Thanks to lots of people's advice, I let Shelby make the decision to quit piano lessons at the start of this year. Although I was sad to see her quit, I recognize that it was time to let her decide. She has played the piano some since she quit, but it has been more on a once a week basis.
Well, yesterday I got a call from a really sweet lady in our neighborhood. She used to teach piano but quit when she had her 2nd baby a year and a half ago. I met her at the pool this summer and we talked alot about Shelby and I told her if she ever decided to start teaching again to please let me know. So she was calling to tell me that she was planning to start picking up a few students and she wanted to give Shelby first chance at slots available. She is a really cute trendy young mom and I know that Shelby really likes her because she looks at her as more of a contemporary vs. the older piano teacher she has now. Also, this teacher is more advanced and can work with Shelby at the level she is at.
When Shelby got home yesterday, I gave her the information and let her make the decision whether to start taking lessons again or not, and she decided to do it! She said she had really thought she would keep practicing, but she is not doing it as much as she thought she would and she kind of misses it. This is a win-win situation all the way around because she has been able to make her own decisions and feels like we have given her freedom and I still get to hear her play piano!
If you want to see one of Shelby's projects while she has not been taking lessons, she posted this video on her blog. What she doesn't tell you is that she fell in love with this song on the radio and sat down at the piano while listening to it on her ipod and figured out how to play it by ear! The piano book at the piano is just her lesson book. She has totally learned and memorized this song without ever looking at the sheet music.
2 comments:
Yeah for Shelby! Isn't it great when your kids make good choices. Sometimes a little freedom is all that a teenager needs to be able to choose for themselves what you wanted them to do in the first place.
Okay, and just let Shelby know that by the time she finishes school she can teach my boys how to play if she'd like to! What a great tool she will have if she sticks with it!
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