Fingering Question for Beginner

[mommydaze]

Hi
 
My 7 y/o daughter is taking piano lessons with an instructor using John Thompson's Modern Piano Course: First Grade.  Her instructor has left town and won't be back for several weeks.  While her instructor is away, her goal is to master the last 20 pages of the book by her next lesson.
 
She is having some problems with "Silent Night" because of some notation she doesn't understand.   She has been taking lessons for just over 2 months, so she hasn't had a lot of exposure to different kinds of notation.  I don't play the piano. She thinks she knows what to do, but wants to be sure.  It's difficult for me to describe, so I have put a photo up at:
 
https://www.kjsl.com/~javier/staff.jpg
 
She is not sure what to do when there is a dashed line connecting notes between the two staffs in a grand staff as illustrated in measures 5 and 6 in the first staff and again in measures 3 and 4 in the second staff.   She can play each hand independently.   What does the dashed line mean?  
 
TIA

[eddie92099]

The dashed line has no notational purpose other than showing where the tune goes so the notes should be played as if the line does not exist,
Ed

[Hmoll]

Why does your daughter think she has to learn 20 pages of a method without a teacher's guidance? That is probably too much for a seven year old who has been taking lessons for only two months. Even the most precocious kid will develop bad habits trying to learn too much without a teacher's supervision, and it will take too long to correct those bad habits.

Is she in some kind of race or something? What's the hurry?

[mommydaze]

Ed:  Thank you for the answer.  She appreciates it very much.

Hmoll:

Her instructor assigned her the rest of the book.  He did do a brief review of each page at her last lesson.  He didn't think she would have a problem with it.  She does not find the assignment overwhelming because if she did, she wouldn't do it.

She is not in a hurry or in a race.   She moves along at her own pace.  When she runs into something she doesn't understand, she asks for help.  Sometimes, I can help her.  If not, I find someone who can.  If I can't find someone else, she waits until she sees her instructor.

[Hmoll]

Ed:  Thank you for the answer.  She appreciates it very much.

Hmoll:

Her instructor assigned her the rest of the book.  He did do a brief review of each page at her last lesson.  He didn't think she would have a problem with it.  She does not find the assignment overwhelming because if she did, she wouldn't do it.

She is not in a hurry or in a race.   She moves along at her own pace.  When she runs into something she doesn't understand, she asks for help.  Sometimes, I can help her.  If not, I find someone who can.  If I can't find someone else, she waits until she sees her instructor.

It's great that you looked for and found this forum to help your daughter.

My post to you before was based on my experiance as 1) piano teacher, 2)piano player, and 3) father of an 8 year old daughter who studies piano. So, I'm sorry to question what your daughter's teacher is doing, but it would have been much better for him/her to have referred you to another teacher during the long absence, especially with such a large assignment. I still maintain that someone her age, having taken lessons for only two months can too easily develop wrong habits ranging from reading notation and rhythm incorrectly to problems with sitting and hand position without teacher supervision. It can take twice as long to lose a bad habit that was initially learned, and relearn the correct way.