Jenny Bay, over at The Teaching Studio blog, has posted a fabulous collection of 25 ideas that teachers can use if a student forgets his books. Not that that ever happens in my studio, of course. 
As long as we’re speaking hypothetically, this is also a great list to refer to if a student should happen to not practice at all in a given week.
What’s your favorite idea on the list? I love the suggestion to, “Get out a piece from your own library and have an entire lesson on how to learn a new piece.” In fact, I think you could call it, “How to Learn a New Piece in Less Than an Hour” and walk the student through all sorts of cool “tricks of the trade” for learning new music quickly. Most students would probably be surprised at just how effective good practice strategies can be! Maybe I should implement a studio-wide leave-your-piano-books-at-home week so that we can give it a try…
If you ask me, she said everything needing to be said right there in her introduction!
Love it! I think leave-your-books-at-home-week sounds perfect
I think that as teachers we cannot stress enough the importance of good practice techniques.
I am new at teaching private piano lessons in my home. I am not new to teaching. I have previously taught students at the elementary grade levels in a public school setting. I left that setting to be home with my own children. This is not a good time to try to get a job in teaching. I really missed teaching and began to think of how I could use my love for teaching in my home. Since I took piano lessons for about 6+ years, I decided to teach piano at my home. I am off to a slow but steady start. I have already experienced the situation of students that have left their books at home!!!!
I just decided what each winner of my current practice challenge will receive: a pass good for one bookless lesson. Perfect!