Evelyn Starts Piano Lessons

I had three criteria that Evelyn needed to meet before I would start giving her piano lessons: knowing to read from left to right; being able to sit for a 30-minute lesson; and a desire to learn. For most of the summer, Evelyn had been asking me when she could start taking piano lessons. Her interest in playing the piano was the third - and final - criteria that signaled her readiness.

Even though Evelyn couldn't wait to get started, I needed to take care of a couple of things - tuning the piano and finding a curriculum. The piano was tuned earlier this week, so that was ready to go. A couple of weeks ago, I found a beginner's program that seemed like a good fit for Evelyn. "Music for Little Mozarts" will allow Evelyn to be a kid and have fun, while learning the basics of piano and music at the same time. There are two student books with activities for both the lesson and practice sessions, a teacher book with music that is used during the lesson, and the two stuffed animals that the whole curriculum is based on - Beethoven Bear and Mozart Mouse.

So today was the big day! I planned the lesson to go back and forth between sitting at the piano and moving around the living room, doing various musical activities that correlated with the lesson. Evelyn loved the lesson, and she became fast friends with Beethoven Bear and Mozart Mouse. The books are kid-friendly and upbeat, and hopefully Evelyn will continue to enjoy her beginner lessons (and practicing!).