain at the same time. Further, keeping the familiar schedule is helpful for nerves.
Concern: Will my child just be able to pick up where they left off when this COVID-19 thing is over?
CONSIDERATION: Your child has been working every week to develop music reading skills. Research shows that if a student does not read music over the summer months, they will lose up to 4 months of skills learned. Think of how much time it takes to reteach that and how much farther ahead your child would be even if they maintained where they were through online lessons.
Concern: I have other kids to look after at home, I can’t supervise the lesson to make sure it goes well. It’s hard for me, the parent, to help the piano student with other siblings competing for attention.
CONSIDERATION: Think of it as time off. The screen keeps the child occupied and since they already know me, trust that our relationship and my teaching and classroom management skills will keep her on task while we do the lesson. If it’s too noisy for the student to hear the lesson, perhaps we can move the keyboard to a room that has a door or find something better in the schedule… we are now available daytimes.
Concern: I do not want a screen-centered mode of life for my child.
CONSIDERATION: I send my parents plenty of resources for printable theory and history worksheets students can do along with listening assignments. They still do much of the work off-screen plus, during the lesson, the focus is more on their instrument than on the screen.
Concern: Between my online work and siblings doing online schooling, we do not have enough devices or time.
CONSIDERATION: Kids respond well to a schedule. Build lessons into the daily calendar and schedule yourself a half-hour break so that your child can take a lesson.
Concern: How does it work to teach online? It seems like it wouldn't.
CONSIDERATION: Music Teachers are also learning that we have to work initially to provide a free set up appointment to find the best location for them to stand and where to place/angle the phone or computer for best sight and sound. Our EARS tell us so much about what is happening...even more than our eyes sometimes. For example, I do not need to see the piano keys all of the time. I can "hear" when fingerings are wrong. Posture are so important and easy to fix online as well.
Concern: Fatigue from too much of the same thing.
CONSIDERATION: Mill Pond can switch things up and offer a simple phone call lesson based on a shared email assignment, students make a video of their assignments and photos of their written work and send them back to their teacher for comment. Surprisingly, this has worked with our more technological kids that enjoy making videos of their songs. Another very successful method I use is offering a shorter (up to 15 minutes) video lesson that can be watched at anytime. I then fill the role as a Practice Coach and offer exercises, theory assignments, educational gaming, and daily practice session goals.
Concern: I am currently bombarded with messages and meetings daily for my kids who are now homeschooling. Music lessons in my eyes is just one more thing to manage.
CONSIDERATION: Your stress is real. Get on the phone with me or another parent and tell us how you are doing with all these spinning plates. Our online lessons are created to help lower the stress on parent and student while gently moving the student forward musically. Your child has come too far to stop now. Perhaps we can dial back certain types of assignments and play something your child enjoys for a season… this won’t last forever.
Concern: My company furloughed me in response to COVID restrictions, and I can’t afford to continue.
CONSIDERATION: I am TOTALLY willing to work with you so that your child does not go backwards. Think of it as protecting your investment. If you are having financial difficulties, please make a request for one of my 5 COVID SCHOLARSHIPS. These scholarships will cover $10 for each lesson for as long as the shut-down lasts. So, instead of $35 per lesson, it’s only $25.
Concern: My child is too young to manage the TECH alone. They will struggle and not get the benefit of the lesson as I can’t come to help every 5 minutes.
CONSIDERATION: You might be right! Let’s find out. Schedule a FREE lesson with me! Sit back and watch how simple it is for you to set it and forget it. It’s like Facetime with grandma and grandpa. You might be surprised at how well they do! We do online lessons with kids as young as 3 years old. I even run online classes with 35 3-year olds!!!
Concern: The lessons will be a waste of time as the kids can’t focus enough to learn.
CONSIDERATION: Screens help focus kids’ attention. The addictive quality (that we hate because it makes them ignore us when we call them when they are absorbed by a game or show) helps keep their attention captured when we are on the screen. We keep adding new creative educational games like MUSIC JEOPARDY, I BET YOU CAN’T, WHEEL OF FORTUNE and student challenges all the time.
Concern: My kid will not learn as much if they lose that ‘connection’ of being in the same facility.
CONSIDERATION: We were definitely born to interact with one another. No argument there. But let’s not discount the value of online lessons too much! Remember, the covid-19 shutdown is a short-term problem. This shut-down season is significant but temporary. Research shows that children will not stay in the same place musically if they stop reading music. They cannot simply pick up where they left off. Over the summer, kids lose up to 4 months of skills learned! Online lessons actually have different benefits like making students more independent and better at following directions. They learn to mark their own music, prepare their books, have a pencil ready, etc. Please take me up on my FREE trial lesson offer and see if your child makes progress.
Concern: I’m senior adult student and I won’t be able to handle it. I hate technology and I can barely work my cell phone. I can barely send an email correctly.
CONSIDERATION: I get this all the time! Mill Pond will get you set up for free. We will help you with navigating your phone, physical set-up, any needed FREE apps, and a trial lesson to get you started comfortably. We can even just use audio over the phone (a very simple, yet growing trend.)
“My child is becoming a much more independent student and better listener with online lessons. I really didn’t think it would work but his teacher prepares him for each lesson with email printouts and practice plans, etc and he actually listens and follows directions!”
I am happy to talk about any of these concerns with you.
Give me a call at 609-903-6560.
Thank you very much,
Sincerely,
Mr. Pete