You might want to do a search on Bernhard’s method of daily lessons...although your students will probably come weekly, you can still glean a lot. In the meantime, here are some other thoughts for key points for the first lesson:
1. Keyboard geography - black and white keys; patterns of the black keys. Find D between the two black keys - find all D’s on keyboard. Learn C and E – find all over keyboard. Progress to F - B if student is ready.
2. Hands - left-right. Young children often have trouble remembering - you can put a Red elastic on their right hand, or draw R and L on their hands. Finger numbers - now “find a D and play it with finger 2" etc.
3. High/low sounds - listen and identify. Discover the high and low ends of the keyboard. “Play C-D-E up high” etc.
4. Notation - a. rhythm - quarter notes and half notes are probably plenty at the first lesson. Have student keep a steady beat, saying “ta” for quarters and “ta-ah” or “half note” for half notes.
5. Notation - b. staff or pre-staff – the idea that notes that are higher on the page are played higher on the keyboard. Patterns - stepping up, skipping up, etc. “Play this pattern starting on D”
There are lots of beginner books – spend some time at a music store looking at them. See if their philosophy makes sense to you. Avoid books that give too much fingering. There’s an excellent (although expensive) book, The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher, by Uszler, Gordon and Smith that will help you think through your philosophy of pedagogy. And, keep looking around the forum!
Good luck!
Topic: First time teaching...