Teaching kids in groups

[BuyBuy]

Hi everyone.

This lady just signed up with me for her 9 kids to take lessons.

She does not have enough money nor time to get them individual lessons, so she wants me to teach them in 3 groups (by age), about 30-45 minutes per group.

Now I thought that was gonna be quite difficult, if it's a good idea at all, but I decided to give it a shot. Does anyone have suggestions on how to make groupe teaching effective and interesting ?

Thanks for your input before Friday (that's when they start).

[shasta]

What are the ages of the kids and do they have any piano experience?

Perhaps I am a pessimist, but seriously, you have go to be kidding.  Group lessons?  30-45 min per group of 3 kids??  I can't imagine the kids learning anything!  At BEST, they would each get 15 min at the keyboard.  Meanwhile, what will the other 2 be doing while the one is at the piano?  Sit there quietly, observing and taking notes?  Unlikely. 

Then, are they all going to share the same 1 book of piano music, taking turns on it at the piano at their home (if there is one)?

Good luck.

[pianoannie]

Have you taught group lessons before?  Do you have enough instruments (piano, digital piano, and/or keyboards) for each student to work simultaneously?

If your answer to either of the above questions are "no" then my blunt response would be that you've jumped into something for which you are not prepared.  I would suggest you simply tell the mother that, upon further consideration, you do not feel prepared to do this.  I really don't think it's fair to this family to attempt something if it's a total experiment for you, unless they realize that they are being your "guinea pigs" and are ok with that.  (and I realize that sometimes we do need "guinea pigs"; for example, the first time I taught a 4 year old, the mom knew this was my first preschool age student, and she was very understanding of the fact that, while I had book knowledge of teaching young students, I had no prior experience).

If the answer to both of the above are "yes," then first thing would be to make sure the "30-45 minutes" becomes a solid "45 minutes" minimum.  Then, assuming the siblings will work cooperatively with each other, and their rate of progress is reasonably similar within each group, I'd say this could work as well as any other group teaching situation. 

If you're thinking this will be just like any private lesson, except for having 3 kids at a time---well, it's a whole different task trying to teach groups!  And it's not something anyone can teach you how to do well by Friday.

[jlh]

If you're prepared, this can be a good experience for everyone.  Some kids learn more in a group than in private lessons simply because of their personality.

If you have even a few electronic keyboards, you could set them up together and teach them many things.   Having a group allows for teaching ensemble and duet arrangements (duets might be difficult in classes of 3 students, though) so they can learn to listen and work together. 

Above all, keep it fun for the kids.  Utilize games that teach basic concepts -- a little friendly competition can be a good motivator for them to learn, especially if there is a prize involved (candy bar, soda, etc.).

You might want to invest in an overhead projector at some point, so unison playing becomes easier to teach.

[timothy42b]

This might not be that bad.

I think the key thing is that all three kids get a 45 minute lesson, instead of each kid getting a 15 minute lesson.

Therefore, if you don't have piano plus keyboards, or even if you do, you have to keep all three paying attention.  If one child is playing, the others are watching and listening, not doing a crossword or playing on a GameBoy.  Each child absorbs what you say to the others, so by the third child your explanation can be very short.  Maybe. 

[bizgirl]

I think one thing that will be extremely important is structure.  The kids need to know exactly what to expect when they walk in the door.  You don't have time for them to work out who gets to play the piano first, this must all be decided beforehand.  Perhaps you could rotate them.  Give them all instructions for a theory worksheet/book (5 min), then work with two at the piano while one works on theory.  Switch every 13ish minutes.  This way everyone gets about 25 minutes at the piano.  I imagine working with two at a time is a lot easier than trying to coordinate three kids.  I realize you have already started the lessons, but I thought I would post anyway.  Les us know what you decided on and how it's going!

[anda]

i've never had groups of 3 - just 2, but i have some experience with siblings, so here's a little tip: in each group, you can usually pick the dominant brother/sister in less than 5 min.: use him/her to get to the others. whatever you explain him/her, immediatelly add "please, see that your siblings practice this at home"; whatever you work with any of the others, have the dominant sibling assist and explain him/her as well: "see how this is done", "take care, they might do this/that wrong". he/she will feel most important and will practice harder and get the others to practice too.

i always use this method on siblings, and it helped me so far.

best luck

[m1469]

Here is a link to a very useful and encouraging thread within the forum dealing with teaching kids in groups (particularly reply #2):

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2994.0.html

m1469