Teaching very young musicians

[DDRuzicka]

Kudos to Amy for starting a four year old!  I currently teach two of them and they are as different as night/day!  The one is highly structured and committed, the other is all over the place.  This is the one that I need some help with.

When he comes to his lesson, he stays involved by listening when his attention span drifts.  We go on "piano explorations" around the keyboard, but it has to involve mom.  He won't do anything without her.  The positive side of this is that she has a true understanding of what needs to be worked on during practice time at home.  We do leave the bench and work on some ETM (Education Through Music) that reinforces what we're talking about at that time.  It's been almost 20 years since I've taught a very young student, so I'm a little rusty on how to approach this.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  I'm looking for ideas to keep him motivated and ways to make piano fun and exciting for him.  Thanks in advance!

[Swan]

DDRuzicka, what are some of the activities involved in your Education through music?  (So I don't tell you something you're already doing, and so I may be able to learn from you too.) Also, when you say Mom has to be involved, how do you go about involving her in the lesson?