We all need to dream and to believe that one day our dreams will come true. But without a plan for success, our dreams are unlikely to materialize. The dream of learning to play the piano is no different. Even young students, however, can learn to set goals and take responsibility for their success. Helping your child keep a piano journal is an easy way to start them thinking about how they will bring their musical dreams to life. Follow the guide below to help your child in piano map out a simple plan for success, and see how easy and beneficial keeping a piano journal can be.

My Piano Dream: (Why I want to learn to play the piano.)

Example: I want to play the piano like my grandpa. He?s awesome!

How do I want to see myself in one year?

Example: Playing well at my Spring Recital.

In Two years?

In Five to ten years?

What can I accomplish toward my piano dream this week?

Example: Learn the new piece my piano teacher assigned G Major.

Are there specific goals that will help me achieve this objective?

Examples: Memorize Five-Finger Hand Position in G; Name each note; Identify difficult passages and; Play over these areas in the music many times.

What are some good habits I need to develop that will support my piano goals?

Examples: Set aside a specific time to practice each day; Avoid distractions while practicing, such as television; Tell friends I can play after I finish practicing my piano lesson; Attend my piano lesson with my teacher each week.

Planning to follow through with good habits that support our goals is how dreams are achieved.

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You?ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child – right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f?ree internet newsletter so you can download f?ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

The educational benefits of piano for children rely on their natural learning abilities, so why underestimate your child?s intelligence when choosing piano learning resources. While your expectations should not be unrealistic, neither should you rely on learning resources that are beneath your child?s intelligence. Many of the products I have seen advertised for children could just as easily be used to train a monkey to play a few notes on the piano. Sure they?re easy, but don?t fool yourself or your child. With these methods kids are not learning to play the piano. They?re just learning to push buttons! There is no educational benefit to this. Any kid with half a brain can do that!

Learn to spot this circus act before it confuses your child. It looks like this ?

?Put Stickers on the Piano Keys to Teach Your Kids to Play the Easy Way!?

?Teach Your Kids to Play Piano by Number!?

?Teach Your Kids to Play Piano by Color!?

Even young children can learn genuine musical concepts found in piano and keyboard theory with the proper learning resources. Don?t rely on products that are false or unrealistic, get the real thing. In addition to improved math and reading skills and improved overall education progress, here are five more valuable benefits your children will receive when learning piano using the right tools and resources.

How to ?

1. Set Goals to achieve their music dreams;

2. Overcome worries and performance fears;

3. Become more patient with their learning;

4. Be persistent in their lessons; and how to

5. Take responsibility for their success.

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You?ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child – right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f?ree internet newsletter so you can download f?ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

Piano lessons are a great activity for children. They encourage creative thinking, develop math and reading skills, and improve students? overall educational progress, as well as building a fun life-long skill. As a result, over six million children in the United States take piano lessons! One of the choices that parents have when their child is beginning piano lessons is whether to enroll their son or daughter in a private or group lesson. Parents often have misperceptions, or at least several questions, in making this choice.

Q: What is the difference between private and group lessons?

A: Individual lessons are usually thirty minutes in length, with the piano teacher working one-on-one with a student. Individual lessons provide a high degree of personal attention for a student. Group lessons are generally 45-minutes to an hour in length, and consist of between two and four students working with their piano teacher. During group lessons, each student plays their own piano or keyboard and receives both individual and group instruction. Students are introduced to new skills in the group every week and are then given individual playing assignments. They practice these assignments using earphones and the teacher rotates among the students to check on their progress and provide additional instruction.

Q: Don?t children learn more in a private lesson?

A: Not necessarily, and it depends very much on the student. Some children thrive with individual instruction. However, private lessons can also create a dependence that students may have a hard time overcoming, as some children grow to feel that they cannot learn on their own without their piano teacher repeatedly showing them every new thing. To prevent this, successful piano teachers create supportive learning environments that let children know that they are responsible for their own success. This helps children learn how to set goals and that their own effort makes a difference. That?s why, even in a private lesson, students need some time to work independently.

Group lessons are a great way for children to learn, and many children learn faster in a group setting than in individual lessons. Group lessons create a fun and supportive environment, and students learn both from the teacher?s instruction and from each other. It also helps many children to know that other students are learning the same skills.

I encourage most new students who are seven years of age or older to start out in group lessons. However, I have found that private lessons typically work best for two groups of students. First, they can provide a solid learning foundation to very young students (ages 5 to 7) who need one-on-one instruction to help get started. Parents of these very young children sometimes stay with them during their lessons. When children get a little older and have the basics, they usually can transfer to a group lesson. Second, private lessons are appropriate for late intermediate to advanced students who are looking to apply music theory and advanced playing techniques requiring intense instruction and dedicated home study.

Q: Can?t group lessons be intimidating for students due to peer pressure and competition?

A: While some parents may initially be concerned that group lessons create peer pressure and competition, the lessons actually help students feel more independent and confident in piano. Students play the pieces they?ve just had instruction on before they leave the lesson, which helps them feel secure about playing the songs at home. As students often play their songs for each other during lessons, it helps avoid the performance anxiety that students taking individual lessons can feel before recitals. Plus, students generally find that working together with other students increases creativity and fun! Over time, experience has shown that most children learn more in small group lessons because these lessons encourage independence and build confidence, which is a strong foundation for success not only in piano lessons but in the other areas of student?s lives.

Copyright 2005, Cynthia Marie VanLandingham

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You?ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child – right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f?ree internet newsletter so you can download f?ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

Have a child in piano lessons who wants to compose their own songs, but is having trouble getting started. Does he or she try to make up their own melodies on the piano? Piano Students often think they have to be Beethoven or Mozart to compose their own pieces. It?s not true. Here are five tips to help piano students begin to compose their own songs. Share it with your piano student at home. Or maybe you?d like to try your own hand at composition.

1. I can?t think of a tune or anything to write lyrics about.

Every piano student has a source of song. You just have to know where to look for it. I recommend that students who want to compose their own music keep a ?Piano Memory Box.? This is a special place to store keep sakes and mementos of special personal experiences they want to remember in the future. I made one of these for my son when he was a young piano student and he still uses it as a senior in High School. When he was little I suggest he put things in it like photographs of special memories, a ball of cotton dipped in his grandmother?s perfume, a little jar of dirt from a special vacation spot we liked to visit, or the school paper he wrote on ?What I Did This Summer.? Over the years he has put lots of things in this little box. Recently, I happen to notice him throw in some ticket stubs to a move he saw with his girl friend. As he grows into a man I hope he?ll remember to take a look back inside this little box whenever he?s looking for a source of song or inspiration, and remember who he is. Oh, there will be some sad memories there as well, but this too is the stuff song writers are made of. Just look back at your own history of experiences to compose a song that is meaningful to you.

2. I don?t know how to get started.

Songs are just poetry put to music. Start by writing a poem. Once you have your poem, white another short statement that summarizes your message. Use this as your chorus. If students can manage to do this in English Class they can do it in piano.

3. I don?t hear any music in my head.

To hear some music in your head, start singing your poem or playing it on the piano. Think of the tone and spirit of your poem. Is it funny, or beautiful, or stormy? Then start creating your melody by asking a question. Then respond to it by giving an answer. This is referred to as a call and a response. The ?Call? sounds unfinished, and the ?Response? completes the musical idea. This will be your first verse.

4. I can?t figure out how to put the music together so it flows.

Take your first verse and call it A. Then create another call and response for your chorus. We?ll call this B. Write as many verses as you want to. Here is a simple option for putting your song together. A/B/A

Here?s an example to show you how easy this is.

A: Verse Call ? Twinkle, twinkle, little star
Response ?How I wonder what you are.

B: Chorus

Call ? Up above the world so high,
Response – Like a diamond in the sky.

A: Repeat Verse

5. I still can?t think of a melody for my poem.

If you still can?t come up with a melody, try this. Create a variation on the simple melody above. This will help you begin to hear and understand how melodies are created, using the call and response technique. To hear more complex variations on this childhood melody, find a piano CD with some of the many variations on this theme composed by Mozart.

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You?ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child – right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f?ree internet newsletter so you can download f?ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

The Law of Focus ? What we focus on gets our attention.

At the beginning of the piano journey, like any new and exciting adventure, our energy and enthusiasm levels are high. As parents, our focus is solely on helping our children achieve their piano dreams. Writing down the goals and dreams that first motivated you to give your child the gift of piano lessons provides a reminder that will keep your energy focused over the long term.

The Law of Commitment ? Commitment is the glue that holds our priorities in tact.

Start by committing to provide the financial resources necessary to ensure your child?s piano efforts are not in vain. In addition to lessons, this includes the purchase of an adequate piano or keyboard to learn on.

The Law of Encouragement ? Follow the Rule of Seven to One.

Give your child seven encouragements to every critique. And remember, if you use the word but in your sentence, it doesn?t count. Here are a few examples you shouldn?t try to follow. ?She practices, but not enough!? ?He plays, but only what he enjoys!? ?She likes music, but she can?t sing a note!? Statements like they aren?t effective. Here?s the message piano students need to hear — ?Your effort matters and it makes a difference.? This is accomplished better with pure encouragement. For example, ?Cool! I like the way you?.. (Period, end of sentence.)? Use and instead of but. For example, ?I really like listening to you play, and I never get tired of hearing you practice!? ?Wow! That piece is sounding really spiffy, and it just keeps getting better! By the recital it?s going to be awesome!?

The Law of Character ? The best way to love children is with character.

To do this, remember that your child is a different character than you are! View him or her as an individual, and give them the resources needed to develop their musical potential.

The Law of Perspective ? Not all complaining is meaningful.

Just because your child whines about practicing, doesn?t necessarily mean that they don?t like piano or want to learn to play. It just means they?re human, like the rest of us. Sometimes I don?t feel like cooking, but I like to be creative in the kitchen. By redirecting my focus to what?s important to me ? my family and the value of sitting down to a meal together ? I gather energy to accomplish my goal and enjoy the reward. When your child complains about practicing, redirect their focus to their goals ? why they wanted to learn to play the piano in the first place! Was it the pianist they listened to with delight at a concert? Or was it a friend or relative who plays piano well and inspired them to want to learn? This will help your child find motivation and redirect their energy to piano again.

The Law of Fun! ? It?s fun to keep your sense of humor !

The point of music is to lift the spirit. My students often want to be a little silly at their lessons and let some of their creativity out. I can?t even count the number of silly songs I?ve made up during lessons. Use piano as a way to connect with your child and have more fun together! Over the long run, adding creative fun into the mix of hard work, courage and persistence is the best way for students to achieve piano success.

There you have it, Piano Parents – The keys to the Piano Kingdom. Now go out and support your child in piano!

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You?ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child – right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f?ree internet newsletter so you can download f?ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

Children in piano lessons often have ideas about learning to play that come from television, the movies, and well, their own imaginations which are not accurate. To make sure your beginner in piano lessons has realistic expectations help them to focus on the basics ? simple things that make a big difference. Here are five simple things that will make a big difference to your beginner in piano lessons.

1. Attending weekly lessons ? The enthusiasm beginning students have when they start their piano lessons needs to be capitalized on, not forgotten. Students who are excited about starting lessons quickly lose interest when they miss their lessons. This is because they forget what the teacher has already shown them, and when they return to lessons they have to review the same lessons again. Having to stop and start over an over again with the same information because students miss too many lessons is demoralizing and breeds discouragement.

2. Bringing music books to every lesson ? Without their music books the piano lesson has no plan or focus. It ends up being whatever the teacher can make-up on the spot because the music the students need to be following up on isn?t available. When students come to lessons in a haphazard way not bothering to bring their music the result is equally haphazard training that results from an unnecessary lack of organization and lesson planning.

3. Setting aside a routine daily practice time ? Children need help from their parents to set a routing practice time. Parents can help by making sure their student is home at the agreed upon time to practice and limiting other activities that would compete with their lesson practice time. Keeping a routine is the best because it builds the practice habit and that?s most of the battle. At any given time there will be a choice of how to spend that time. When this decision is make ahead of time it is a lot easier for kids to stay focused on their goals.

4. Following the teacher?s practice instructions ? The best way to get some place is to focus on specific goals that will help us achieve our dreams. Each piano lesson assignment will require specific learning and playing strategies that will make learning easier. By following the teacher?s instructions students will make much more progress, much faster. For example, singing the note names as they are played and keeping eyes on the music, not looking down at the hands.

5. Attending piano recitals and activities that set important learning goals – Goals are important because they give us direction and something to work toward. Without goals the idea of time management is just an empty word. Recitals target specific learning goals that will help piano students achieve their musical dreams. Focusing on those goals helps students manage their time in order to be prepared for their recitals.

By following these five steps to a good piano start your beginner will make a lot of progress in their first year of piano. This foundation of good habits, knowledge and skills are what students need to achieve their goals and go on to reach their musical dreams.

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You?ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child – right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f?ree internet newsletter so you can download f?ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

Muscle Flexibility is important to playing an instrument such as the piano. This allows a student to play easily, with finger spring, wrist flexibility and control. But surprisingly this important element of playing doesn?t begin with the fingertips. It starts in the large muscles of the back, shoulder and upper arms.

Think back to your science or anatomy class. Remember that skeleton guy standing next to your teacher?s desk, waiting to be used as an example? Well it?s time to pay attention in class, because this boney guy has some valuable tips for piano students. All of the parts that make up your collar bone, shoulder blade, upper arm, forearm, wrist, hand and fingers are connected and operate as one skeletal and muscular system. You remember how that tune goes: ?The head bone?s connected to the neck bone, the neck bones? connected to the collar bone?? Well it?s true. So use this important lesson from your science class to get some bounce your piano step. Begin by using your large muscles at the top of this system so your fingers can do the walking with a spring in their step!

Follow the steps below to begin using your muscles correctly for piano.

Step1 – Sit up tall on the piano bench and imagine that your neck is stretching up to the ceiling from the top of your head. You should feel a sense of buoyancy in your posture. Arch your lower back.

Step 2 – Swing your upper arms out from your sides until your hands are flat (kind of like a birdie getting ready to flap its wings.)

Step 3 – With your forearms above the keyboard, reach out to the piano until you can feel stretch in your muscles all the way back from your shoulder blade.

Step 4 – Keeping your hands in a rounded position, stretching each finger tip down to the keys. Play G, F, E, D, C. Shifting the weight from one finger to the next with a little ?spring in your step.?

Step 5 – To get from one hand position to another or from one octave to another, bounce and land. Allow your finger to jump out of the first position by lifting at the elbow to bounce and land in the new position.

Step 6 – When playing a scale or run of notes, play the first note lightly, then spring out of the second note into the next one. This transfers energy and weight from one key to the next easily.

Keep following these simple steps and you?ll soon see how easy it is to get around the keyboard with a spring in your step. Then you?ll get an A in science ? and piano!

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You?ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child – right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f?ree internet newsletter so you can download f?ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

Children are often curious about the pedals on the piano when they first come to piano lessons. There are four common questions inquiring, young musicians want to know about the pedals. Here are the first three.

? ?When am I going to use the pedals??

? ?How come your piano has three pedals and mine only has two??

? ?Why does your piano have pedals? My keyboard doesn?t have any??

Below are definitions of the three pedals on a traditional, acoustical grand piano. From left to right they are the una corda pedal, the sostenuto pedal, and the damper pedal.

1. The una corda pedal ? Una corda means ?one string.? It is generally called the ?soft pedal? because it adjusts the piano action so the hammers only strike two of the three strings and the volume is reduced.

2. The sostenuto pedal – Sustains (or holds out) only the strings of the keys that are already pushed down.

3. The damper pedal – Lifts the dampers so all of the strings continue to sound even as more keys are played.

The above definitions, however, will need to be simplified a bit for a 6 year old. Teachers usually start by showing young students examples of how using the pedals changes the volume or sound as the keys are played.

If your child has a keyboard without any pedals you can purchase a sustain pedal for it. This would be a great idea as the sustain pedal is the first pedal students learn to use. If you have an acoustical piano with only two pedals, don?t worry about it. These are the Una Corda Pedal and the Damper Pedal. The Sostenuto pedal is rarely used but is nevertheless nice to have when needed. However your child in piano won?t miss it.

Here is one more important question children almost always ask about the pedals at their first piano lesson, ?How are my feet going to reach them!??

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You?ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child – right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f?ree internet newsletter so you can download f?ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

Learning a new piece of music can be daunting for beginners, especially young children, if they don?t know how to approach their learning at the piano. The first thing to do is set a goal. For beginners obvious goal would be to learn their new assigned piece of music or one they have chosen on their own. Taking the next step, however, is where students often get discouraged and express their frustration. It’s too hard. I can’t play it. When this happens here?s what to do; and, parents, even very young students will benefit from this advice, so listen closely.

The way to learn something difficult is to simplify it. Yes, it?s that simple. Learning the whole piece of music at one time would be too difficult for a beginner. To achieve something difficult, the goal it has to be broken down into manageable size pieces. If after breaking the task down once, it?s still too difficult, break it down again until it?s no longer difficult. Then work on each piece of the goal one at a time.

Here?s a way to explain this goal setting process to younger children in a way they’ll understand. Think of your goal as a puzzle. How would you begin? You would start sorting the individual pieces by colors and end pieces. Then you would work on one section of the puzzle at a time. Then you’d fit the different sections of the puzzle together until the picture is complete.

Jeff Herring, a business coach, family counselor, and columnist in Tallahassee, Florida refers to this process as Goal Getting. Here?s Jeff?s advice for ?Goal Getting? in a nutshell.

1.Write it down

2.Break it down

3.Take small steps

4.Take the next step

5.Take one more step

Whether you?re an older beginner or a parent who wants to support your young child in piano lessons, this plan will work time and time again. And even children can learn a valuable lesson by transferring this good habit to other life areas whenever a creative solution is needed.

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You?ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child – right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f?ree internet newsletter so you can download f?ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

To achieve musical goals, as with anything else, our attitudes and habits need to support these goals. In other words how we take care of things matters. For example I wouldn?t take care of my cactus plant the same way I care for my cat. My cat needs water and also to be petted. Obviously I couldn’t apply those same habits of care to my cactus without killing the cactus or myself! Similarly many children in piano lessons are not getting the proper care and feeding every piano student needs to benefit from their lessons.

The dream of learning to play piano is a valuable one for children, but it can?t be achieved without appropriate guidelines and good habits that will support this goal. Piano lessons provide so many benefits to children such as improved math skills,improved reading skills, and improved overall educational progress. It is sad, however, that many children in after school programs offering piano lessons fail to learn because their parents see all after school activity as simply babysitting.

Parents who view after school programs this way are basically digging holes for their children to fall into whenever they allow their children to volunteer for activities that not only require commitment and dedication from their child, but also demand parental commitment and support.

Children need boundaries to protect them in an environment where they can learn from their mistakes within limits. In this way failure is not an option. Children who are not afforded appropriate boundaries throughout their educational experience repeatedly fail and often wonder why? Instead of building on a history of success and positive experience, they are left with a history of failures to guide them.

Not all parents who have their children in afterschool music programs, however, view it as babysitting. Many parents who have their children in after school keyboard classes also enroll their children in private and group piano lesson programs outside of school. Why? Because when they see other children who are unsupported in their child?s after school piano program they assume the piano teacher isn?t giving real piano lessons. The truth is they are real piano lessons. The problem is they weren’t supported by a community of music values shared by all. This may not be surprising to you and you may be thinking that you really can’t do anything about this. But let me tell something else that may surprise you, which you can do something about!

Many school principals do not view their after school programs as a part of ?real school!? This attitude is very prevalent in our public schools and is a contributing factor for why children in after school programs may not be getting the care they deserve. For example, all real children benefit from real piano or keyboard lessons in a real community of support. But no child really benefits in a educational community of indifference.

Make sure the principal at your elementary school knows you care about the quality of your child?s after school activities. For example, ask your school principal what boundaries they have personally put in place to ensure reasonable student success rates in their afterschool music activites. Such boundaries for piano programs would involve rules and guidelines for students and parents to follow that are appropriate for this activity and that preserve its integrity for all children. These might include such things as

Children who sign up for piano lessons need to:

1. Come to their lessons regularly.
2. Bring their music books to class with them.
3. Play in the school’s piano program recital to earn an award certificate or trophy
4. Show good citizenship

These are not difficult rules to enforce and would go a long way toward protecting children in after school music programs and improving their overall educational achievement.

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You?ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child – right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f?ree internet newsletter so you can download f?ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com