In response to Johnkeller, as a continuation of the Susuki postings:
I did not know, that my ideas about teaching reading to very little ones, before they know letters, came from a Russian School, but that is very interesting. Thank you John.
I guess many of us pick up things over the years, and we may not remember, where those ideas come from. I thought a lot of them were my own ideas, but then, who knows? Something like this was mentioned before, I think.
i have noticed, that with my way of teaching note-reading, the students usually know the position of the note quicker, than that they know the name. But isn't that the most important in the end? Never mind the names, those can come later. After all, they only simplify the communication between the teacher and the student but are not really necessary with the note-reading. To the student they may be a distraction.
I have noticed a weird defect in the reading with some Korean students. Those that have had some years of tuition in their own country. They play things in the wrong octaves, e.g. an octave too high or too low, getting confused with the pitch, but with the "right' note. I have seen it quite often and wonder, what causes it. Anybody's ideas about that?
May-be it has something to do with the books they use: mostly Alberti bass accompaniment stuff.
Another thing to help teaching notation: Make the student write down extremely easy songs they know, like "three blind mice", and do that on various places on the staff. It has got to be 3 note and stepwards stuff, or at most a third in it. And afterwards " discover' on the piano, what they have written. Do not worry about the rhythm at that stage.
Make the stave big, little ones cannot write small.
What I find a disaster, are the teaching books, that spend an entire book in the same position. And especially if much fingering has been put in. The students have to understand as soon as possible, that the hands go everywhere, and that there is no set finger for every note. Spend as little time as possible in the five finger beginning position.
But they also have to understand some "practical rules" about fingering as soon as possible.
I have never really experienced problems in teaching reading, unless I struck one with an unusual deficiency, like dyslexia. For that I am not equipped. And in those rare cases there always were problems with reading in general. These have been a rarity in my 35 yr long teaching career.
Topic: Best ways of teaching notation