January 31, 2023

New Make-up Policy

My piano lessons are held in Milton, Florida, but students come from many of the surrounding cities. Regardless of distance traveled, I appreciate their commitment to lessons and their willingness to come see me every week. If I can make a change to my policies to increase ease of participation, then that is something I want to do.

One shortcoming of a no-make-policy is that there are fewer contact points with students.This is especially concerning with young beginners. The student gets less reinforcement, momentum is lost, and there is a greater chance of the no-practice spiral rearing its ugly head.

(In case you haven't experienced it, that's when practice stops happening, the student starts forgetting things, practice then becomes frustrating, which then increases the challenge of getting the student to the piano,etc.)

I want students coming to their lessons, but I recognize that life happens.Unpredictable illness, a dental cleaning scheduled months ago, an event for another sibling, etc. So here's how it'll work:

Things to keep in mind:
Please do not repeatedly cancel and ask for make-up lessons. Erratic practice schedules (e.g. 2 days between lessons this week, 10 days the next) are what I am aiming to avoid.

If you pick a slot too far out in the future and a new student starts in that slot in the weeks proceeding your lesson, your make-up lesson will need to be rescheduled.
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It is your responsibility to keep track of missed lessons. It is fine with me if you miss and do not want to squeeze in a make-up; but if you would like your missed lesson to be made up, please check in with me periodically to see about current openings.

You are welcome to schedule a makeup lesson in a week where you already have a lesson. Two lessons in one week asks more of the student, however, and it will be important that you ensure they visit the piano between the two lessons so that they come prepared to the second lesson.

If this new approach to missed lessons works out well for the remainder of this year and summer, I plan to create a more accessible system, something like a shared google calendar where parents can see what is available and plan accordingly.

Lastly, please understand that this is an experiment. I hope my studio keeps growing, which means my schedule and availability will morph over time. If the make-up policy does not work forever, I will tweak it or return to a no-make-up policy until I can work out something better.