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Responsibilities
for the Suzuki Parent
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- All Suzuki students are required to attend an assigned weekly Suzuki Group Class in addition to their private lesson. Group classes give the child and extra "lesson" per week while motivating the child, allowing them to interact with other children doing the same thing. The more the children are surrounded by other children doing similar activities, the more they expect that EVERYONE plays and practices violin. This helps to eliminate arguments over practicing later and often motivates them to practice more in order to keep up with their friends in the class. Group classes are conducted in a positive, non-competitive atmosphere and teach the children to focus, follow directions, evaluate their own performance as well as others.
- Parents of the Suzuki student are expected to attend all activities with their child and play an active role in their training. It is imperative that one parent be responsible for attending all Suzuki related events rather than alternating between parents. In addition to teaching your child, the Suzuki teacher will be teaching the parent HOW to teach the child at home during the other 6 days of the week. Please do not have care-givers bring your child to lessons or classes unless in an emergency. It is best if younger siblings are not present during the weekly private lessons unless they can be well-occupied and relatively self-sufficient. The parent needs to be attentive during the lesson in order to better help the child at home.
- It is the parent's responsibility to set aside time to practice with their child each day. As parents, we dream of the day our children will ask us to practice, however, that day rarely comes. If practice is treated as an everyday event from the beginning - like brushing teeth, eating dinner, etc... - few arguments will arise. Suzuki teachers excel in using games to make practice fun and strongly encourage parents to use those games at home.
- Bring a notebook or binder to take notes during the lessons and group classes. Parents are the “home teacher” and need to be able to repeat the exercises and games from the lesson at home during the week. You might also want a bag or folder to keep handouts and games.
- Communication between parent and teacher is very important. Please feel free to be honest with the teacher about how practice is going at home so they can be the most help to you. The teacher can’t help if they don’t know the full picture – don’t leave out the details you would prefer not to admit!!
- Suzuki students are expected to listen to the Suzuki recordings as often as possible (at least once a day). The students do not need to be attentive during the listening time. It can be treated as background music to eating, riding in the car, doing a relatively quiet activity, sleeping, etc... You will be amazed at how quickly the children begin singing the songs perfectly - and all the time!! Listening to the recordings not only helps them learn the songs faster when they get to them ,but also serves to motivate the child. Children like to listen to things they know. The more they listen, the more they like it AND the more excited they are when they can finally learn to play what they have been listening to!!
- The job of a Suzuki teacher is to train the child and parent to the best of their ability. With young students, concentration levels vary significantly from day to day. Some lessons may not be the full length - especially in the very beginning. The teacher will make every effort to engage the child for as long as possible but if concentration is low that particular lesson, the teacher may spend the bulk of the time working with the parent while the child watches, colors, etc. This one-on-one time between parent and teacher is equally valuable in the child's training since the parent will go away better equipped to teach the child.
- All Suzuki materials must be purchased by the 3rd lesson with the exception of the violin upon teacher approval.
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CMS REGISTRATION FORMS
Suzuki Main Page
Getting Started
Violin Purchase/Rental
Suggested reading material about
the Suzuki Method:
Nurtured by Love, by Shinichi Suzuki
Ability Development from Age Zero, by Shinichi Suzuki
both texts can be purchased from CMS or amazon.com
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