If you have no experience teaching young children your first experience might leave you believing they are too young. This is actually the best age to start because there are many benefits to learning early that older students miss out on. The perception that guitar is for the more mature child is basically an urban myth. You only have to look at classical music and you will see that most teachers begin lessons on instruments like violin and piano as young as 2 years old.
Let children be children
Starting early requires a completely different approach. It is important not to put adult expectations on to young children. The early years are about building awareness of music concepts, having fun and allowing them to explore. Children are naturally curious about music and if you can turn every lesson into play time you will be successful. For ideas on making music fun watch Sesame Street, Play School or The Wiggles.
Your first lesson
Your first experience will likely feel awkward so it is best to simply be aware of this fact and treat it as an opportunity to expand your skills as a teacher. Be very careful not to misunderstand a child who is hypoactive or unable to sit still as being too young. You just have to learn how to focus that energy towards learning guitar which I will explain below.
Normalise
Young children will respond in a variety of ways from extreme shyness to hyperactive to cheeky and occasionally even a tantrum. Every behaviour is just their way of dealing with a new and unfamiliar environment. It is critical to assure parents that because the situation is new young children will act out in various ways. I always assure parents that it is quite normal and it will take a few weeks for them to settle into the new environment. You might for example have a young child who keeps moving the guitar around and just won't sit still long enough to learn. The wrong approach is to try and force them whereas if you ask them to play a game and copy you they are more likely to do it. Keep everything short unless they are really responding and enjoying the exercise. Parents will understand as long as you explain what you are doing.
Parents - Parents are the key to success with young children. The biggest mistake inexperienced guitar teachers make is trying to teach young children without parent involvement. Every parent is different but for you as a teacher the goal is the same. You need them to be involved because without someone at home helping your student with their practice you are unlikely to make much progress from week to week. It is critical to give the parent an idea of what to expect. Explain that with young children its all about small steps and building foundations and all that matters in the first few lessons is that they the parent understand what needs to happen at home.
The shy child - If you have a shy child ask the parent what songs they know. E.g. Twinkle twinkle and then play it for them. Ask them to sing it with you. By starting with familiar tunes they will open up and you might eve get a smile. Don't push too hard and try not to put them in the spot light. Just keep performing for them and then explaining to the parent what you would like them to do at home. The child will trust you more if you are friendly and not too pushy. Try to give them some very easy simple things to remember like the finger numbers or clapping 1,2,3,4. By making it easy they are more likely to return the following week eager to show you they know the answers.
The restless child - Some children just can't sit still for more than 60 seconds. That's okay. Just go with it at first and keep trying to extend their sitting time. You could even turn it into a game by timing how long they can sit without moving. Talk about what they like at first to get their attention. It might be a favourite cartoon, story, their friends at daycare/school etc. Its all about building trust. When you show an interest in what they like they will more likely respond to your requests. A basic rule to gain a young child's attention is to move their attention towards something rather than away. E.g. Instead of saying "Stop getting up from your chair" try "Let's play the sitting game". In this case you are moving them towards sitting.
- G4 GUITAR Teacher Network
- If you have any questions please contact me via the email below.
No comments:
Post a Comment