If you are a year round teacher like I am or you want to make this a requirement in your studio, it is an absolute requirement that you make lessons flexible and fun. Students will pass on piano lessons in the summer but then fill their days with camps and other activities.
Why can't piano lessons be that?
My summer schedule looks like this…I take off a total of 5 weeks for summer which overlaps with school. Sometimes that is 2-3 weeks off end of May and beginning of July and 2 weeks at the beginning of August. One of each of those weeks still has school in session. Sometimes I move one of those weeks to the week of July 4th.
This year public schools in my area are beginning a week ahead and taking off a week in October. I’m still unsure how I’m going to handle that, but my go to is to always have 7 lessons in the summer which in our area is June and July. These are common options that I offer. Caveat: I always switch everyone to the default 30 minute lesson price in the summer. That is more reasonable with my flexible reschedule policy.
3.5 hours of lessons
Sometimes this is actually 7-30 minute lessons, but it is often a combo or 1 hour and 30 minutes.
4- 1 hour lessons
Yes, this puts me in the negative with tuition, but it’s worth it for scheduling purposes, and parents feel like they are getting a bargain. It’s an amazing tool when you are just transitioning to summer lessons.
4 day camp + 3 private
This is a great option for parents who travel a lot because they can just commit to 4 weeks or less if they bundle their private lessons.
Instrument Switch
If you play another instrument, allow them a trail over the summer.
One NEW option that I’m considering for this summer is to have a drop in game time for an hour periodically so that they can use that as a 30 minute reschedule. They can play games and have a mini-performance time with friends. Obviously this would work best with students of similar ages or levels.
