Survey Question:
This email is addressed to anyone who has ever either started private lessons on an instrument, or given them. I am curious about how other teachers screen new, prospective students, if they do, and what procedures or processes they use to determine if they'd like to work with a new student.

As a teacher, I would like to avoid at least some of the following difficulties:
  1. Students who think they're going to learn the instrument in a very brief period of time;
  2. Students who are rude to me, talk back to me at lessons;
  3. Students who bring other, way too advanced, materials and/or CD's to lessons, expecting me to teach them that;
  4. Students who don't follow directions, don't practice what I indicate, don't get the materials I request;
  5. Students who are always late, or don't show up, or call an hour before the lesson;
  6. Students who change their lesson time every week;
  7. Parents who push their children beyond where the children need to be;
  8. Parents who forget to pay the fees on time.
I do have a Lesson Policy which I send via email initially, and also provide in hard copy with a signature line, at the first lesson. Most of my students are absolutely wonderful, but I do get some strange ones.

Responses:
note74Connie, If I never took on any of those students you listed, I would be completely without a job!! Sometimes students who seem wonderful at interviews turn out to be duds, and vice versa. I think my sixth sense has developed over the years, but I am still not totally accurate. Sometimes I feel like I am jumping into a swimmingpool..and there is often a crocodile lurking there. I will be very interested to read the responses to your question
note74My students come from, either personal referal, or telephone/email contact, direct from my website. I don't have a written policy. ( throw up your hands in horror here) I prefer to go by the 'handshake, my word is my bond' method. I offer any prospective student, an introductory lesson ( paid for, of course) to see if we suit each other. I accept that students have a life, just as I do, and that there are going to be times when a student needs to cancel, due to illness, other more pressing committments, etc., as do I, when for instance, a medical, or other appointment, means I have to cancel.

I do not tolerate rude, or insolent students, and therefore make their lessons so unbearably boring for them, that they drop me, before I need to drop them. ( They, and their parents, usually get the message fairly early on) I don't have a problem with latecomers, as I teach them in their homes. I did however, drop a student, only this week, when, after turning up at the appointed time, last week ( after many last minute cancellations by the student's parent) there was no-one at home. I phoned the parent, and had to leave a message on their voicemail. One week later, four hours before lesson time, I get a text message from the parent, apologising for missing the previous lesson, and cancelling that day's lesson, and also the next week's lesson, but saying she would be fine after that. I messaged back to say that I could not continue to teach her daughter, on that basis, and advised her to seek alternative arrangements.

The above, is thankfully, a rare occurrence, and 99& of students, are a pleasure to teach, and give and take, is a given on both sides. If I were 30 years younger, and starting out as a teacher, I would definitely put in place, a strict policy statement, and adhere to it rigorously. In my own personal position, I am lucky not to have to do that.
note74 >>This email is addressed to anyone who has ever either started private lessons on an instrument, or given them. I am curious about how other teachers screen new, prospective students..

This is a good question. Sometimes, no matter how you well you screen the students, you just can't anticipate the bounced checks, missed lessons, and surprising behavior of the students and their parents.

One of the questions I always ask my older beginners, is what do they expect to get out of piano lessons. This will tell me if their goals are realistic or not. I've been fortunate not to have rude or misbehaving students.

As far as the parents go, my policy - http://themusicstudio.weebly.com/piano-lessons.html - is straightforward. This is the first year I've instituted a "no excused absences" policy. Once a month I offer a group workshop for anyone who has missed a lesson. The workshops are open to all students. This way, with almost 50 piano students, I can offer each one a chance to have nine free one-hour group lessons over the course of the school year and I save myself hours of rescheduling headaches. This has worked out very well and I don't mind the occasional missed lessons.

Those students who regularly miss lessons I schedule for the end of the day so I can leave the studio early.
note74 Connie, I think the best way to avoid these problems is to address as many of them as possible in your policy. I would suggest you tighten up your cancellation policy and encourage students to trade lesson times in case of a need to cancel. Perhaps limit time changes to 2 a semester. Implement a penalty for people who pay late.

I don't address "talking back" in my policy, but a student only has to do it once to know that if it happens again, they will be dismissed for that lesson, and not refunded. If it happens again, they will be dropped from my rolls. It's amazing how quickly a student can learn manners if correct swiftly with the penalties outlined.

Your basic policy looks good....but you could add more to it just to be on the safe side!
note74 I interview all my students, and have said no to several students. More recently I am offering a package of 10 lessons to see if the student and I (and often the parents!) can work together. I've had students that looked good on paper or at first but then turn out to be terrible students or develop poor payment habits... Meri


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